Jewels in shape and colour, no two doors are the same in the Garden City Margarethenhöhe housing estate.

Garden City Margarethenhöhe

The Margarethenhöhe in Essen has always been one of the most important European garden suburbs. The outstanding urban development of the housing complex is evident to this day thanks to the imposing gatehouse, the picturesque market square with the former Krupp’sche Konsumanstalt store, and the Margarethenhöhe guesthouse.

The "Small Market" forms the centre of the Margarethenhöhe and is surrounded by beautiful arcade houses. – © Frank Vinken / Ruhr Museum

The Historic market square of Margarethenhöhe entices with its inn and Treasure Seeker’s Fountain. – © Ruhr Museum

The bridgehead building with its gatehouse is the entrance to the estate. Behind it, the most prestigious part of Margarethenhöhe is located on the road “Steile Straße”. – © Manfred Raub

The Gasthaus zur Margarethenhöhe, dating from 1911 is considered to be the landmark of the estate, which today accommodates a hotel and restaurant. – © Manfred Raub

The "Small Market" forms the centre of the Margarethenhöhe and is surrounded by beautiful arcade houses. – © Frank Vinken / Ruhr Museum

The quality of life here in the first German garden city is accentuated by the two forest parks—Sommerburgtal and Nachtigallental—which were donated by Margarethe Krupp in 1907 as local recreation areas for the residents of Margarethenhöhe. In 1914, a public attraction was planned in the Nachtigallental forest park, with a reconstruction of the last water-powered "hammer mill" in the Siegerland region as a technical and cultural monument at the existing pond system. This idea was carried out in 1935 and 1936. Today, the Halbachhammer is considered a unique monument of its kind throughout Europe. During the summer months, visitors can, on specified dates, step back in time and discover pre-industrial smelting and forging processes using water and coal power.

In 1931, Ernst Bode, head of the Essen building authority, called Margarethenhöhe a "poem of stone and green." The estate was built by town planner and architect Georg Metzendorf in the spirit of the European garden city movement. - © Ruhr Museum

The Ruhr Museum entertains a model flat and presents the permanent exhibition “The Garden City Margarethenhöhe” in the Kleines Atelierhaus. The exhibition about the history of the Margarethenhöhe is located in the former ateliers and workrooms and provides a guided-tour overview of the construction and design of the housing estate everyday life of its inhabitants.

The model flat furnished by the Ruhr Museum and Margarethe Krupp Foundation can be visited as part of a tour of Margarethenhöhe. This flat is situated in a two-family house built in 1911 during the second building phase. It is a museum installation and represents the high quality of home-furnishing standards, which were heavily influenced by Georg Metzendorf's original concept.

Visit

Garden City Margarethenhöhe

Hours

The exhibition at the “Kleines Atelierhaus”, the model flat and the
Halbachhammer can be visited as part of a public or privately booked
group tour.

Pricing

Group tours in English

"The Garden City Margarethenhöhe" at the Kleines Atelierhaus:
60 min., € 80 , max. 20 participants

Garden City Margarethenhöhe:
(Complex and model flat)
90 min., € 80, max. 20 participants

Entire Margarethenhöhe:
(Complex, model flat and Kleines Atelierhaus)
120 min., € 110, max. 20 participants