Guided Tour: Essen
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Borbeck Castle
We start our guided tour with Borbeck Castle,
built in the 14th century. The abbesses who
had reigned in the convent and in the city of
Essen since 852 were noble ladies. Some of
them came from the families of the German
Emperors. As they were mighty and rich, they
built this castle as a summer residence. The
actual architectural style, late Baroque, is due
to works in the 18th century. Today you can
find a restaurant inside. It is also used for
cultural events like concerts and expositions.
People choose it for weddings.
Colosseum
In 1900 the building that hosts the Colosseum
Theatre was originally a mechanic workshop
of the Krupp steel factory. The quarter behind
these buildings and the car-park on the other
side of the street were the Krupp factory. It
was three times as big as the centre of Essen.
In 1988 the last workers left the industrial
building, and in 1996 the protected monument
reopened as a Musical Theatre. Unfortunately,
it had to be closed in August 2010. Now there
are different events.
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7.
Stammhaus Krupp
The parent house of the Krupp family was built
in 1818/1819, a half-timbered house which
was used as an observation house for the
Krupp steel-works company. Later it was the
residence of the industrial family Krupp for a
long time. But when the family thought they
were of international importance, the little
house was too small and the air was too dirty
in the middle of the factory buildings. So Alfred
Krupp chose a new place to live in 1873.
Destroyed during the Second World War like
the factory, it was rebuilt after the war.
Krupp Zentrale
In 2010 the Thyssen-Krupp headquarters
came back to Essen. For years the central
administration had been in Düsseldorf. The
city of Essen and Thyssen-Krupp decided to
transform the part of Essen where the factory
had been into a new and young living and
working district. For the architecture there was
an international competition. In the future there
will be houses and apartments, lakes, parks
and gardens.
Margarethenhöhe
Margarethenhöhe is the best example of a
kind of village built in Essen by Krupp for the
workers. The village has an entrance, a
market place, a tavern, a supermarket, a
church, a school and a tramway to go to the
factory. Every little house has a garden and
enough space for chickens or rabbits. Even if
Krupp had to reduce the salaries, the workers
had enough to eat. But they were not allowed
to be active in politics. They would have lost
their home immediately. Margarethe Krupp
gave the money for the construction of the
village in 1906 when her daughter married.
The architect finished the whole village with its
3000 flats only in 1938. From above you can
see that the Margarethenhöhe looks like a
heart.
Gruga
In 1929 2 Million people came to Essen to see
the great garden exhibition in the new GRUGA
Park (Große Ruhrländische GartenbauAusstellung). Since this time the Gruga has
been used by people who hadn’t got a
garden. Today you can do lots of sports here
and you can see animals and plants. It’s also a
place for special events like charity runs,
open-air concerts or children’s parties. In 2005
the Ronald McDonald foundation helped to
construct a home for the families of children
who are under treatment in the hospital
complex of the university which is situated
nearby. The Austrian artist Friedensreich
Hundertwasser invented a kind of fairy-tale
castle which you can see when you visit the
GRUGA Park.
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Villa Hügel
Villa Hügel is a wonderful place to live, above
the Ruhr-area and Lake Baldeney. We can
understand Alfred Krupp who chose this place
as his new residence in 1873. The Villa Hügel
has served as residence of the Krupp family,
as a representative house of the family and
company, and as an art gallery. The archive of
the Krupp family and company is also located
there. The house has 259 rooms and is
8,100m² large. It lies in a huge park,
prominently overlooking River Ruhr and Lake
Baldeney.Today there are many events like
concerts and exhibitions. We’ll just visit the
small house that Friedrich Alfred Krupp built in
1894, the “Spatzenhaus” which means
“sparrows’ house”. Inside the house there are
two rooms: one for playing and one for
cooking. And outside there is also a place to
play. Krupp wanted his daughters to learn to
be housewives when playing.
Museum Folkwang
The Museum Folkwang is one of the most
important art museums in Germany. The first
part was opened in 1960. But the history of the
collection dates back to 1902 when the rich
son of factory owners decided to open a
museum in Hagen, a small city not far from
Essen. He wanted to create a centre of
modern arts and crafts, but he died and his
dream did not become reality. His art
collection came to Essen in 1921. During the
Second World War the museum was
completely destroyed, but in 1960 it could be
reopened. In 2007 the museum was closed
because new buildings should join the old one.
The leader of the Alfred-Krupp foundation had
decided to give the money for a new museum
of international importance. In January 2010 it
was opened by the famous architect David
Chipperfield with a celebration. Right now you
can see the permanent collection, 19th century
until today, and an exposition about Paris as
seen by the photographers and the
impressionist painters.
10.
Philharmonie
The Philharmonie Essen (Essen
philharmonics) is situated in the historic
building “Saalbau” which was opened in 1904.
It has been modernised and reopened in 2004.
It’s known as the most beautiful house of
concerts with the best acoustics in Germany.
The “Alfred Krupp Hall” has more than 1900
seats and a huge organ. The “RWE Pavillon”
has about 350 seats.
11.
Aalto Theater
The Aalto-Theater is Essen’s opera house. It
was awarded the best opera house in the
German-speaking world. It was designed by
the Finnish architect Aalvar Aalto and opened
in 1988. The architect liked organic forms,
precious materials and he wanted the visitor to
be able to see that the building is used for
music already from the outside. This is why
the facade looks like a piano.
Synagogue
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The Old Synagogue is nowadays called the
House of Jewish History. During the Second
World War the bombs did not touch this
building, although 90% of the city centre were
destroyed. Very soon the synagogue will be
100 years old.
Cathedral / Minster
Bishop Altfried of Hildesheim built the first
church about 850 beside Astnide, his manor,
where his sister was the abbess of a new
convent. Noble ladies lived and learned
together until they got married. Great parts of
the actual cathedral date back to the 11th
century when Theophanu, grand-daughter of
the German Emperor, was abbess. She built a
new cathedral in the Roman style to protect
the “Golden Madonna” and other famous
objects which are part of the cathedral’s
treasure. Later the cathedral got new parts in
the Gothic and Baroque style. After the French
Revolution the Prussian King closed the
convent in 1802. Since 1957 the cathedral has
been the seat of a Bishop.
Zollverein
Previously, this pit really produced hard coal.
In the thirties it was the most modern coal
mine in the world. Today it is a museum and a
place of events. A lot of the events concerning
matters of the Cultural Capital take place
there.
The first coal mine of the Zollverein area
opened in 1847. But the modern parts date
from 1932 when Zollverein was the most
beautiful and modern coal mine in the world. It
closed its doors in 1986.
14.
Quiz
1.
The Collosseum Theatre, where many musicals have taken place, is an old building in the
western part of Essen. Which was its previous function?
2.
Where can you find out more about Jewish life and culture?
3.
Since 1873 the Villa Hügel has served as a place for living to the Krupp family. Who designed the
house?
4.
On 27th May 1906 the composer Gustav Mahler (1869 – 1911) conducted the 6th symphony in
Essen. Where exactly did he do this?
5.
Which tram line traverses the town from south to north and passes all the historical and cultural
places?
6.
Where does the name Essen come from?
7.
Which is the Eiffel Tower of the Ruhr area?
8.
The mines from the Ruhr area have female names, for instance Amalie, Marie and Barbara in
Essen-Altendorf and Helene and Bertha in Essen-Altenessen. Why?
9.
Which place in Essen is considered to be the first in Germany realized in the style of the garden
city movement?
10. Where did Essen have its first electricity?
Answers:
1.
The industrial hall was a mechanical workshop built by the Krupp company. In contrast to other buildings
that surrounded it, the hall escaped from the destructions of World War II and it was transformed into a
musical theater in 1995/96.
2.
In the Old Synagogue which is situated in Steeler Street. This huge construction was built in 1913. It was
the biggest synagogue in Germany until its destruction in the Crystal Night 1938. Since 1980 it has been a
memorial complex, a place of documentation about Jewish culture.
3.
The architect of the house was Alfred Krupp (1812 – 1887). He received many important guests from the
fields of politics and economy in his house. The house had the newest technological features of its time
and a park with botanical rarities from all over the world.
4.
In Saalbau. Since 2004 the Saalbau has been the home of the Essen philharmonic orchestra.
5.
“Cultural Line 107”. The route starts in Essen-Bredeney and passes the central station, goes on through
the city centre. After passing Zollverein and Essen-Katernberg it goes to Gelsenkirchen central station.
6.
The name “Essen” has undergone a variety of changes within the centuries. In the beginning it denoted
the foundation place of a convent for noble women in the Middle Ages, 900 B.C. It had the name Astnide
orAstnithi, later Astnidum, Asnid, Assindia, Essendia, Essende, Essend. Then it was changed into its
present name: Essen.
7.
The headframe of pit XII of Zollverein Colliery. The double block headframe is not only a visible mark of
the most beautiful mine in the world, but also a distinctive sign of the whole Ruhr area.
8.
All these mines have the names of some ladies from the Krupp family. The most important one is Helene
Amalie Krupp (1732 – 1810), the grandmother of Friedrich Krupp. Due to her success as a business woman
and her fortune the first steel factory was constructed.
9.
The “Margarethenhöhe”. Margarethe Krupp (1854 – 1931) was very much involved in artistic and social
events. In 1906, on the occasion of her daughter Bertha’s wedding with Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und
Halbach, the idea of a company’s town after an English model was born. She proposed her plan to the
architect Georg Metzendorf (1874 – 1934). Between 1909 and 1938 935 buildings were constructed.
10. In Krupp’s cast steel factory. This is where the first lamp was lit. The guest room in Villa Hügel also had
electricity, as well as the administrative buildings of the cast steel factory. Later the ateliers, workshops
and other buildings of the premises received electricity.