Editing Essen (section)

{{Use Oxford spelling |date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{About}}
{{Dist|Assen}}
{{Infobox German location
|type              = City
|image_photo       = {{multiple image
| total_width            = 280
| border                 = infobox
| perrow                 = 1/2/2/2
| caption_align          = center
|image1 = Essen Panorama.jpg
|caption1 = Skyline of the city
|image2 = ThyssenKrupp Quartier (31798903101).jpg
|caption2 = {{ill|ThyssenKrupp Headquarters|de|Thyssenkrupp-Hauptquartier}}
|image3 = Essen-Südviertel Luft.jpg
|caption3 = {{ill|Essen Business District|de|Südviertel (Essen)}}
|image4 = Schloss-Borbeck-Komplettansicht-Sonnenuntergang-2012.jpg
|caption4 = {{ill|Borbeck Castle|de|Schloss Borbeck}}
|image5 = Essener Dom am Abend.jpg
|caption5 = [[Essen Minster]]
|image6 = Zollverein 8107 2.jpg
|caption6 = [[Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex|Zollverein]]
|image7 = Villa Hügel, Essen, 20071222.jpg
|caption7 = [[Villa Hügel]]
|image8 = Essen, Saalbau, 2017-04 CN-07.jpg
|caption8 = [[Saalbau Essen]]
}}
|image_caption     = 
|image_flag        = Flagge Essen.svg
|image_coa         = DEU Essen COA.svg
|coordinates       = {{coord|51|27|3|N|7|0|47|E|format=dms|dim:50km|display=inline,title}}
<!-- |image_plan        = North rhine w E.svg Use mapframe instead -->
|state             = North Rhine-Westphalia
|region            = [[Düsseldorf (region)|Düsseldorf]]
|district          = urban
|elevation         = 116
|area              = 210.34
<!-- |population= |pop_ref= |population_as_of= All filled in by [[Template:Infobox German location]] via [[Template:Metadata Population DE-NW]] -->
|postal_code       = 45001–45359
|area_code         = 0201, 02054 ([[Kettwig]])
|licence           = E
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 05 1 13 000
|divisions         = 9 districts, 50 boroughs
|website           = [https://www.essen.de/ www.essen.de]
|mayor             = [[Thomas Kufen]]<ref>[https://www.wahlergebnisse.nrw/kommunalwahlen/2020/index_obb_lr.shtml#ob_lr Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517032138/https://www.wahlergebnisse.nrw/kommunalwahlen/2020/index_obb_lr.shtml#ob_lr |date=17 May 2022 }}, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 19 June 2021.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2020&ndash;25
|Bürgermeistertitel = Oberbürgermeister
|party             = CDU
}}
[[File:Stadt-Essen-Logo.svg|thumb|upright|Logo of the city of Essen]]
'''Essen''' ({{IPA|de|ˈɛsn̩|-|De-Essen2.ogg}}) is the central and, after [[Dortmund]], second-largest city of the [[Ruhr]], the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of {{formatnum:{{Population Germany|key=05113000}}}} makes it the fourth-largest city of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] after [[Cologne]], [[Düsseldorf]] and Dortmund, as well as the [[List of cities in Germany by population|tenth-largest city]]<!-- Note that the numbers in that table are not dynamically fetched like the one in this article. --> of Germany. Essen lies in the larger [[Rhine-Ruhr]] metropolitan region, [[List of EU metropolitan regions by GDP#2021 ranking of top 4 German metropolitan regions|second largest by GDP in the EU]], and is part of the cultural area of [[Rhineland]]. Because of its central location in the Ruhr, Essen is often regarded as the Ruhr's "secret capital".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www1.wdr.de/fernsehen/doku-am-freitag/sendungen/heimatabend-essen140.html |title=Heimatabend Essen – Die heimliche Hauptstadt des Ruhrgebiets |date=10 September 2014 |access-date=19 June 2020 |language=de |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417085829/https://www1.wdr.de/fernsehen/doku-am-freitag/sendungen/heimatabend-essen140.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Two rivers flow through the city: the [[Emscher]] in the north, and in the south the [[Ruhr (river)|Ruhr River]], which is dammed in Essen to form the {{ill |Lake Baldeney |de |Baldeneysee}} and {{ill |Lake Kettwig |de |Kettwiger See}} [[reservoir]]s. The central and northern boroughs of Essen historically belong to the [[Low German]] [[Westphalian dialects]] area, and the south of the city to the [[Low Franconian]] [[Bergish dialects|Bergish]] area.

Essen is seat to several of the region's authorities, as well as to eight of the 100 largest publicly held German corporations by revenue, including three [[DAX]]-listed corporations. Essen is often considered the energy capital of Germany with [[E.ON]] and [[RWE]], Germany's largest energy providers, both headquartered in the city. Essen is also known for its impact on the arts through the respected [[Folkwang University of the Arts]], its {{langr|de|Zollverein}} School of Management and Design, and the [[Red Dot]] industrial product design award. In early 2003, the universities of Essen and the nearby city of [[Duisburg]] (both established in 1972) were merged into the [[University of Duisburg-Essen]] with campuses in both cities and a [[university hospital]] in Essen. In 1958, Essen was chosen as the seat to the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Essen]], often referred to as the diocese of the Ruhr ({{lang|de|Ruhrbistum}}).

Founded around 845, Essen remained a small town within the sphere of influence of an important [[Imperial Abbey|ecclesiastical principality]], [[Essen Abbey]], until the onset of industrialization. The city then—especially through the [[Krupp]] family's iron works—became one of Germany's most important coal and steel centres. Essen, until the 1970s, attracted workers from all over the country; it was the fifth-largest city in Germany between 1929 and 1988, peaking at over 730,000 inhabitants in 1962. Following the region-wide decline of heavy industries in the last decades of the 20th century, the city has seen the development of a strong [[tertiary sector of the economy]]. The most notable witness of this structural change ({{lang|de|Strukturwandel}}) is the [[Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex]], which had once been the largest of its kind in Europe. Ultimately closed in 1993, both the [[coking plant]] and the [[coal mine|mine]] have been listed by [[UNESCO]] as a [[World Heritage Site]] since 2001.

Notable accomplishments of the city in recent years include the title of [[European Capital of Culture]] on behalf of the whole Ruhr area in 2010 and the selection as the [[European Green Capital]] for 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/applying-for-the-award/2017-egca-applicant-cities/ |title=European Green Capital |publisher=ec.europa.eu |access-date=12 May 2017 |archive-date=20 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520005738/http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/applying-for-the-award/2017-egca-applicant-cities/ |url-status=live }}</ref>