Every design for Essen
The big city that shaped you
13 unique designs from the city of Essen in Nordrhein-Westfalen – map designs, local expressions and symbols only people who know the place will read. Also available as t-shirt, hoodie or tote bag.
T-shirt
from 249 SEK
Hoodie
from 499 SEK
Tote bag
from 129 SEK
About Essen
Zollverein colliery
Energy capital
Industrial heritage
What do you call the place at the very centre of Germany's largest urban area? Many people in the Ruhr call Essen its secret capital, and it is easy to see why. The city is the seat of regional authorities, home to the country's biggest energy companies, E.ON and RWE, and the base of the Folkwang University of the Arts and the Red Dot design award.
What makes Essen unusual is how its industrial past has been turned into something people actually enjoy. The Zeche Zollverein, once a colliery, is now a World Heritage Site where the Ruhr Museum tells the story of the whole region and the Skulpturenpark Zollverein invites a slow walk. The Krupp Stammhaus is a reminder of the family whose ironworks made the city, while the Margarethenhöhe shows a quieter, more domestic side of the city. In the south, the Ruhr is dammed to form Lake Baldeney, where weekends are spent on the water.
Essen has been a European Capital of Culture and a European Green Capital, yet for those who live here the best title is simply home. Coming back from anywhere, the first sight of Zollverein on the skyline says you have arrived.
Shown on the map
Location: Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Coordinates: 51.4582°N, 7.0158°E
