THE ESSENCE OF ESSEN
▶ This industrious German city offers an exceptional World Heritage site, a large collection of 20th-century art, and some tasty shawarmas to boot, as David Whitley discovers
Why Essen?
For a lot of people, Essen is the largest German city they’ve never heard of. That’s partly because it’s not the most obvious tourist destination in the world, and partly because it’s subsumed as part of the industrial Ruhrgebiet conurbation.
Those expecting belching smokestacks are going to be pleasantly surprised, though. Essen’s conversion from coal to culture has been dramatic, and it doesn’t feel like it has taken the depressing kicking that post-industrial cities have undergone elsewhere.
There’s now an unsentimental but genial vibe that sums up modern day, successful Germany – but Essen also has one site that, even by World Heritage standards, is something truly extraordinary. The Essen Motor Show, one of the biggest in the world, is taking place all this week until December 9.
A comfortable bed
Essen’s hotel scene is generally aimed at business clientele and is thus not very exciting.
The three-star Ghotel (ghotel. de) at least makes a play for design credibility, with pictures of Ruhr industrial sites on the walls. The burgundy colour scheme and little sweeties by the bed are nice touches too. Doubles cost from €85 (Dh337).
The Essenerhof Hotel (essener-hof.com) looks grand and historic from the outside – the building dates back to 1883 – but it’s blandly contemporary and agreeably solid inside. Expect to pay from €105 (Dh453) per night.
Refreshingly different is the Art Hotel Korschen (arthotelessen. de), which dishes out free welcome drinks and umbrellas, and has an endearingly all-over-the-place variety of themed rooms, ranging from Spain to Harley Davidsons.
The first floor is devoted to the Beatles, and you’ll likely find guitars and vinyl records mounted on the walls, plus pics of the Fab Four. Prices start at around €70 (Dh302).
Find your feet
The massive Museum Folkwang (museum-folkwang.de) is home to a substantial collection of 19th and 20th century art, including works by Gauguin, Van Gogh and Renoir. But frankly, it’s industry rather than art you’ve come to Essen for, so hop on the 107 tram to the extraordinary, Zollverein complex (zollverein.de), a Unesco World Heritage Site. Once the largest coal mining facility in the world, it is now brimming with arts organisations, workshops and events spaces.
The spoil heap has been turned into a greened-over sculpture park, while the coking plant has a big wheel and swimming pool in summer, then an ice rink in winter.
The main shaft is arguably the pinnacle of the New Objectivity architectural style, while the former coal-washing facility is now home to the Ruhr Museum (ruhrmuseum. de). This is spread over several levels, taking in the geological history that laid the vast coal beds, the Industrial Revolution population boom, and how the region has pivoted towards higher education and more technologically advanced work.
Meet the locals
At the southern end of the city, the Botanischer Garten Grugapark is where locals escape to for a bit of fresh air and greenery. The greenhouses cover the tropical plants, while the other gardens are neatly split up by geographic region, so you can be looking at Alpine flora one minute and find yourself strolling through wetland willows the next.
Book a table
The city centre feels a little dead at night, and there’s much more life to the south along Ruttenscheider Strasse. There are several good dining options here, including the city’s only Michelin-starred joint – Die Schote (restaurante-schote. de). With a weird cave painting-like art installation on the ceiling and diamante drapes around the bar, it eschews the usual stuffy fine dining look.
Don’t expect a hearty feed – this is showy small plates stuff, with a strong emphasis on the vegetables. The four course tasting menu costs €112 (Dh483), but perhaps more interesting is the €78 (Dh337) vegetarian option.
Much more down to earth is Habibiz (habibiz.de), a lovely little hangout with shelves of herbs, stickers saying “make felafel not war” and tasty shawarma plates for €8 (Dh35).
Shopper’s paradise
The pedestrian-friendly city centre is packed with shops, albeit without many intriguing specialities. From late November to late December, these car-free streets fill up with 250-odd chintzy wooden stalls selling food, crafts and woolly jumpers for the Christmas market.
Big shopping sprees are best done at either end of the centre. Kaufhof near the station is the classic department store, while the new Limbecker Platz mall (limbeckerplatz.de) has just under 170 shops, and looks like a pulsating, barnacle-covered cuttlefish.
What to avoid
Essen shouldn’t just be treated as a city – it’s also a logical hub for exploring the whole Ruhr conurbation. Use it as a base, and the industrial heritage theme can be expanded upon in several rather cool sites. These include the Gasometer (gasometer.de) in Oberhausen, with 360 degree art exhibitions in a 117 metre tall gas cylinder, and the Landschafts Park Duisburg Nord (landschaftspark.de) – a former power plant turned giant playground with scuba diving, rock climbing and light shows.
Don’t miss
Inside the old boilerhouse of the Zollverein complex is the Red Dot Design Museum (red-dot-designmuseum.de), which has most visitors mentally saying: “Want one,” as they wander around. It gathers the best in design from around the world, whether garden equipment, technical gadgetry, office chairs or silicone wound dressings. There’s little in the way of interpretation, but the “that looks cool” factor is off the scale – especially when it’s all displayed around the hulking boiler house machinery that has been left in situ.
Getting there
Emirates and Etihad fly to Dusseldorf from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively, with return flights costing from Dh2,975. Frequent trains from the airport to Essen take around 25 minutes and cost €12.10 (Dh52).
At Botanischer Garten Grugapark you can find yourself looking at Alpine flora one minute and then strolling through wetland willows the next