Essen.
The summer season has begun in Grugapark Essen. The most important information about attractions, games, entrance fees and more.
Im Gruga Park The summer season begins on Monday, April 3rd, despite the still cooler temperatures. Many attractions start again, some have been renovated or redesigned. Plant lovers are particularly well catered for in the Gruga at the moment: the cherry blossoms have begun, numerous daffodils and crocuses can be found in the beds and on the meadows, and the colorful spring change flowers – consisting of around 50,000 plants – have been planted by the Gruga gardeners over the past few weeks planted (more status updates below).
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About the history of the park: The Grugapark in Essen is from the first Grate Ruhrland Gartenbau exhibition in 1929, which also gave the Gruga its catchy name. The founding impulse was older and consisted of establishing a botanical garden for teaching purposes, providing a forum for the art of park and horticulture, but above all offering the population in the industrial area a public park and providing access to recreational areas. The park still fulfills these functions today.
From the beginning there were also cultural events such as concertsmeanwhile also have regularly recurring Events like the park lights and the Grugaparkfest, have their permanent place in the Grugapark.
Grugapark in Essen – admission, prices, information
- The Grugapark is almost 65 hectares or 65,000 square feet. That corresponds to about 130 soccer fields.
- Entry to the Grugapark is chargeable, the area is completely fenced. The single ticket for adults costs 4 Euro, in winter 2 euros, the non-transferable annual pass is available for 29.50 euros. There are discounts for children, families and students. The checkout hours are from 9am to 4pm (winter season) and 9am to 6pm (summer season). Free entry are available in the morning from around 7 a.m. until the cash desk opens and in the evening from the close of the cash desk until 9.30 p.m., in summer until dark at the latest. The gates are closed at night.
- There are five entrances: Main entrance (Messeplatz), orangery (Virchowstraße 167), show gardens (Külshammerweg 2), Lührmannstraße (Lührmannstraße 80) and Grugabad (Norbertstraße).
- The Grugapark is accessed through paved main roadsbut also smaller, stronger natural byways.
- In the summer months, the Grugabahn on a roughly 3.3 kilometer long railway line. The three train stations Kranichwiese, Mustergarten and Kleintiergarten are all located near the large park entrances.
Grugapark Essen – How to get there?
- Arriving by car: Larger parking spaces are available at all five entrances, most are chargeable. At the main entrance there is the large trade fair car park P 1, at the Grugabad entrance there is a multi-storey car park. At the entrance to model gardens, motorists have access most likely the chance of a free parking space to get hold of, there are two places, one on the Külshammerweg and one on the Lührmannwald road. There are also paid parking spaces along Norbertstrasse.
- Arriving by bike: At all entrances there are a few brackets. Bicycles are generally not permitted in the park.
- Arriving by public transport: Two subway lines from the main station direction offer themselves. The U11 with its stops Messe Ost/Gruga (main entrance) and Messe West/Süd/Gruga: (Park entrances Grugabad and Lührmannstraße) is the best way to access the park. Leave the U17 at the Margarethenhöhe terminus, from where you can walk to the Mustergarten park entrance in five to ten minutes.
Grugapark Essen – news in the news blog:
Grugapark Essen: history
After the large Ruhrland horticultural exhibition, there were further horticultural shows in 1938, 1952 and 1965. They changed the park according to the prevailing park and architectural fashions. only The Grugaturm, built in 1929, is a structural relic of the old Gruga, which was used as a lookout tower, but also served as a receiving tower for radio transmissions. You can read more about the garden shows in the Grugapark here.
Die Federal Garden Show 1965 almost doubled the area of the Grugapark and opened up the park more for games and sports, as a venue for concerts and festivals. From the buildings of this garden show, the reading pavilion on the Große Tummelwiese has been preserved. You can see more about the history of the Grugapark and many private photos of our readers here.
The Grugapark lies entirely in the Rüttenscheid district of Essen, bordering on Holsterhausen, Bredeney and Margarethenhöhe. For these partly densely populated parts of the city, the park has the function of a local recreation area, but the Grugapark is visited by people from all over Essen and even has a national appeal, especially on special occasions such as the “park lights”.
Grugapark in Essen – attractions (without claiming to be complete):
- Alpinum with waterfall
- Farm for endangered breeds of domestic animals
- Botanical garden with Mediterraneum and pyramid-shaped tropical houses
- dahlia arena
- fallow deer enclosure
- Eulen aviaries
- Color terraces (square and rectangular flower fields)
- Geological wall (cross-section through the Essen area)
- Gradier work
- Five barbecue areas
- small animal garden
- Kranichwiese (fairground), opposite the Orangery
- Music pavilion for about 1000 guests
- Plant display houses (recently technically renovated)
- Rhododendron Valley with around 500 species
- rose garden (recently renovated),
- Stenshofturm (Romanesque house), residential tower from the 12th century, listed building
- playground
- Westphalian cottage garden, laid out in 1927
On the edge of the Grugapark near the university hospital, the Hundertwasserhaus is one of the most popular attractions. The house, which opened in 2005, offers families with seriously ill children who are being treated in the university hospital a temporary home. The design is the last known of the famous Viennese architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Grugapark reached its peak of popularity with up to 2.5 million visitors per year and developed into the “emotional heart” of their city for many Essen residents. The number of visitors then fell sharply with growing leisure opportunities and greater mobility, but has stabilized in recent years at around one million per year.
Grugapark Essen – you can do that with children
There are numerous children’s playgrounds in the Grugapark, the largest are the Vogeldelle playground near the main entrance and the Burg adventure playground at the Grugabad entrance. At the start of the summer season on April 3, 2023, this was given a small child-friendly climbing garden, which is intended to be reminiscent of a castle ruin. Other smaller playgrounds are particularly concentrated in the part of the Grugapark that is closest to the model gardens and Grugabad entrances.
It is also popular with children the small animal garden at the large Tummelwiese (closest entrance: Grugabad) with ponies, goats, domestic pigs etc. and the animal farm with aviaries in which owls, griffins, parrots and parakeets can be seen.
There is also a children’s playhouse near the main entrance: during the summer season it is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., during the winter season from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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