Essen Day one

More photos of the Ruhrgebiet and Essen area at
 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058724&id=1009425114&l=77d637d5e0
We had a full day one in Essen and the Ruhrgebiet.  Lots of history and culture in this part of Germany!

To quote our itinerary: "The Ruhrgebiet is a European Capital of Culture 2010. As an unconventional metropolis in the making, it is on its way to becoming a new heart of Europe. Its motto is “Change through Culture - Culture through Change”. The European Capital of Culture 2010, “Essen for the Ruhrgebiet”, welcomes anyone wanting to experience the multifaceted transformation of a region from being Europe’s legendary coal and steel region to a new kind of cultural metropolis with many centers."

We experienced the WESTFÄLISCHES LANDESMUSEUM LWL-Museum für Archäologie in Herne where we toured the exhibition “Of Knights, Castles and Intrigues” about a fascinating event and world of the Middle Ages in the Ruhr area.

We had lunch in the area of ZECHE ZOLLVEREIN, the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The Zollverein World Heritage Site - also known as “the world’s most beautiful coal mine” is today the most famous industrial monument and center of the creative industry in the Ruhr area.  The mine ceased production in the 1980s and has been turned into a museum for industry and a cultural showplace.  

Also on the site is the RUHR MUSEUM which has extensive collections on the geology, archaeology, history and photography of the Ruhrgebiet.  We managed to learn about millions of years of history of the area.  It was very inbteresting to experience a museum's exhibitis in the midst of the old coal washing plant features that are yet intact.

 

Tomorrow we visit the Essen Museum Folkwang and then to Duisburg for the inner harbor cruise and lunch.  We are also adding a jaunt to Cologne after Duisburg, and we are happy as many of us have not yet visited that historic city.