Nachtwanderung / Nachtmammut Ruhrgebiet, Duisburg ⋆ The Passenger

After completing three Mammutmarsch events earlier this year – in Leipzig, Hamburg and Nürnberg – I was already familiar with the particular mixture of endurance, organisation and camaraderie that defines the series. Those walks had been useful preparation for climbing the Brocken later in the year, but the Nachtmammut Ruhrgebiet offered an entirely different experience: this was the only genuine night walk among the events I had attended.

The 42-kilometre route began at Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg at 8 pm and led through Oberhausen and Bottrop before looping back to Duisburg. I eventually crossed the finish line at 5:15 am, having spent the entire night on the move. I honestly could not remember the last time I had stayed awake from evening until morning, and the unusual rhythm of walking through the darkness became as much a part of the challenge as the distance itself.

The route’s most memorable moments came from four illuminated landmarks. At the start, the blast furnaces of Landschaftspark Nord created a dramatic industrial backdrop, their structures glowing against the evening sky. In Oberhausen, the Slinky Springs to Fame bridge added a completely different visual character, with its distinctive design standing out in the darkness. The Gasometer provided another great landmark, its imposing silhouette and illumination making it one of the night’s defining sights. The highlight to me was the Tetraeder, standing high above Bottrop – even as it required climbing 387 steps straight up to the top.

By the time I returned to Duisburg, tiredness had become unavoidable, but the experience felt rewarding precisely because it was so different from the daytime events in Leipzig, Hamburg and Nürnberg. The Nachtmammut combined long-distance walking with the atmosphere of an industrial night tour, linking the Ruhrgebiet’s distinctive architecture and post-industrial landscape in a single circular route. It was a demanding night, but also the most atmospheric Mammutmarsch I had completed so far.