Hotel-Restaurant Jagerhof

Kettwig: Old Town

by Kathrin_E

Think half-timbered houses with slate roofs, cobblestone alleys, a small town on a hillside crowned by an old church, overlooking a lake, pubs and cafes in old houses... The whole "fairytale picture" of old Germany. Would you expect THAT in the middle of the Ruhr district?

Well, it does exist. In this industrial zone, primary target to World War II bombs, a few old town centres have survived. One of them is Kettwig, now a suburb in the south of Essen.

Take your camera and stroll through the old town. Explore the side alleys at the bottom of the hill, too. The most spectacular part is Kirchtreppe, the stairway up to the protestant church, which deserves a tip of its own.
Travelogue page with more photos of old Kettwig

If you read German, you will find detailed infromation about streets and buildings on the numerous boards in the streets theat describe the history and architecture and how this very place looked in former times. A goldmine of information.

Margarethenhöhe

by Bigs

In this area you can find the old houses, that Krupp, Essen´s industrial master, once build for his workers and for the retired of his company. In fact it has been Margarethe Krupp. It has been one of the first social plans in industrial work they say.....

Nowadays I think it´s one of the most popular places to live in Essen, beside the area near the Baldeney Lake ok.... I really like the little houses here. Most of them are overgrown with ivy...it looks lovely I think....

Have a look at the travelogue for more pics!

Lichtwochen

by sabsi

Every winter (from November - January) Essen hosts its festival of lights "Essener Lichtwochen". Then you will find light installations all over the city centre.

I was there in winter 2003/2004 when the partner country for this even was Finland. Which basically means that there were pictures about each and every stereotype of Finland .... motorsport, sauna, skijumping, lakes etc etc. Oh wait, no! There was no mosquito light there I guess ;)

See the city district Kettwig...

by Bagillbaer

See the city district Kettwig (in the South, quite a way from the city centre). It's very picturesque - at least mostly... some ugly spots still need to be jazzed up, but the rest is definitely worth a look. Kettwig lies around the banks of the river Ruhr, it makes a very nice bike tour if you start at the Baldeney lake in Kupferdreh (or even a bit further up the river in Steele) and then go on to Kettwig.
Loads of Fachwerkhäuser, narrow lanes, lovely Biergärten... a little outside the town lies Schloss Hugenpoet, a top class hotel and pretty castle. See a mass of pictures in my Kettwig-travelogue.

Margarethenhöhe Impressions

by Kathrin_E

Margarethenhöhe is a social housing project of the early 20th century, influenced by the garden city movement. The idea was providing healthy housing with fresh air and light and a patch of garden.

Margarethe Krupp, the widow of Friedrich Alfred Krupp, started this housing foundation for poor families in 1906. Construction works began in 1909. The last houses were only finished in 1938. Unlike other Krupp settlements (Altenhof, Brandenbusch) the Margarethenhöhe, named after the founder, was not meant for Krupp workers only but open to all poor citizens of Essen.

Margarethenhöhe is a green settlement. The streets are lined with trees adn gardens. Each street looks different.

The arch leads to a square in Bauhaus style.

A villa in the oldest part near the market square.

Street view from the gatehouse in the oldest part of the settlement.