Mittelpunkt Nordrhein-Westfalens

Mittelpunkt Nordrhein-Westfalens lies in Aplerbeck, a district of Dortmund, and marks the geographical centre of North Rhine-Westphalia. A steel sculpture gives this calculated point a physical presence, connecting the state’s outline with its industrial history.

Christine Böse created the work, Kokon, in 2019, using steel associated with the region’s coal mining and steel production. Its centre carries the state’s outline twice, cut from steel and mirrored around an inner axis. This construction keeps the outline visible from every direction, while surrounding steel wires form the cocoon. That enclosure represents transformation and connections across the state, extending the industrial reference towards its present and future. The sculpture stands two and a half metres high and has a maximum circumference of 1.79 metres.

Official land registry data supplied the coordinates, fixing the centre at this precise spot in Aplerbeck. No parking facilities sit directly at the site, so you reach it on foot. There, the solid steel contours and the surrounding wire cocoon bring the geographical point and the region’s changing identity together.