Essen, Ruhr area

Essen - the heart of the Ruhr area

The city of Essen is located in the centre of the Ruhr Area, north of the River Ruhr, and has ranked among the most important industrial centres of Germany since the 19th century. Those booking a holiday flat or hotel in Essen will find an extremely diversified leisure scenery.

The sacral centre of the city is the cathedral at the castle square, which was built around 850 and today serves as the Ruhr diocese’s cathedral. The treasure chamber houses the “Golden Madonna” as primary centrepiece. She is dated back to the year 980 and and is considered to be the oldest free-standing sculpture of the entire occidental region.

Essen’s town-hall is 106 meters high and thus the highest building of its kind in entire Germany. A more recent architectural masterpiece is the Aalto theatre, a creation of the Finnish star architect Alvar Aalto. The museum centre in Bismarckstraße houses the museum Folkwang, which displays the most precious art collection of the Ruhr Area, with paintings of the famous paintor Caspar David Friedrich.

In the “Ruhrlandmuseum”, visitors can marvel at exhibits about the cultural and regional history and about geology. Those staying in a pension or apartment in Essen will find numerous possibilities for relaxation and leisure in Gruga Park or on Baldeney Lake.

Near this lake, tourists can visit the well-known “Villa Hügel”, former domicile of Alfred Krupp, a famous Essen industrialist.

picture source: Friedel Frentrop (Essen) / pixelio.de

 

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