Essen

Essen, city in west central Germany, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), in the Ruhr industrial district. The city is a railroad and manufacturing center, a chief industry being the manufacture of iron and steel. Other products include machinery, chemicals, glass, textiles, and building materials; coal is mined nearby. Among the city's points of interest are a cathedral (begun 10th century) with a rich collection of medieval goldsmith work; Folkwang Museum, with notable displays of 19th- and 20th-century painting; a museum of industrial design; and Villa Hügel, with a museum devoted to the Krupp family, who founded the iron-and-steel industry here in the early 19th century. A university (1972) is in the city.

Essen was originally the seat of a Benedictine convent (see Benedictines), and it became an ecclesiastical town, governed by the convent, in the mid-10th century. The convent maintained control until 1803, when Essen was made a secular town under Prussia, a status it retained until 1946, except for periods of French control (1808-1814 and 1923-1925). During World War II (1939-1945) the city was severely damaged, and after 1945 it was rebuilt with technologically advanced factories and large parks. Population (2005 estimate) 588,100.