Gasometer Oberhausen

Oberhausen Gasometer
General information
Location	Oberhausen, Germany
Construction started	27 February 1927
Completed	1929
Inaugurated	15 May 1929
Cost	1.74 million Reichsmarks
Owner	Ruhrkohle AG (1927–1992) City of Oberhausen (after 1992)
Height	117.5 m (385 ft)
Dimensions
Diameter	67.6 m (222 ft)
Technical details
Floor area	7,000 m2 (75,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Main contractor	Gutehoffnungshütte (1927-1929) Deutsche Babcock AG (1993–1994)
Website
http://www.gasometer.de

The Gasometer Oberhausen is a former gas holder in Oberhausen, Germany, which has been converted into an exhibition space. It has hosted several large scale exhibitions, including two by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The Gasometer is an industrial landmark, and an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage and the Industrial Heritage Trail. It was built in the 1920s, and reconstructed after World War II.

In the 1920s the coal and steel industry in the Ruhrgebiet produced blast furnace gas and coal gas as a by-product of iron production and coking, while the steel industry as well as coking used large amounts these gasses or alternative fuels. As supply and demand of gas varied independently, sometimes excess gas had to be flared off, while at other times additional fuel had to be purchased. The Gasometer was built as a buffer: storing excess gas and releasing it again when demand exceeded production.

The Gasometer was built by Gutehoffnungshütte, by the side of the Rhine-Herne Canal. Construction started 27 February 1927 and cost 1.74 million Reichsmark. A framework of 24 steel girders was built on a concrete base, and a skin of 5mm thick sheet metal was riveted to the framework. Inside, a 1,207,000 kg pressure disc was mounted which could freely move up and down, floating on top of the gas underneath and keeping it at a constant pressure. 15 May 1929 the Gasometer was first put into operation, with a maximum capacity of 347,000m³, a height of 117.5m and diameter of 67.6m.

During World War II, the Gasometer was hit by bombs several times, but kept operating. When it was shelled by allied forces it did not explode, but the gas burned up and the pressure disc slowly descended. The Gasometer officially stopped operating 31 December 1944. It was completely disassembled after it had caught fire during repair work on 10 June 1946. Reconstruction began 1949 using the original pressure disc and roof. By 1 June 1950 the Gasometer was operational again.