Altenessen
Shopping, culture and big-city flair in the heart of the Ruhr region
Historic treasures, impressive cultural venues, varied shopping opportunities and an events calendar packed with highlights: Essen city centre combines history with modern urban life. There is plenty to discover among traditional sights, lively squares and cosy cafés.
Getting there: Essen Central Station is the ideal starting point for a visit. From here, the most important sights, shopping streets and event venues are easily reached on foot.
Allow time: We recommend around three to four hours for a first stroll around the city and a look at selected sights. If you want to visit museums, shop at length or explore the restaurants, allow more time.
Free highlights: The Golden Madonna in Essen Cathedral, the Old Synagogue and a stroll through the historic shopping streets are among the special experiences that do not require an admission ticket.
Where Essen’s history meets modern urban life
Essen city centre was one of the first pedestrian zones in the country. From the main station in the south, Kettwiger Straße extends as far as the Market Church in the north. Along the way, you will find Essen Cathedral and its spectacular cathedral treasury, which the abbesses once assembled so successfully. Thanks to their wealth and the unusually high level of education they received for their time, they wielded more power in the city than the mayor for many years, and Essen was effectively governed by them in the Middle Ages.
A golden treasure from the Middle Ages
The cathedral treasury still bears witness to this era. Its most famous exhibit, the Golden Madonna—the oldest fully sculpted figure of the Virgin Mary north of the Alps—is freely accessible in the cathedral, to the left of the altar. On the way there from the station, you will first pass Essen’s theatre, the Grillo Theater, on the left, followed by Germany’s largest and most beautiful movie palace, the Lichtburg, dating from 1929, on the right. The red carpet has been rolled out here for film premieres for generations.
Continue left from Kettwiger Straße at the Market Church and walk along Limbecker Straße to the Limbecker Platz shopping centre, a huge mall with everything a shopper could wish for. The furniture mile begins just behind it, with the only IKEA in a German city centre as well as other furniture stores. The buildings of the Funke Media Group stretch out right next door. If you need a break from all the sightseeing and shopping, you can relax at one of the many and very diverse restaurants throughout the city centre. There are places to sit comfortably indoors or outdoors over delicious food or a drink of your choice, while watching the colourful bustle. For a particularly stylish break, head to Willy-Brandt-Platz, directly opposite the station. In the Markthalle at Königshof, you’ll find small stalls serving everything your palate could desire.
Continue north along Kettwiger Straße and take Viehofer Straße to reach the cultural cathedral TRUDI. The former church is now home to the University of Fine Arts and serves as an event venue. If you turn right at the Market Church, you’ll pass through the Rathaus Galerie shopping centre on your way to the town hall. The Old Synagogue is also right next door: a grand building that was rebuilt after being destroyed by the National Socialists and now serves as a meeting place and a centre for Jewish culture.
