Places of interest / Arbeitersiedlung Eisenheim

Established 150 years ago between Osterfeld and Sterkrade, Eisenheim is the oldest workers’ settlement dating back to the industrialisation of the Ruhr and one of the oldest settlements to be preserved in Germany. It was built by the former iron and steel works Gutehoffnungs-Hütte (GHH) for its workers in several phases starting in 1846. There you’ll find semi-detached houses with two or one-and-a-half storeys that were built in a variety of different styles on an area covering approx. seven hectares, built in the years that followed. When the settlement was supposed to be demolished in 1968, a group of citizens founded an action committee to preserve 39 houses of this historic settlement. In 1991, Eisenheim was officially declared a historic monument. The Rheinisches Industriemuseum – RIM (Rhineland Industrial Museum) is currently hosting an exhibit in the settlement’s former Waschhaus (wash building), located at Berliner Straße 10a, to highlight the eventful history of life and work in the oldest workers’ settlement in the Ruhr region. Opening hours: 10 AM to 5 PM on Sundays and public holidays from Easter Sunday through 31 October.