Essen is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr district, the largest urban area in Germany. Because of its central location, Essen is often regarded as the Ruhr's "secret capital".

The city dates back to the Essen women's monastery founded before 850. In addition to this monastery, Werden Monastery, founded by Liudger around 800, was a center of late antique and early Christian textual tradition. Elevated to the status of a free imperial city by Emperor Charles IV in the 14th century, Essen had been an arms manufacturer since the late Middle Ages and, with industrialization, rose to become one of the most important centers of the mining industry. After a massive decline in heavy industry from the mid-1960s onwards, Essen developed a strong service sector as part of structural change.

With the Museum Folkwang, Essen boasts a renowned collection of modern art. It was opened in Hagen in 1902 by Karl Ernst Osthaus under the name Folkwang Museum and long played a pioneering role in the field of modern art. After Osthaus's death in 1921, his collection was sold to Essen. The collection has been housed there ever since. During the Nazi era, the museum lost 1,400 works, including significant parts of its collection, in the "Degenerate Art" campaign. After the war, these losses were largely replaced through repurchases or new acquisitions.


Theo van Rysselberghe (1862 – 1926)
Mondnach in Boulogne sur Mer / Moonlight in Boulogne sur Mer / 1900