Essen

Essen is a city in the central part of the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Located on the River Ruhr, its population of approximately 567,000 (as of 31 December 2012) makes it the 9th-largest city in Germany. For the year 2010, Essen was the European Capital of Culture on behalf of the whole Ruhr area.

Founded around 845 and historically linked to the centuries-old Krupp family iron works, Essen has been one of Germany's most important coal and steel centres until the 1970s and attracted workers from all over the country; it was the 5th-largest city in Germany between 1929 and 1988, peaking at over 730,000 inhabitants in 1962. The city has since developed a strong tertiary sector of the economy, so it is sometimes called "desk of the Ruhr area". Essen is home to 13 of the 100 largest German corporations and seat to several of the region's authorities.

In 1958, the city was chosen to serve as the seat to a Roman Catholic diocese (often referred to as Ruhrbistum or diocese of the Ruhr). 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.