DeilbachSteig

The rubble-stone building was constructed in 1880 and listed as a historic monument in 1987. Until 1929, it was the town hall of the Kupferdreh mayoralty, which at the time was not yet part of the city of Essen. Today, the building belongs to the association “Integrationsmodell, Ortsverband Essen e.V.”

The Kupferhammer was founded in the mid-16th century as a hammer mill for processing copper. The ensemble that still exists today dates from the second half of the 19th century. The Kupferhammer, which was decommissioned in 1940, is now part of the Deilbachtal museum landscape.

www.ruhrmuseum.de

The Deilmannhof, a listed complex comprising a main house, a stable building and a cross wing, was built in 1840. The listed Deiler Mill stands nearby. It is the oldest surviving watermill in Essen and the only one with a complete historic inventory of machinery.

Hard coal was mined at the Victoria Colliery until 1925. Alongside the operational building, the roughly six-metre-high base of the ventilation stack is a reminder of the heyday of black gold. Both are now listed buildings and part of the Deilbachtal cultural landscape.

www.ruhrmuseum.de

The listed church in Deilbachtal was originally built as an emergency church in 1900. Ruhr sandstone was used in its construction. The exposed timber roof trusses give the church interior the appearance of a barn.

In this small side valley between the ridge of the Isenberg and Winzermark, it is hard to believe you are in the Ruhr area. Instead, you feel as if you are in the Black Forest or even the Alps. Some finds from Balkhauser Valley date back to around 2000 BC.

All that remains today of the former Isenburg, built on the Isenberg in the 12th century for Count Arnold of Altena, is an imposing ruin. Rising amid the ruins is Haus Custodis, built around 1855 in the neoclassical style.

What was once a quarry is now a paradise for climbers. While a few decades ago the wall, which is up to 17 metres high, was mainly used for bouldering, today it is more suited to route climbing. The routes are mostly of easy to intermediate difficulty.

www.dav-essen.de

Right on the border between Velbert-Langenberg and Hattingen, a memorial on Am Isenberg commemorates the victims of the First and Second World Wars. From the circular seating area, hikers can look as far as the Langenberg transmitter.

The two masts of the Langenberg transmitter are easy to use as landmarks, as they can be seen from afar. The taller mast, at 360 metres, is a popular destination thanks to its location on Hordtberg. The Langenberg site is one of the oldest in the history of German radio broadcasting.

The Bismarck Tower, a landmark of Langenberg, was built in the early 20th century from massive quarry-stone blocks. The nearly 30-metre-high tower is right next to the Forest Climbing Park, one of the most beautiful climbing parks in North Rhine-Westphalia.

www.vvv-langenberg.de/ueber-uns

www.wald-abenteuer.de

With its quaint half-timbered houses, winding lanes and small stairways, Langenberg’s old town is one of the most beautiful and picturesque in the region. Other sights include the New Church, in the Late Gothic style and now used as an event venue, as well as the Old Church.

www.hso-nrw.de/historische-stadt-und-ortskerne/velbert

In the heart of the old town stands the listed and comprehensively refurbished Historic Citizens’ Hall of Langenberg. Cultural and artistic events take place in this impressive, castle-like building. The Hall’s gallery features the striking art exhibition “Grundsteinkisten”.

www.kulturloewen.de/haeuser/historisches-buergerhaus

The Voßnacker Brickworks was built in 1899 to use the local clay deposits for brickmaking. Today, three brickworks buildings and the 53-metre-high chimney still remain. The listed brickworks is the last 19th-century brickworks still standing in Essen.

The Hundebrücke takes its name from the term “Hund”, used for small mining carts that transported stone, ore and coal. In this case, the bridge was used to transport sandstone. Built in the mid-19th century, it consists of a stone arch bridge and an iron lattice bridge.

The Deilbachhammer is a historic technological monument, as it is the last surviving iron hammer in all of Essen to remain at its original site. The listed ensemble comprises the hammer building directly beside the Deilbach, the former master’s house and a workers’ house.

www.ruhrmuseum.de

Until the end of the 19th century, the former farming community belonged to the Mettmann district before becoming part of Essen’s Kupferdreh district. An architectural highlight of the area is the listed Catholic Church of St. Mary’s Nativity, built between 1876 and 1879 in the Neo-Gothic style.

At the beginning of the 20th century, industrial magnate Karl Funke donated a considerable sum to Kupferdreh for church purposes. The present-day Karl Funke Foundation was built with this money in the Neo-Romanesque style. It served charitable purposes until 2008 and is now an apartment building.

The predecessor of today’s bridge opened in 1872 as part of the “Lower Ruhr Valley Railway”. It was blown up by the German Wehrmacht in 1945 and subsequently rebuilt as a single-track bridge. Since 1984, it has been a pedestrian and cycle path connecting the districts of Kupferdreh and Heisingen.

The station building of the former “Royal Prussian Railway Station in Kupferdreh” was built in 1898. After all railway operations ceased in 1967/1968, the listed building became home to the “Lukas” restaurant (see “Food and Drink”).