Wire report
A Ruhr treat: can a giant pigeon and a pink basketball revive Germany’s depressed industrial heartland?
The Manifesta biennale is taking over a dozen tiny churches in German towns ravaged by division and decline – and filling them with ball games, bouncy castles and a radical community spirit After Germany’s Ruhr conurbation – the third-largest urban area in western Europe – was pummelled during the second world war, planners came up with an ingenious idea. About 80% of the sprawl – which incorporates big cities such as Essen and Duisburg, and dozens of smaller towns like Bochum and Gelsenkirchen – had been destroyed. And so, for the reconstruction, a newly formed Diocese of the Ruhr built literally hundreds of closely packed Pantoffelkirchen or “slipper churches”, so named because they were close enough to housing developments for churchgoers to walk to mass in their slippers. Today, Pantoffelkirchen are declining sharply. Estimates of the amount of disused or derelict churches are as hig
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The Manifesta biennale is taking over a dozen tiny churches in German towns ravaged by division and decline – and filling them with ball games, bouncy castles and a radical community spirit After Germany’s Ruhr conurbation – the third-largest urban area in western Europe – was pummelled during the second world war, planners came up with an ingenious idea. About 80% of the sprawl – which incorporates big cities such as Essen and Duisburg, and dozens of smaller towns like Bochum and Gelsenkirchen – had been destroyed. And so, for the reconstruction, a newly formed Diocese of the Ruhr built literally hundreds of closely packed Pantoffelkirchen or “slipper churches”, so named because they were close enough to housing developments for churchgoers to walk to mass in their slippers. Today, Pantoffelkirchen are declining sharply. Estimates of the amount of disused or derelict churches are as hig
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According to The Guardian’s linked report, A Ruhr treat: can a giant pigeon and a pink basketball revive Germany’s depressed industrial heartland?, The Manifesta biennale is taking over a dozen tiny churches in German towns ravaged by division and decline – and filling them with ball games, bouncy castles and a radical community spirit After Germany’s Ruhr conurbation – the third-largest urban area in western Europe – was pummelled during the second world war, planners came up with an ingenious idea. About 80% of the sprawl – which incorporates big cities such as Essen and Duisburg, and dozens of smaller towns like Bochum and Gelsenkirchen – had been destroyed. And so, for the reconstruction, a newly formed Diocese of the Ruhr built literally hundreds of closely packed Pantoffelkirchen or “slipper churches”, so named because they were close enough to housing developments for churchgoers to walk to mass in their slippers. Today, Pantoffelkirchen are declining sharply. Estimates of the amount of disused or derelict churches are as hig
Context
The development sits in VINI’s Culture coverage for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The linked report is dated 2026-07-20T04:00:45+00:00.
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Primary source: A Ruhr treat: can a giant pigeon and a pink basketball revive Germany’s depressed industrial heartland? via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- A Ruhr treat: can a giant pigeon and a pink basketball revive Germany’s depressed industrial heartland?The Guardian - 2026-07-20T04:00:45+00:00
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