a city in the Federal Republic of Germany, in the Land of Nordrhein-Westfalen, on the Emscher River and the Dortmund-Ems canal. Population, 648,900 (1970). One of the most important industrial centers of West Germany.
Dortmund is a major transport junction—the “gates” of the Ruhr coal basin. In 1968 the turnover of goods and cargo at the railway junction was 38 million tons and at the river port, 5.5 million tons. Coal is mined in the Dortmund region. Industries include ferrous metallurgy, machine building (including machine-tool construction), electrotechnical items, chemicals (including fertilizer and plastics), and food products (especially brewing). The city has large banks and commercial and industrial firms. Its educational facilities inelude a university, the Institute of Spectrum Chemistry, the Max Planck Institute for Industrial Physiology, a mining school, the Higher Engineering School, the Pedagogical Academy, and scientific research institutes of the coal industry, among others. There is a theater. Since the 1100’s it has had the legal status of a city.