Dortmund, Germany

Perched at the Ruhr's eastern extremity, DORTMUND is a former free imperial city and Hanseatic League member that grew rich in the Middle Ages from its position on the Hellweg, a major trading route, before falling into decline after the Thirty Years' War. Its later development was similar to that of its sisters, as provincial obscurity was transformed by coal, steel and beer: at one point only Milwaukee brewed more. All three industries declined in the late twentieth century and there's now just one brewer, the Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei. Information and biotechnology are the economic motors of the "new" Dortmund, which seems to have mastered the transition from heavy industry rather well. Though the old Union brewery with its giant illuminated "U" still looms on the skyline, it's overshadowed by the city's funky new skyscrapers and there are plans to convert it into a centre for creative industries. The surviving medieval street pattern and a scattering of worthwhile sights ensure that Dortmund preserves a sense of its history – not just for the distant Hansa days, but also of the sleepy market town of later centuries and the industrial behemoth it subsequently became.