Margarethenhöhe

The Margarethenhöhe, named after its founder Margarethe Krupp, is considered one of the most beautiful examples of the implementation of the garden city idea in Germany. In his designs, Georg Metzendorf combined romantic facades with functional and comfortable furnishings. The settlement became a model for social housing and has also made a name for itself as an artists' colony. 

In addition to her commitment as an art patron, Margarethe Krupp was known above all for her social commitment. On the occasion of the marriage of her daughter Bertha in 1906, she established the "Margarethe Krupp Foundation for Housing Welfare". With their capital - in contrast to other Krupp housing projects - a cross-class settlement for employees of the company and municipal officials was realized for the first time. The architect Georg Metzendorf, who is responsible for numerous other buildings and settlements in the Ruhr area, was commissioned with the planning. Metzendorf implemented his concept of the "small residential building" on the Margarethenhöhe, which combined a floor plan solution tailored to the needs of the small industrial family with comforts such as a bathroom, water closet and central heating that were previously unknown in this class. The settlement was built in 29 construction phases from 1909 to 1934/38; the surrounding Siepenta valleys were transformed into forest parks in the spirit of the garden city idea.

The garden city movement goes back to the British Eebenezer Howard, who developed the ideal of self-sufficient places in the immediate vicinity of companies that secure jobs in the 19th century. In the early 20th century, garden cities were considered the ideal solution to growing cities and housing shortages. The goals of the German Garden City Society, founded in 1902, included the creation of "healthy" living space with access to a garden of one's own and common property based on the cooperative principle. This aspect is missing on the Margarethenhöhe, which otherwise ideally implements the construction of the garden city. Bay windows and arcades, curved gables, pilasters and natural stone bases give the self-contained settlement a varied appearance. Then as now, the center was formed by the so-called "small market" with its axis of inn, fountain and the former Krupp'schen consumer establishment, which was reserved solely for employees.

With the provision of space for freelance artists, the settlement also developed into an artist colony of national importance from 1917. The graphic artist Hermann Kätelhön, the sculptor Will Lammert, the goldsmith Elisabeth Treskow, the bookbinder Frida Schoy and the photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch all worked here. The expulsion of cultural workers after the National Socialists took power in 1933 put an end to the artist community in the south of Essen. Thanks to the reconstruction of the houses after the Second World War, the settlement, parts of which have been listed since 1987, still presents itself in its historical form today.