The Küsten Canal , also known as the Coastal Canal ( German : Küstenkanal ), is a canal , about 70 kilometres (43 mi) long, that links the Dortmund–Ems Canal with the Hunte and thus the Weser rivers.
115-509: It was built from 1922 to 1935 by widening an already existing drainage channel and is used today, especially by the peat industry and for transporting coal from the Ruhrgebiet to Bremen . In April 1945, the 100-metre (330 ft) wide canal was a significant obstacle to Allied forces advancing from the Ems estuary into Germany. Forces of the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division assaulted over
230-612: A World Heritage Site since 2001. Notable accomplishments of the city in recent years include the title of European Capital of Culture on behalf of the whole Ruhr area in 2010 and the selection as the European Green Capital for 2017. Essen is located in the centre of the Ruhr area, one of the largest urban areas in Europe comprising eleven independent cities and four districts with some 5.3 million inhabitants into
345-402: A megalopolis . The city limits of Essen itself are 87 kilometres (54 mi) long, and border ten cities – five belonging to a district ( kreisangehörig ) and five independent – with a total population of approximately 1.4 million. The city extends over 21 kilometres (13 mi) from north to south and 17 kilometres (11 mi) from west to east, mainly north of
460-560: A decisive role in the development of coal mining in the Ruhr. According to the Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR, Ruhr Regional Association), 37.6% of the region's area is built up. A total of 40.7% of the region's land remains in agricultural use. Forests account for 17.6%, and bodies of water and other types of land use occupy the rest. The inclusion of four mainly rural districts in the otherwise mainly industrial Ruhr helps to explain
575-478: A lesser extent between either club and/or VfL Bochum , MSV Duisburg or Rot-Weiss Essen ( kleines Revierderby ). With 22 universities and colleges and more than 250,000 students, the Ruhr region has the highest density of further education establishments anywhere in Germany. These include five universities alone in the cities of Bochum, Duisburg, Dortmund, Essen and Witten . In addition, Folkwang University of
690-567: A major role in the shaping of the city and the Ruhr area in the late 19th and early 20th century. Riots broke out in February 1917 following a breakdown in the supply of flour. There were then strikes in the Krupp factory. On 11 January 1923 the Occupation of the Ruhr was carried out by the invasion of French and Belgian troops into the Ruhr. The French Prime Minister, Raymond Poincaré ,
805-420: A non-aggression pact with Germany. During World War II, the bombing of the Ruhr in 1940–1944 caused a loss of 30% of plant and equipment (compared to 15–20% for German industry as a whole). A second battle of the Ruhr (6/7 October 1944 – end of 1944) began with an attack on Dortmund . The devastating bombing raids of Dortmund on 12 March 1945 with 1,108 aircraft – 748 Lancasters, 292 Halifaxes, 68 Mosquitos –
920-598: A region where many ash trees were found or to a region in the east (of the Frankish Empire ). The oldest archaeological find, the Vogelheimer Klinge , dates back to 280,000 – 250,000 BCE . It is a blade found in the borough of Vogelheim [ de ] in the northern part of the city during the construction of the Rhine–Herne Canal in 1926. Other artifacts from
1035-510: A small town within the sphere of influence of an important ecclesiastical principality , Essen Abbey , until the onset of industrialization. The city then—especially through the Krupp family's iron works—became one of Germany's most important coal and steel centres. Essen, until the 1970s, attracted workers from all over the country; it was the fifth-largest city in Germany between 1929 and 1988, peaking at over 730,000 inhabitants in 1962. Following
1150-730: A strong identification of the population with "their" boroughs or districts and to a rare peculiarity: the borough of Kettwig , located south of the Ruhr River, and which was not annexed until 1975, has its own area code and remains part of the Archdiocese of Cologne , whereas all other boroughs of Essen and some neighbouring cities constitute the Diocese of Essen . Essen has a typical oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ; Trewartha : Dobk ) with cool winters and warm summers (different from Berlin or Stuttgart ). Without large mountains and
1265-678: A studio in Essen, which is responsible for the central Ruhr area. Each day, it produces a 30-minute regional evening news magazine (called Lokalzeit Ruhr ), a five-minute afternoon news programme, and several radio news programmes. A local broadcasting station went on air in the late 1990s. The WAZ Media Group is one of the most important (print) media companies in Europe and publishes the Ruhr area's two most important daily newspapers, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ; 580,000 copies) and Neue Ruhr/Rhein Zeitung (NRZ; 180,000 copies). In Essen,
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#17327810684661380-409: A year. The city became increasingly important strategically. Resident in Essen since the 16th century, the Krupp family dynasty and Essen shaped each other. In 1811, Friedrich Krupp founded Germany's first cast-steel factory in Essen and laid the cornerstone for what was to be the largest enterprise in Europe for a couple of decades. The weapon factories in Essen became so important that a sign facing
1495-428: Is a so-called arms of alliance ( Allianzwappen ) and consists of two separate shields under a single crown. Most other coats of arms of cities use a mural crown instead of a heraldic crown. The crown, however, does not refer to the city of Essen itself, but instead to the secularized ecclesiastical principality of Essen under the reign of the princess-abbesses. The dexter (heraldically right) escutcheon shows
1610-445: Is really no uniform regiolect that justifies designation as a single regiolect. It is rather a working-class sociolect with influences from the various dialects found in the area and changing even with the professions of the workers. A major common influence stems from the coal mining tradition of the area. For example, quite a few locals prefer to call the Ruhr either "Pott", which is a derivate of "Pütt" (pitmen's term for mine ; cp.
1725-474: Is referred to as "Essen's earliest preserved example of architecture". Essen was part of the settlement areas of several Germanic peoples ( Chatti , Bructeri , Marsi ), although a clear distinction among these groupings is difficult. The Alteburg [ de ] castle in the south of Essen dates back to the eighth century, the nearby Herrenburg [ de ] to the ninth century. Recent research into Ptolemy 's Geographia has identified
1840-761: Is the Klavier-Festival Ruhr in the Ruhr area with 50 to 80 events of classical and jazz music. With more than 50 museums, Ruhr has one of the largest variety of museums in Europe. Industrial Museum The city of Essen (representing the Ruhr) was selected as European Capital of Culture for 2010 by the Council of the European Union . In association football , the Revierderby is the rivalry between Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04 , and to
1955-533: The Archbishop of Cologne , marched into the city and erected a city wall together with the population. This proved a temporary emancipation of the population of the city from the princess-abbesses, but this lasted only until 1290. That year, King Rudolph I restored the princess-abbesses to full sovereignty over the city, much to the dismay of the population of the growing city, who called for self-administration and imperial immediacy . The title free imperial city
2070-517: The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: The Essen city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: The coat of arms of the city of Essen is a heraldic peculiarity. Granted in 1886, it
2185-663: The Dawes Plan , which led to the withdrawal of the French and Belgian troops from the Ruhr in 1925. However, the occupation of the Ruhr caused several direct and indirect consequences to the German economy and government, including accelerating the growth of right wing parties due to the Weimar government's inability to successfully resolve the problem. On 7 March 1936, Adolf Hitler took a massive gamble by sending 30,000 troops into
2300-704: The Encyclopædia Britannica . Even after World War II, the term "Ruhr" may not have been in general use for the region: it was defined in Documents on American Foreign Relations (1948): "For the purposes of the present Agreement: (i) the expression 'Ruhr' means the areas, as presently constituted, in Land North Rhine–Westphalia, listed in the Annex to this Agreement." However, Lawrence K. Cecil and Philip Hauge Abelson still write in 1967: "In
2415-773: The European Route of Industrial Heritage in the Ruhr area. Ruhr is known for its numerous cultural institutions, many of which enjoy international reputation. Ruhr has three major opera houses and more than 10 theaters and stages. There are special classical music halls like the Bochumer Symphoniker, the Duisburg Mercatorhalle, the Saalbau Essen or the Dortmunder Philharmoniker . Each year in spring time, there
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#17327810684662530-634: The Red Dot industrial product design award. In early 2003, the universities of Essen and the nearby city of Duisburg (both established in 1972) were merged into the University of Duisburg-Essen with campuses in both cities and a university hospital in Essen. In 1958, Essen was chosen as the seat to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Essen , often referred to as the diocese of the Ruhr ( Ruhrbistum ). Founded around 845, Essen remained
2645-648: The River Ruhr . The Ruhr forms the Lake Baldeney [ de ] reservoir in the boroughs of Fischlaken, Kupferdreh, Heisingen and Werden . The lake, a popular recreational area, dates from 1931 to 1933, when some thousands of unemployed coal miners dredged it with primitive tools. Generally, large areas south of the River Ruhr (including the suburbs of Schuir and Kettwig ) are quite green and are often quoted as examples of rural structures in
2760-543: The Ruhr area , sometimes Ruhr district , Ruhr region , or Ruhr valley , is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany . With a population density of 2,800/km and a population of over 5 million (2017), it is the largest urban area in Germany and the third of the European Union . It consists of several large cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to
2875-605: The Stone Age have also been found, although these are not overly numerous. Land utilization was very high—especially due to mining activities during the Industrial Age—and any more major finds, especially from the Mesolithic era, are not expected. Finds from 3,000 BCE and onwards are far more common, the most important one being a Megalithic tomb found in 1937. Simply called Chest of Stone ( Steinkiste ), it
2990-499: The United Kingdom . It has been claimed that immigrants came to the Ruhr from over 140 countries. Almost all their descendants today speak German as a first language, and for various reasons, they do not identify with their Polish roots and traditions, often their Polish family names only remain as a sign of their past. The Industrial Heritage Trail ( German : Route der Industriekultur ) links tourist attractions related to
3105-572: The bow echo that hit the cities on June 9, 2014, and caused tens of thousands of trees to fall which was publicly dubbed the "Pfingststurm" (German for "Whitsun storm"). Winters have become more mild which poses a risk for crops such as apples whose blooms are vulnerable to late freezes if bud break happens too early. The ten largest cities of the Ruhr: The local regiolect of German is commonly called Ruhrdeutsch ( Ruhrgebietsdeutsch, Ruhrpottdeutsch, Ruhrpottisch, Ruhrpöttisch ) although there
3220-537: The imperial city of Dortmund were concentrated along the Hellweg from the Rhineland to Westphalia . Since the 19th century, these cities have grown together into a large complex with a vast industrial landscape, inhabited by some 7.3 million people (including Düsseldorf and Wuppertal , large cities that are nearby but officially not part of the Ruhr area). The Ruhr area has no administrative centre; each city in
3335-532: The main railway station welcomed visitors Hitler and Mussolini to the "Armory of the Reich " ( Waffenschmiede des Reiches ) in 1937. The Krupp Works also were the main reason for the large population growth beginning in the mid-19th century. Essen reached a population of 100,000 in 1896. Other industrialists, such as Friedrich Grillo , who in 1892 donated the Grillo-Theater to the city, also played
3450-419: The polis or oppidum Navalia as Essen. Around 845, Saint Altfrid (around 800–874), the later Bishop of Hildesheim , founded an abbey for women ( coenobium Astnide ) in the centre of present-day Essen. The first abbess was Altfrid's relative Gerswit (see also: Essen Abbey ). In 799, Saint Liudger had already founded Benedictine Werden Abbey on its own grounds a few kilometres south. The region
3565-477: The synagogue was sacked, but remained through the whole war in the exterior almost intact. The Steele synagogue was completely destroyed. During the Nazi era, tens of thousands of slave labourers were forced to work in 350 Essen forced labour camps. Here, they did mining work and worked for companies like Krupp and Siemens. Alfried Krupp was convicted in the Krupp trial at Nuremberg for his role in this but
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3680-463: The verb for "eating" (written as lowercase essen ), and/or the German noun for food (which is always capitalized as Essen , adding to the confusion). Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of the name, there remain a few noteworthy interpretations. The oldest known form of the city's name is Astnide , which changed to Essen by way of forms such as Astnidum, Assinde, Essendia and Esnede. The name Astnide may have referred either to
3795-414: The 1950s and 1960s, as very rapid economic growth (9% a year) created a heavy demand for coal and steel. After 1973, Germany was hard hit by a worldwide economic crisis, soaring oil prices, and increasing unemployment, which jumped from 300,000 in 1973 to 1.1 million in 1975. The Ruhr region was hardest hit, as the easy-to-reach coal mines became exhausted, and German coal was no longer competitive. Likewise
3910-504: The A44 and the A52 have several missing links, in various stages of planning. Some missing sections are currently in construction or planned to be constructed in the near future. Essen Essen ( German pronunciation: [ˈɛsn̩] ) is the central and, after Dortmund , second-largest city of the Ruhr , the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of 586,608 makes it
4025-662: The Arts is an internationally acclaimed art college with its base in the Ruhr region. Furthermore, the universities are not the only places in the Ruhr region where academic qualifications can be obtained. There are 17 different universities of applied sciences which offer students to have the opportunity to undertake practice-relevant and qualified studies in various subjects, such as economics, logistics, administration or management. The Ruhr area has 5 major universities in 6 cities with about 120,000 students. The three largest universities (Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, and
4140-734: The Canadian British Columbia Regiment , Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) , Algonquin Regiment , Lake Superior Scottish Regiment , Lincoln and Welland Regiment , and Royal New Brunswick Regiment , and to the Polish 9th Light Infantry Battalion, 1st Light Anti-Air Artillery Regiment, and 2nd Motorized Artillery Regiment. Ems near Dörpen – southern Papenburg – northern Friesoythe – Hunte in Oldenburg In many places
4255-532: The Duchies of Cleves and Berg and the territories of the bishop of Münster and the archbishop of Cologne . The region included some villages and castles, and was mainly agrarian: its loess soil made it one of the richer parts of western Germany. The free imperial city of Dortmund was the trading and cultural centre, lying on the Hellweg , an important east–west trading route, that also brought prosperity to
4370-695: The Dutch stormed the city in 1629. She returned in the summer of 1631 following the Bavarians under Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim , only to leave again in September. She died 1644 in Cologne. The war proved a severe blow to the city, with frequent arrests, kidnapping and rape. Even after the Peace of Westphalia from 1648, troops remained in the city until 9 September 1650. The first historic evidence of
4485-519: The English "pit"), or "Revier". During the nineteenth century, the Ruhr attracted up to 500,000 ethnic Poles , Masurians and Silesians from East Prussia and Silesia in a migration known as Ostflucht (flight from the east). By 1925, the Ruhrgebiet had around 3,800,000 inhabitants. Most of the new inhabitants came from Eastern Europe, but immigrants also came from France , Ireland , and
4600-458: The Essen show is smaller and is focused on car tuning and racing interests. Other important fairs open to consumers include SPIEL , the world's biggest consumer fair for tabletop gaming, and one of the leading fairs for equestrian sports , Equitana , held every two years. Important fairs restricted to professionals include "Security" (security and fire protection), IPM (gardening) and E-World (energy and water). The Westdeutscher Rundfunk has
4715-611: The Protestant city and the Catholic abbey opposed each other. In 1623, princess-abbess Maria Clara von Spaur, Pflaum und Valör, managed to direct Catholic Spaniards against the city in order to initiate a Counter-Reformation . In 1624, a "re-Catholicization" law was enacted, and churchgoing was strictly controlled. In 1628, the city council filed against this at the Reichskammergericht. Maria had to flee to Cologne when
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4830-754: The Rhineland . As Hitler and other Nazis admitted, the French army alone could have destroyed the Wehrmacht . The French passed the problem to the British, who found that the Germans had the right to "enter their own backyard", and no action was taken. In the League of Nations , the Soviet delegate Maxim Litvinov was the only one who proposed economic sanctions against Germany. All restraint on German rearmament
4945-481: The Ruhr is structured differently from monocentric urban regions such as Munich , which developed through the rapid absorption of smaller towns and villages by the most significant city among them. Instead in the Ruhr, the individual city boroughs and urban districts of the Ruhr grew in a rapid and parallel fashion independently of one another during the Industrial Revolution . The population density of
5060-583: The Ruhr steel industry went into sharp decline, as its prices were undercut by lower-cost suppliers such as Japan. The welfare system provided a safety net for the large number of unemployed workers, and many factories reduced their labor force and began to concentrate on high-profit specialty items. As demand for coal decreased after 1958, the area went through phases of structural crisis (see steel crisis ) and industrial diversification, first developing traditional heavy industry, then moving into service industries and high technology. The air and water pollution of
5175-614: The Ruhr" was published in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States . The 1926 Encyclopædia Britannica , in addition to its article on the river Ruhr, has a further article on "RUHR, the name given to a district of Westphalia, Germany". Thus the name "Ruhr" was given to the region (as a short form of "Ruhr District" or "Ruhr Valley") only a few years before the publication of this edition of
5290-769: The Ruhr's coal and steel industries, was created as a condition for the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany . During the Cold War , the Western allies anticipated that any Red Army thrust into Western Europe would begin in the Fulda Gap and have the Ruhr as a primary target. Increased German control of the area was limited by the pooling of German coal and steel into the multinational European Coal and Steel Community in 1951. The nearby Saar region , containing much of Germany's remaining coal deposits,
5405-512: The Ruhr, who were known as Ruhrpolen since. The Poles were treated as second class citizens. In 1899 this led to a revolt in Herne of young Polish workers, who later established a Workers' Union. Skilled workers in the mines were often housed in "miners' colonies", built by the mining firms. By 1870, over 3 million people lived in the Ruhrgebiet and the new coal-mining district had become the largest industrial region of Europe. During World War I
5520-427: The Ruhr. By 1950, after the virtual completion of the by-then much watered-down "level of industry" plans, equipment had been removed from 706 manufacturing plants in the west, and steel production capacity had been reduced by 6.7 million tons. Dismantling finally ended in 1951. In all, less than 5% of the industrial base was dismantled. The Ruhr was at the centre of the German economic miracle Wirtschaftswunder of
5635-525: The Ruhrgebiet functioned as Germany's central weapon factory. At a big Essen company, F. Krupp A.G., the number of employees rose from 40,000 to 120,000 or more, in four years. They were partly women, partly forced labourers. In the March 1920 Kapp Putsch , nationalist and monarchist elements with the armed support of Freikorps units attempted to overthrow the government of the Weimar Republic . It
5750-597: The Transport and General Workers Union (London 1923). Yet "The report of a deputation from the Transport and General Workers' Union which spent a fortnight examining the problems in the Ruhr Valley", published in The Economic Review , Volume 8, 1923, is still using the traditional term. In the same year, "Objections by the United States to discriminatory regulations on exports from the occupied region of
5865-625: The University of Duisburg-Essen) opened an alliance called " UA Ruhr ". Students enrolled at one of the UA Ruhr universities can attend lectures and seminars at all three institutions without having to pay a visiting student fee. Consequently, they have many options to specialize in and to explore their chosen disciplines in depth. The UA Ruhr has three liaison offices for interested students in New York City , Moscow and São Paulo . With
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#17327810684665980-408: The Versailles Treaty. The German government responded with a policy of passive resistance, letting workers and civil servants refuse orders and instructions by the occupation forces. Production and transport came to a standstill and the financial consequences contributed to German hyperinflation . After passive resistance was called off in late 1923, Germany implemented a currency reform and negotiated
6095-428: The allies, Essen was assigned to the British Zone of Occupation . On 8 March 1946, a German army officer and a civilian were hanged for the lynching of three British airmen in December 1944. Although weaponry is no longer produced in Essen, old industrial enterprises such as ThyssenKrupp and RWE remain large employers in the city. Foundations such as the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach - Stiftung still promote
6210-465: The area are largely a thing of the past although some issues take a long time to solve. In 2005 Essen was the official candidate for nomination as European Capital of Culture for 2010. The Ruhr has an oceanic climate in spite of its inland position, with winds from the Atlantic travelling over the lowlands to moderate temperature extremes, in spite of its relatively northerly latitude that sees significant variety in daylight hours. A consequence of
6325-410: The area has its own administration, although there is a supracommunal Ruhr Regional Association [ de ] institution in Essen. For 2010, the Ruhr region was one of the European Capitals of Culture . The 1911 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica has only one definition of "Ruhr": "a river of Germany, an important right-bank tributary of the lower Rhine". The use of the term "Ruhr" for
6440-414: The article, "Exports from the Ruhr district of Germany". In 1924 the English and American press was still talking of the "French occupation of the Ruhr Valley" or "Ruhr District". A 62-page publication seems to be responsible for the use of "Ruhr" as a short form of the then more common "Ruhr District" or "Ruhr Valley": Ben Tillett, A. Creech-Jones and Samuel Warren's The Ruhr: The Report of a Deputation from
6555-415: The bigger European cities as Amsterdam , Brussels , Paris , Vienna or Zürich . The Ruhr area also contains the longest tram system in the world, with tram and Stadtbahn services from Witten to Krefeld as well as the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn network. Originally the system was even bigger, it was possible to travel from Unna to Bad Honnef without using railway or bus services. The Ruhr has one of
6670-410: The borders of the present-day city of Oberhausen . Moreover, the urbanization also boosted the expansion of railroad connections. At the beginning of the 1880s, agricultural regions did not benefit from the newly built transport facilities as much as non-agricultural regions did. This in its turn increased inequality, and made anthropometric measurements, e.g. height, more dependent on wages . In
6785-541: The borough of Heidhausen at 202.5 metres (664 ft). The average elevation is 116 metres (381 ft). Essen comprises fifty boroughs which in turn are grouped into nine suburban districts (called Stadtbezirke ) often named after the most important boroughs. Each Stadtbezirk is assigned a Roman numeral and has a local body of nineteen members with limited authority. Most of the boroughs were originally independent municipalities but were gradually annexed from 1901 to 1975. This long-lasting process of annexation has led to
6900-431: The canal on 19 April and secured a bridgehead at Edewechterdamm, after Polish formations of the 1st Armoured Division had taken over the previous Canadian position at Dörpen , 50 km. to the West. The Polish forces established a bridgehead towards Papenburg after two days of fierce fighting. "Küsten Canal" was awarded as a battle honour to both Canadian and Polish units participating in actions near this canal: To
7015-433: The canal runs parallel to the B 401 . c-Port , an association and trading estate on the canal. 52°57′42″N 7°18′14″E / 52.96175°N 7.30395°E / 52.96175; 7.30395 Ruhr The Ruhr ( / ˈ r ʊər / ROOR ; German : Ruhrgebiet [ˈʁuːɐ̯ɡəˌbiːt] , also Ruhrpott German pronunciation: [ˈʁuːɐ̯pɔt] ), also referred to as
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#17327810684667130-588: The central Ruhr is about 2,100 inhabitants per square kilometre (about 5,400 per square mile)—not too high compared to other German cities. Between the constituent urban areas are relatively open suburbs and even some open land with agricultural fields. In many places however, the borders between cities in the central Ruhr are unrecognizable, blending into one urban landscape due to continuous development across them. The replanting of brownfield land has created new parks and recreation areas in recent decades. The Emscher Landschaftspark (Emscher Landscape Park) lies along
7245-406: The centres of resistance to Social Democracy and the Freikorps alike. During the Nazi era (1933–1945), mayors were installed by the Nazi Party . After World War II , the military government of the British occupation zone installed a new mayor and a municipal constitution modelled on that of British cities. Later, the city council was again elected by the population. The mayor was elected by
7360-413: The city. Over 270 air raids were launched against the city, destroying 90% of the centre and 60% of the suburbs. On 5 March 1943 Essen was subjected to one of the heaviest air-raids of the war. 461 people were killed, 1,593 injured and a further 50,000 residents of Essen were made homeless. On 13 December 1944 three British airmen were lynched. The Krupp decoy site ( Kruppsche Nachtscheinanlage )
7475-414: The city: the Emscher in the north, and in the south the Ruhr River , which is dammed in Essen to form the Lake Baldeney [ de ] and Lake Kettwig [ de ] reservoirs . The central and northern boroughs of Essen historically belong to the Low German Westphalian dialects area, and the south of the city to the Low Franconian Bergish area. Essen is seat to several of
7590-448: The coat of arms can be found on the roof of the Handelshof [ de ] hotel near the main station . Essen has a population of 586,608 and is the 2nd largest city in Ruhr area after Dortmund and the 10th largest city in Germany. Essen has also the largest urban density with cities such as Bochum , Gelsenkirchen and Oberhausen borders this city. In 1960, the population reached its historical peak of over 720,000 (Essen
7705-423: The corporate headquarters of Schenker AG , the logistics division of Deutsche Bahn. Other major companies include Germany's largest construction company Hochtief , as well as Aldi Nord , Evonik Industries , Karstadt , Medion AG and Deichmann , Europe's largest shoe retailer. The Coca-Cola Company had originally established their German headquarters in Essen (around 1930), where it remained until 2003, when it
7820-402: The council as its head and as the city's main representative . The administration was led by a full-time Oberstadtdirektor . In 1999, the position of Oberstadtdirektor was abolished in North Rhine-Westphalia and the mayor became both main representative and administrative head. In addition, the population now elects the mayor directly. The current mayor of Essen is Thomas Kufen of
7935-417: The court in 1670 was that the city had to be "duly obedient in dos and don'ts" to the abbesses but could maintain its old rights—a decision that did not really solve any of the problems. In 1563, the city council, with its self-conception as the only legitimate ruler of Essen, introduced the Protestant Reformation . The Catholic abbey had no troops to counter this development. During the Thirty Years' War ,
8050-543: The daughters and widows of the higher nobility; led by an abbess, the members other than the abbess herself were not obliged to take vows of chastity . Around 852, construction of the collegiate church of the abbey began, to be completed in 870. A major fire in 946 heavily damaged both the church and the settlement. The church was rebuilt, expanded considerably, and is the foundation of the present Essen Cathedral. The first documented mention of Essen dates back to 898, when Zwentibold , King of Lotharingia , willed territory on
8165-429: The densest motorway networks in all of Europe, with dozens of Autobahns and similar Schnellstraßen (expressways) crossing the region. The Autobahn network is built in a grid network, with four east–west ( A2 , A40 , A42 , A44 ) and seven north–south ( A1 , A3 , A43 , A45 , A52 , A57 , A59 ) routes. The A1, A2 and A3 are mostly used by through traffic, while the other autobahns have a more regional function. Both
8280-598: The districts of Wesel , Recklinghausen , Unna and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis . The most populous cities are Dortmund (with a population of approximately 612,065), Essen (about 583,000) and Duisburg (about 497,000). In the Middle Ages, the Hellweg was an important trade route from the region of the Lower Rhine to the mountains of the Teutoburg Forest . The most important towns of the region from Duisburg to
8395-542: The double-headed Imperial Eagle of the Holy Roman Empire , granted to the city in 1623. The sinister (heraldically left) escutcheon is one of the oldest emblems of Essen and shows a sword that people believed was used to behead the city's patron Saints Cosmas and Damian . People tend to connect the sword in the left shield with one found in the cathedral treasury. This sword, however, is much more recent. A slightly modified and more heraldically correct version of
8510-533: The end of 2017. The city's exhibition centre, Messe Essen , hosts some 50 trade fairs each year. With around 530.000 visitors each year, Essen Motor Show is by far the largest event held there. It has been described as "the showcase event of the year for the tuning community" and as the German version of the annual SEMA auto show in Las Vegas . As contrasted with the Frankfurt Auto Show ,
8625-630: The exception of public transport companies serving Hamm and Kreis Unna , all such companies in the Ruhr region are run under the umbrella of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr , which provides a uniform ticket system valid for the entire area. The Ruhr region is well-integrated into the national rail system, the Deutsche Bahn , for both passenger and goods services, each city in the region has at least one train stations. The bigger central stations have hourly direct connections to
8740-459: The first place, the average person uses the term 'Ruhr' indiscriminately as the Ruhr River or the Ruhr district, two entirely different things. The Ruhr River is only one of half a dozen rivers in the Ruhr district, in addition to the Rhine. The Rhine itself runs through the heart of the Ruhr district." According to Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary , a standard reference on place names around
8855-460: The fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne , Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as the tenth-largest city of Germany. Essen lies in the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, second largest by GDP in the EU , and is part of the cultural area of Rhineland . Because of its central location in the Ruhr, Essen is often regarded as the Ruhr's "secret capital". Two rivers flow through
8970-432: The hills, highly skilled workers manufactured knives, tools, weapons and harnesses, using water, coal and charcoal. As the machines became bigger and moved from water power to steam power, locally mined coal and charcoal became expensive and there was not enough of it. The Bergische industry ordered more and more coal from the new coal mining area along the Ruhr . Impressive and expensive railways were constructed through
9085-403: The hilly Wupper region, to bring coal, and later steel, in from the Ruhr, and for outward transport of finished products. By 1850, there were almost 300 coal mines in operation in the Ruhr area, in and around the central cities of Duisburg, Essen, Bochum and Dortmund. The coal was exported or processed in coking ovens into coke , used in blast furnaces , producing iron and steel. In this period
9200-498: The important mining tradition of Essen date back to the 14th century, when the princess-abbess was granted mining rights. The first silver mine opened in 1354, but the indisputably more important coal was not mentioned until 1371, and coal mining only began in 1450. At the end of the 16th century, many coal mines had opened in Essen, and the city earned a name as a centre of the weapons industry. Around 1570, gunsmiths made high profits and in 1620, they produced 14,000 rifles and pistols
9315-702: The industrial region started in Britain only after World War I, when French and Belgian troops had occupied the Ruhr district and seized its prime industrial assets in lieu of unpaid reparations in 1923. In 1920, the International Labour Office published a report entitled Coal Production in the Ruhr District . In 1923, the Canadian Commercial Intelligence Journal , Volume 28, Issue 1013, includes
9430-434: The large proportion of agricultural and forested land. In addition, the city boroughs of the Ruhr region have outlying districts with a rural character. Seen on a map, the Ruhr could be considered a single city, since there are no visible breaks between the individual city boroughs. Thus the Ruhr is described as a polycentric urban area, which shares a similar history of urban and economic development. Because of its history,
9545-489: The long run, however, effects of the railroad proximity diminished. Consequently, the population climbed rapidly. Towns with only 2,000 to 5,000 people in the early 19th century grew in the following 100 years to over 100,000. Skilled mineworkers were recruited from other regions to the Ruhr's mines and steel mills and unskilled people started to move in. From 1860 onwards there was large-scale migration of Polish speakers from Silesia , Pomerania , East Prussia and Posen to
9660-427: The marine influence is a cloudy and wet climate with low sunshine hours. Summers normally average in the low 20s, with winters being somewhat above the freezing point. From the onset of the 21st century, the effects of global warming have become more profound. The area has been affected by severe droughts (like 2018), heat waves with temperatures above 40.0 °C (104.0 °F) (2019) and severe weather events like
9775-574: The name Ruhrgebiet became common. Before the coal deposits along the Ruhr were exhausted, the mining industry moved northward to the Emscher and finally to the Lippe, drilling ever deeper mines as it went. Locks built at Mülheim on the Ruhr led to the expansion of Mülheim as a port. With the construction of the Cologne-Minden railway in the late 19th century, several iron works were built within
9890-598: The oldest preserved seven branched candelabrum, and the Golden Madonna of Essen , the oldest known sculpture of the Virgin Mary in the western world. Mathilde was succeeded by other women related to the Ottonian emperors: Sophia, daughter of Otto II and sister of Otto III , and Teophanu, granddaughter of Otto II. It was under the reign of Teophanu that Essen, which had been called a city since 1003, received
10005-489: The otherwise relatively densely populated central Ruhr area. According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany , Essen with 9.2% of its area covered by recreational green is the greenest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the third-greenest city in Germany. The city has been shortlisted for the title of European Green Capital two consecutive times, for 2016 and 2017, winning for 2017. The city
10120-421: The presence of inland seas, it ends up extending a predominantly marine climate is found in Essen, usually a little more extreme and drier in other continents in such geographical location . Its average annual temperature is 10 °C (50 °F): 13.3 °C (56 °F) during the day and 6.7 °C (44 °F) at night. The average annual precipitation is 934 millimetres (37 in). The coldest month of
10235-604: The rebellion in early April 1920 and re-established the Weimar Republic's control of the district. An estimated 1,000 insurgents and 200 Reichswehr soldiers were killed in the battles. In March 1921, French and Belgian troops occupied Duisburg , which under the Treaty of Versailles formed part of the demilitarized Rhineland . In January 1923 the whole Ruhr district was occupied after Germany failed to fulfill part of its World War I reparation payments as agreed in
10350-406: The region is defined by coal -bearing layers from the upper Carboniferous period. The coal seams reach the surface in a strip along the river Ruhr and dip downward from the river to the north. Beneath the Lippe, the coal seams lie at a depth of 600 to 800 metres (2,000 to 2,600 feet). The thickness of the coal layers ranges from one to three metres (three to ten feet). This geological feature played
10465-510: The region's authorities, as well as to eight of the 100 largest publicly held German corporations by revenue, including three DAX -listed corporations. Essen is often considered the energy capital of Germany with E.ON and RWE , Germany's largest energy providers, both headquartered in the city. Essen is also known for its impact on the arts through the respected Folkwang University of the Arts , its Zollverein School of Management and Design, and
10580-536: The region-wide decline of heavy industries in the last decades of the 20th century, the city has seen the development of a strong tertiary sector of the economy . The most notable witness of this structural change ( Strukturwandel ) is the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex , which had once been the largest of its kind in Europe. Ultimately closed in 1993, both the coking plant and the mine have been listed by UNESCO as
10695-582: The right to hold markets in 1041. Ten years later, Teophanu had the eastern part of Essen Abbey constructed. Its crypt contains the tombs of St. Altfrid, Mathilde II, and Teophanu herself. In 1216, the abbey, which had only been an important landowner until then, gained the status of a princely residence when Emperor Frederick II called abbess Elisabeth I "Princess of the Empire" ( Reichsfürstin ) in an official letter. In 1244, 28 years later, Essen received its town charter and seal when Konrad von Hochstaden ,
10810-471: The river Emscher , formerly virtually an open sewer, parts of which have undergone natural restoration. This park connects strips of parkland running from north to south, which were developed through regional planning in the 1920s, to form a green belt between the Ruhr cities from east to west. During the Middle Ages, much of the region that was later called the Ruhrgebiet was situated in the County of Mark ,
10925-569: The river and Essen. Essen is twinned with: Essen cooperates with: Essen is home to several large companies, among them the ThyssenKrupp industrial conglomerate which is also registered in Duisburg and originates from a 1999 merger between Duisburg-based Thyssen AG and Essen-based Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp . The largest company registered only in Essen is Germany's second-largest electric utility RWE AG . Essen hosts parts of
11040-550: The town of Duisburg . Both towns were members of the Hanseatic League . The development of the region into an urbanized industrial area started in the late 18th century with the early industrialisation in the nearby Wupper Valley in the Bergisches Land . By around 1820, hundreds of water-powered mills were producing textiles, lumber, shingles and iron in automated processes here. In additional workshops in
11155-606: The well-being of the city, for example by supporting a hospital and donating €55 million for a new building for the Museum Folkwang , one of the Ruhr area's major art museums. The administration of Essen had for a long time been in the hands of the princess-abbesses as heads of the Imperial Abbey of Essen . However, from the 14th century onwards, the city council increasingly grew in importance. In 1335, it started choosing two burgomasters , one of whom
11270-513: The west, and Lippe to the north. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land . It is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 10 million people, which is the third largest in Western Europe , behind only London and Paris . The Ruhr cities are, from west to east: Duisburg , Oberhausen , Bottrop , Mülheim an der Ruhr , Essen , Gelsenkirchen , Bochum , Herne , Hagen , Dortmund , Hamm and
11385-504: The western bank of the River Rhine to the abbey. Another document, describing the foundation of the abbey and allegedly dating back to 870, is now considered an 11th-century forgery. In 971, Mathilde II , granddaughter of Emperor Otto I , took charge of the abbey. She was to become the most important of all abbesses in the history of Essen. She reigned for over 40 years, and endowed the abbey's treasury with invaluable objects such as
11500-711: The world, the name "Ruhr" refers to the river. The name preferred for the region in this dictionary is "Ruhrgebiet", followed by "Ruhr Valley". The urban landscape of the Ruhr extends from the Lower Rhine Basin east to the Westphalian Plain and south to the hills of the Rhenish Massif . Through the centre of the Ruhr runs a segment of the loess belt that extends across Germany from west to east. Historically, this loess belt has underlain some of Germany's richest agricultural regions. Geologically,
11615-407: The year is January, when the average temperature is 2.4 °C (36 °F). The warmest months are July and August, with an average temperature of 18 °C (64 °F). The Essen weather station has recorded the following extreme values: In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it has the same form as the German infinitive of
11730-855: Was a record to a single target in the whole of World War II. More than 4,800 tons of bombs were dropped through the city centre and the south of the city. In addition to the strategic bombing of the Ruhr , in April 1945, the Allies trapped several hundred thousand Wehrmacht troops in the Ruhr Pocket . After the war, the region fell within the British occupation zone , and Level of Industry plans for Germany abolished all German munitions factories and civilian industries that could support them and severely restricted civilian industries of military potential. The Ruhr Authority , an international body to regulate
11845-570: Was able to defeat the putsch by advocating a general strike that all but shut down Berlin. The work action effectively ended the putsch, but in the Ruhr it was the instigation for an armed revolt whose aim was to replace the Weimar Republic with a soviet-style council republic . In the Ruhr Uprising , the Ruhr Red Army was able to take control of the Ruhr industrial area. The Reichswehr , with assistance from Freikorps units, put down
11960-467: Was built in Velbert to divert Allied airstrikes from the actual production site of the arms factory in Essen. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Essen in April 1945. The US 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 17th Airborne Division , acting as regular infantry and not in a parachute role, entered the city unopposed and captured it on 10 April 1945. After the occupation of Germany by
12075-423: Was convinced that Germany failed to comply the demands of the Treaty of Versailles . On the morning of 31 March 1923, the culmination of this French-German confrontation occurred when a small French military command, occupied the Krupp car hall to seize several vehicles. This event caused 13 deaths and 28 injured. The occupation of the Ruhr ended in summer 1925. On the night of Kristallnacht on 10 November 1938,
12190-506: Was finally granted by Emperor Charles IV in 1377. However, in 1372, Charles had paradoxically endorsed Rudolph I's 1290 decision and hence left both the abbey and the city in imperial favour. Disputes between the city and the abbey about supremacy over the region remained common until the abbey's dissolution in 1803. Many lawsuits were filed at the Reichskammergericht , one of them lasting almost 200 years. The final decision of
12305-457: Was handed over to economic administration by France as a protectorate in 1947 and did not politically return to Germany until January 1957, with economic reintegration occurring two years later. Parallel to the question of political control of the Ruhr, the Allies tried to decrease German industrial potential by limitations on production and dismantling of factories and steel plants, predominantly in
12420-755: Was made part of the Prussian Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg from 1815 to 1822, after which it became part of the Prussian Rhine Province until its dissolution in 1946. During the German Revolution of 1918–19 , Essen was the home of the Essen Tendency ( Essener Richtung ) within the Communist Workers' Party of Germany . In 1922 they founded the Communist Workers' International . Essen became one of
12535-519: Was moved to the capital Berlin. In light of the Energy transition in Germany , Germany's largest electric utility E.ON announced that, after restructuring and splitting off its conventional electricity generation division (coal, gas, atomic energy), it will move its headquarters to Essen in 2016, becoming a sole provider of renewable energy . The DAX -listed chemical distribution company Brenntag announced it would move its headquarters to Essen at
12650-591: Was now removed. France's eastern allies (the Soviet Union , Poland , Czechoslovakia , Romania and Yugoslavia ) concluded that since the French refused to defend their own border, they certainly would not stand up for their allies in the East. Hitler could now continue eroding the alliance system that France had built since 1919. On 16 October 1936, Belgium repudiated the 1921 alliance with France and declared its absolute neutrality. In October 1937, Belgium signed
12765-584: Was pardoned by the US in 1951. There were several subcamps in Essen in Second World War , such as the subcamps Humboldtstraße [ de ] , Gelsenberg [ de ] , Schwarze Poth [ de ] . As a major industrial centre, Essen was a target for allied bombing, the Royal Air Force (RAF) dropping a total of 37,014 tonnes (82 million pounds ) of bombs on
12880-498: Was placed in charge of the treasury. In 1377, Essen was granted imperial immediacy but had to abandon this privilege later on. Between the early 15th and 20th centuries, the political system of Essen underwent several changes, most importantly the introduction of the Protestant Reformation in 1563, the annexation of 1802 by Prussia , and the subsequent secularization of the principality in 1803. The territory
12995-414: Was singled out for its exemplary practices in protecting and enhancing nature and biodiversity and efforts to reduce water consumption. Essen participates in a variety of networks and initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the city's resilience in the face of climate change. The lowest point can be found in the northern borough of Karnap at 26.5 metres (86.9 ft), the highest point in
13110-451: Was sparsely populated with only a few smallholdings and an old and probably abandoned castle. Whereas Werden Abbey sought to support Liudger's missionary work in the Harz region ( Helmstedt / Halberstadt ), Essen Abbey was meant to care for women of the higher Saxon nobility. This abbey was not an abbey in the ordinary sense, but rather intended as a residence and educational institution for
13225-621: Was the fifth largest German city at that time) due to its booming industrial era of the Ruhr Area and the West German Wirtschaftswunder . Since 1970s, the population of Essen declined due to loss of jobs by coal and mining. Essen has a large migrant population, most of them are from Turkey , Syria and Poland . The City of Monessen, Pennsylvania , situated along the Monongahela River , was named after
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