If you hike the ZollvereinSteig, you will experience exciting contrasts. Here lush green parks meet unique industrial culture and lovingly tended allotment gardens meet imposing slag heap art. The trail takes its name from - of course - the UNESCO World Heritage Site Zollverein, the only World Heritage Site in the Ruhr region. This is also where the route starts, which leads right across the north of Essen, past the Rhine-Herne Canal. Nowhere else in the city can you discover the successful structural change of the once industrial region so close to nature. The highlights, in the truest sense of the word, are the walkable slagheaps. From the proud landmarks, which were created by heaping up the mining rock, hikers can let their eyes wander and their souls dangle.
Route information
Length: 26.4 km
Length side view: 5.4 km
Metres in altitude (ascent): 321 m
Difficulty: medium
Physical condition: high (medium for half-day hike)
Family suitability: not in all sections
Landscape/nature: Varied hike through green belt, parks, industrial wastelands, allotment gardens, along the Rhine-Herne Canal and on elevations (slag heaps) in the north of Essen.
Once the "most beautiful colliery in the world", today it is a fascinating world heritage site. And filled to the brim with art, culture, design and history. An overview map of the World Heritage Site can be found at the bottom left.
The artist Thomas Rother has developed his work in the former machine house on shaft 1/2/8. The choreographic centre PACT Zollverein is located in the Waschkaue right next door.
The park was created on the 100th birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I to provide a green oasis nearby for the hard-working miners. Today, music fans are drawn mainly to the memorial of Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, who died in 2018.
When it comes to beer, there's no mistaking Essen. Here, Stauder is on the table. For over 150 years and six generations, the Stauder family has been brewing their Pils in Altenessen.
Socioculture in the best sense: that's what Zeche Carl has stood for for 40 years. Concerts, comedy and poetry slams take place here regularly, but there are also participatory projects for the residents of the district.
This 22-hectare cemetery is home to the graves of 45 miners who died in a firedamp explosion at the Fritz colliery in 1942. An impressive memorial stands in front of it.
At 50 metres, the highest slagheap in the city offers an impressive 360-degree panoramic view. Mountain bikers find the best training conditions here on their own track. Meet with respect. The landmark is the "Bramme" by sculptor Richard Serra.
Once the lifeline of heavy industry, today pure local recreation. Although numerous inland waterway vessels still pass through the canal, it is increasingly becoming a leisure paradise.
Whether you want to go for a walk, do sports, play or swim - you can do it all at Revierpark Nienhausen. If you want, you can also park your camper van here.
This cemetery in Gelsenkirchen was opened in 1893. Impressive are three cemeteries and monuments to miners who died in mining accidents at the Dahlbusch colliery.
From the spacious cemetery, situated on a natural rise, visitors have a beautiful panoramic view over the north of Essen. It is part of the "Essener Aussichten" project.
There's no question about it, there's so much to hike on the ZollvereinSteig alone that it's enough for at least one day and a full photo memory. But it's definitely worth taking a sideways look with us. We start at the Rhine-Herne Canal. For a long time, it was the busiest inland waterway in Europe. Today, professional captains share the waters with hobby boaters, anglers and teenagers who want to cool off. The tour continues to the Mathias Stinnes housing estate. Until 1972, the Stinnes colliery set the pace here, as the houses were built especially for the workers underground. Today, the small, tree-lined streets with their red, quaint brick houses are particularly popular with young families. A reminder of the active colliery era is also the rope pulley that you pass on Karnaper Straße. From there it is not far to the green lung of Karnap, the Emscher Park. If you continue walking, you will come to the "Carbon Obelisk" by the artist Rita McBride. The material of the artwork refers to the coal past, as the carbon used is made from carbon fibres. Before you cross the canal bridge back to the ZollvereinSteig, you will once again head off to the island. More precisely, to the Emscher Island, a 34-kilometre-long strip of landscape between Castrop-Rauxel and Oberhausen, enclosed by the Rhine-Herne Canal and the Emscher. The island is best explored on the "Island Tour", a designated walking and cycling route that leads to exciting places, some of which are still undiscovered.
From the beginning of June to the beginning of October, the Weisse Flotte Baldeney sails on Wednesdays and Saturdays on the Rhine-Herne Canal between "Oberhausen-Kaisergarten" and "Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck". The stop "Essen-Zweigertbrücke" is located at the footbridge.
