Silvia and Birgit have never met, but lead similar lives: both work over 15 hours a day, get up when others are still asleep, and go out of their way to serve their loyal regulars. For decades, they have been proud owners of their own “Trinkhalle” (drinking hall) in the Ruhr.

Trinkhallen trigger similar emotions in people in the Ruhr: security, togetherness and a sense of home. Nowhere is culture so closely linked to the identity of an entire region as in the Ruhr. The Trinkhalle is seen as a place where a wide variety of people come together and everyone is equal. However, crises are overshadowing the romanticism of these places: more than 2,000 drinking halls were already forced to close. With each one that disappears, a piece of culture dies in the Ruhr.