Diamond Moers (D)

Moers

Name origin

murse (Old High German, = swamp/morass)

First documented mention

9th century AD

Population

104,000

Area

67.68 km²

Federal state

Nordrhein-Westfalen

Administrative region

Düsseldorf

District

Wesel

Vehicle registration

WES, DIN, MO

River

Moersbach

The club Diamond is located in Moers north of the train station.

The Rhine separates landscapes and regions. Moers borders directly on the left-Rhine districts of Duisburg and is only about 10 km from the bustling city centre of its large neighbour, but has largely preserved its tranquil character, so typical of the many Lower Rhine towns between the Rhine and the Meuse. The city is perfectly connected to long-distance road traffic, particularly to and from the Netherlands, through the A57 motorway in the west and the transversal A40 and A42, which form the Kreuz Moers and Kreuz Kamp-Lintfort junctions here. Moers also has a special relationship with the Netherlands, since in 1597 Maurice of Orange took the city. Under the Dutch, the city flourished economically and remained largely protected from the destruction of the Thirty Years' War. Only in 1702 did Moers pass to Prussia by way of succession, becoming a principality in 1706.

The former medieval county has a cosy pedestrian zone in its town centre, which is directly adjoined on the south side by the sprawling castle park with the city's most famous building - Moerser Schloss - whose first form was already built around 1200. The distances in Moers are short, and outside the town centre, especially on the western and northern sides, there are commercial areas that shape part of the cityscape today.

Until around the year 1800, Moers was shaped exclusively by agricultural activity and craftsmanship; with the onset of industrialisation, a flourishing textile industry first developed here. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, Moers was entirely dominated by mining. On the Rheinische Bergbauroute, part of the Route der Industriekultur, you can today find the Schachtanlage Pattberg, the Halde Pattberg, the Schachtanlage Rheinpreußen 4, the Schachtanlage Rheinpreußen 5/9, the Eurotec Technologiepark, the Halde Rheinpreußen and the Zechenkolonie Meerbeck. Shaft IV of the Zeche Rheinpreußen was renovated after the facility was shut down in 1990 and is today a mining museum; the Eurotec Technologiepark stands on the site of the former Rheinpreussen 5/9 mine. With the closure of the last mine in 2001, Moers bid farewell to the mining era; the cityscape today is shaped by a good mix of medium-sized businesses.

In the cultural sphere, Moers has earned worldwide recognition among music fans through the Internationale New Jazz Festival Moers - now "moers festival". The multi-day festival has been held since 1972, mostly over the Whitsun holidays, and covers a wide spectrum of musical styles, ranging from free jazz and jazz rock to world music, soul, funk and hip-hop. Until 2014, the usual venue was the city's Schlosspark; since then the festival has taken place over four days in the new festival hall, holding 2,000 visitors, at the Solimare site of the leisure operator ENNI, which runs open-air pools and sports facilities in and around Moers.