"Center of the Ruhr Area Industrial... " a Essen Travel Page by BillNJ

Historically, the city of Essen is best known as an important coal and steel center in the Ruhr area led by the Krupp family. Today, it is a city with approximately 580,000 residents which makes it the 7th- or 8th-largest city in Germany. Also, the economy is more diverse now than in earlier years when it was dominated by Krupp. Today, Essen is home to 13 of the 100 largest German corporations and seat to several of the region's authorities.

Essen has a large center city pedestrian zone with many shops, restaurants, sidewalk cafes, churches, theaters, town squares, and other attractions. On the day of my visit, VTer Daniela (mickybleck), a native of Essen, was kind enough to give me a tour of the downtown pedestrian zone. It is a pleasure to take a stroll in a city center without having to be concerned about automobile traffic. During our stroll, we made a brief stop in the Münster Essen (Essen Cathedral) which has a treasury consisting of many important church relics, including the Golden Madonna dating back to the year 980 A.D.

The EU Commission has named Essen as a European Capital of Culture for 2010. Essen applied on behalf of the entire Ruhr region. Hopefully, this designation helps to draw more tourists to this wonderful city.