In German rustbelt, Merkel challenger's social justice pitch falls flat

Turkish women go shopping in Marxloh, a suburb of the Social Democratic party SPD former stronghold city Duisburg known for its steel workers in Duisburg, Germany, September 13, 2017. Picture taken September 13, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

DUESSELDORF/DUISBURG, Germany (Reuters) - The steelworks in Duisburg employed 3,000 people when it was closed in 1985. Today, the disused factory, now a park showcasing the city's industrial heritage, gives work to dozens of curators, artists and athletes.

Its fate is a symbol of the Ruhr, the mining and heavy industry region that drove West Germany's post-World War Two economic recovery and whose working class communities provided the backbone of the centre-left's Social Democrats (SPD).