Behr's Parkhotel

Funny Garbage Bins

by Kathrin_E

These funny garbage bins can be found in Viehofer Straße and around the church of St Gertrud at the northeastern end of the city centre. Someone has painted them all and turned them into funny green creatures with big mouths, all different.

When you are there, feed them please...

See a performance at the Grillo Theater

by BillNJ

In the early 1890's, an industrialist named Friedrich Grillo donated a theater to the city of Essen which bears his name. In World War II, the theater was destroyed by Allied bombing. After the war, it was rebuilt in a simplified form.

Today, the Grillo Theater is the primary playhouse in Essen. With this tip, I have included the link to a website (in German) which provides information about current and upcoming peformances.

New life in the preserved buildings

by Nemorino

After nearly 55 years of continuous operation, coal production at the Zollverein Shaft XII ceased on December 23, 1986. Even before this, plans were being made to preserve the entire facility and to find new uses for some of the buildings.

Not only can you take a fascinating tour of the plant, there are also concerts, lectures, readings, panel discussions and special exhibitions nearly every day of the year. The photo shows part of a modern art exhibition in hall 5, with works by the painter Herbert Bardenheuer and the sculptor Oveis Saheb Djawaher.

On December 14, 2001, the Zollverein shaft XII along with the nearby coking plant and one of the older mine shafts was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Unlike most German pre-war industrial plants, this facility is extremely well preserved. Despite its strategic importance it did not take a single direct hit by bombings during the entire Second World War. This remarkable restraint on the part of the Allied air forces no doubt has to do with the fact that the construction of the facility in the 1920s was largely financed by American capital, so it was in a sense American property, even though operations were entirely controlled by the Germans.

Second photo: Part of our tour group at the art exhibit in Hall 5.

Third photo: On my way back to Essen on my bicycle after seeing an opera in the nearby city of Gelsenkirchen, I stopped to take this photo of the Zollverein Shaft XII at night.

Old Synagogue

by Kathrin_E

Essen's pre-war synagogue building is about 100 years old. In its times it was the largest synagogue within Germany. It was set on fire in the pogrom night of 1938 and was damaged but not deestroyed. Unlike most of Essen's city centre it was not smashed to ash and rubble in World War II but survived the war remarkably well. However, the small remaining Jewish community in the city established a new, much smaller synagogue after the war. Only recently the ruin has been fully repaired. The Old Synagogue serves as culture and exhibition centre now.

The huge building with the green dome is located close to city hall and cathedral and hard to overlook. Its architecture is a mix of Wilhelminic and Jugendstil/art nouveau. Especiually the decorum inside and the stained glass windows show art nouveau elements. When I visited (late August 2010) a new exhibition about Jewish holidays and Jewish life was in the making. The parts about the Jews in Essen were already accessible while many other showcases were still empty. It should be complete in the meantime.

Entry is free, photography allowed without flash.

More photos here in my travelogue.

Treasures in Essen's Cathedral

by whvcebu

"The sevenarmed candelabra"

This sevenarmed candelabra was made in the 9th century and is in the property of the cathedral since 892

"entrance to the crypt"

In the crypt of the cathedral is the newest grave of the last cardinal of the Cathedral Dr. Josef Hensbach who died in 1991

"Grave stone of the last Cardinal"

Dr. Josef Hengsbach was burried in the Cathedral.

Asole white rose was laid down by a visitor

"The modern Organ"

of the cathedral is installed in a very extraordinary way. The pipes of the organ are found within then cathedral in different locations to fully utilize the accustics of the cathedral

"In the Atrium"

between the main cathedral and the church of St, Johann is a cross that is hundereds of years old

"The place for eternal prayer"

is always open for the public.

"The history of the Cathedral...."

... dtes back to 852 when it was built by a bishop of Hildesheim. The Gothic 3 tract of the cathedral was built in 1276 - 1327, whereas the crypt dates back to the 11th century already.

During the second world war the church was heavily damaged and reconstructed acording to the original.

In 1958 it became the cathedral church of the diocese Essen.

"Cemetary of Cardinals"

Leaving the church through one of the side entrances the garden of the church is the cemetry of several cardinals