HIDDEN WAR FACTORIES OF THE RUHR
Krupp Works of Essen
Discover the secret war factories of WW2 while shopping
for furniture for your livingroom or a new coffee-maker for your kitchen.
Take a sojurn to Essen. Stop in at Ikea across from the rail station.
The parking structure for the bedroom set maker is the former steel
stamping
mill that made tank parts for the Third Reich's Wehrmacht (see Munich
Walking Tour - Hitler’s Bavaria.
Alfred Krupp developed the Bessemer iron working process to a heightened
art in the 19th century and forged the largest cannons the world had
seen to that day. His Big Berta could launch a shell six miles into
the air
in WWI.
Aces: A Novel of WWII from the Cliffs of Dover to the Ruhr Valley
The Krupp works (Krups) and other manufacturers populated Germany's Ruhr Valley, factories stretching across the landscape like onion fields of brick and steel and Essen was the center of German industrial might (see Rail Museum Bochum-Dahlhausen) before it was mostly destroyed by allied carpet bombing in the later half of WWII (see Bridge at Remagen). Now the Ruhr Industrial Heritage Trail there are still some of the old factories left, converted to other use. In Essen you can take a tour of the remaining ornate houses of the Krupps and a few of the remaining works buildings, like a stations of the cross walking tour through the industrial revolution. Krupp's grand mansion Villa Hügel is just outside of town in a green tree lined park.
But
some of the old painful past, the now respectable modern companies
would
rather just forget. Krupp has merged with rival Thyssen. And a trip along
the A40 autobahn north of town brings you past one of Thyssen-Krupp's
modern plants. There are no signs for tourists, just the visible water
tower, and they'd probably just rather you didn't stop in. But take
a
drive past the main guard-gated
employee entrance and around the corner along quiet neighborhood streets
in the rear of the plant property. There you can discover among the
overgrowth
of 50 years of dark history the remains of the old armor assembly works.
Like an embarrassing old alcoholic grandfather, no placards, no guide
books or post cards. Just a history preferred forgotten. (See Luftwaffe
Memories: A Stroll Down Heinkel Lane). © Bargain Travel Europe
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Ruhr
Industrial Heritage Trail
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SEE ALSO:
LTU
AIRLINES TO DUSSELDORF
DRIVING
EUROPEAN BACKROADS
BAD
DURKHEIM GERMAN WINE ROAD
CASTLE
AIR MUSEUM
