The end of the line for Opel Bochum

The first car to run off the production line in Bochum in 1962 was the iconic Opel Kadett. When it opened, the plant started with around 10,000 workers. In its heyday towards the end of the 1970s, more than 20,000 people worked at Opel in Bochum.

In 1962, Bochum's mining industry was in decline, so many miners considered themselves lucky to become "Opelaner," or people who work at Opel. Nelson Stork (pictured here with North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Franz Meyers), then-chief executive of US parent company General Motors (GM), came to the inauguration of what was then one of the most modern car plants in the world.

When the Manta was first introduced in 1970, little did Opel know it would become a cult product. It even inspired the 1991 "Manta, Manta" film and became the butt of countless jokes. If you fancied yourself as a bit of a hobby technician, a souped-up Manta was for you.

In the late 1990s, this new welding production line allowed the bodywork of the popular Astra model to be assembled in one station. Before, various stations played a role in the manufacture of the car's bodywork alone. But progress also meant that fewer workers were needed.

These Danishes are called "Amerikaner," or "Americans" - perhaps a dig at Opel's US parent company? The sign on the icing reads, "We remain Bochum." They were given out in March last year at a solidarity event - one of many aimed at preventing the closure of the plant. Alas, to no avail.

The last shift at the Opel Bochum plant ended on the morning of December 5, 2014. The last car produced there was a Zafira compact van. The average worker at the Bochum plant workers is around 50 and has been with the carmaker for 20 years. A so-called "transfer company" aims to help them find new jobs in the next two years.

Pub landlord Rudi Schirmacher no doubt has many a tale to tell: he runs the "Opelaners'" favorite post-work watering hole, the "Bürger-Klause." Pils, schnapps and other favorites have been offered there for Opel workers since the plant opened in 1962.

"This is not Detroit." That was the motto of a year-long arts festival aimed at helping Bochum cope with the loss of Opel. Bochum is the second European plant to be closed after Antwerp in 2010, as part of a cost-cutting program imposed by GM. In Bochum, management have openly criticized GM for deeming the Bochum plant less productive than others and, therefore, up for the chopping block.