With about 583,000 inhabitants, the city of Essen is one of the most populous cities in Germany. It became the European Capital of Culture in 2010 and is located north of the Ruhr. After founding of a cast steel factory by Friedrich Krupp in 1811, Essen quickly became one of the central industrial districts of the so-called Ruhrpotts. Today, there is a strong service industry and a growing popularity as a shopping metropolis.

Essen, besides being an industrial town, has a lot more to offer for those culturally and historically oriented:

The Grillo Theater was given to the city of Essen by the industrialist Friedrich Grillo in 1892. The Schauspielhaus offers classic dramas as well as modern classics and is located in the theater.

The Baldeney Lake was built as a water reservoir in 1931 and developed into a popular recreation area over time. A 15-kilometer-long trail leads around the lake and excursion boats of the "Weiße Flotte"are there to take on a cruise on the lake.

The Villa Hügel was built by the industrialist Alfred Krupp in the years 1868 to 1872. The castle-like pompous building offers first-class international art exhibitions, the Krupp Historical Collection and the permanent exhibition "Krupp heute". The entry is very sheap with a price of 1 euro.

The Grugapark Essen was born from the Great Ruhr Garden Exhibition in 1929. With an area of ​​700,000 square meters, it is one of the largest and most wonderful parks in Europe. The Grugabahn offers a tour of the park on its route of 3.3 kilometers. At the summer time concerts in the music garden invite you to visit and attractive events with summer festivals, well-known stars and children's events are appealing for almost every visitor.

The historical district of Essen-Kettwig, with its half-timbered houses, small streets, Rococo and Empire doors, offers an insight into life some 100 to 200 years ago.

The Luciuskirche was built between 995 and 1063 and was the first church in Germany independent of a monastery. It is also the oldest parish church on the other side of the Alps.

The Margarethenhöhe is a settlement which reflects the style of an English garden town. A stroll along the wonderful cottages and the central market square will provide you with a break and a glimpse of English architecture.

The Coal mine was protected as a monument in 1970 and today it is the center of the alternative cult scene. There are concerts, exhibitions and music, creative and sports courses.

Centro Oberhausen is a leisure and shopping center in Oberhausen near Essen, which opened in 1996. There are more than 200 shops spread out over two floors, and the Centro is home to some 23 million visitors annually.

A city with such a name can not help but have an excellent culinary landscape. The multiculturalism of the city of Essen is reflected in the offer, where around 100 nationalities have found a home. So the range stretches from local to oriental food, from French fries to caviar and from the small meal between to the 5-course menu.

Convince yourself of the versatility of the "Essener Genuss-Landschaft"  - you can find yourself in the individual restaurants, bars, pubs and cafés but also in the open-air gourmet mile. On these occasions, the local gastronomic scene is a source of food for family-friendly tasting prizes several times a year.

The city of Tuzla is the administrative center and the economic, cultural and educational center of the Tuzla Canton and the economic-geographic region of northeastern Bosnia. Tuzla is predominantly an industrial city, the center of the municipality of the same name and the Tuzla Canton. It is also the economic, cultural, sports and educational center of northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the valley of Majevica Mountain.

The city is famous for its chemical and motor industry. It is especially known for the great wealth of salt, after which it got its name (from the Turkish language: "greed" means "so"), and this city lies on a large number of salt mines.

Natural resources and rich deposits of energy and mineral resources have been a determining factor in directing the current economic development of this region, and at the same time are an important backbone of future development.

Tuzla has made its special geological history the oldest or one of the oldest settlements in Europe. Namely, much of Europe, in the ancient geological past, represented the bottom of the Pannonian Sea. And the last remains of this must have receded from the present surface 10 million years ago. Just below Tuzla this sea left a trace of 350 million tons of salty rock and salt water. Salt water was raining to the surface, people were processing it in so still in the neolith. They later formed wells, which became more and more modern, and salt water became the basis of the chemical industry in modern Tuzla.

On July 18, 2003, local authorities decided to draw a large amount of salt water to the surface, to the previously prepared bottom, so Tuzla is now the only city in Europe that has a salt lake and the only city in the world whose salt lake is at the same time a bathing place and beach in the narrowest historical city center. The salt water of the Pannonian Lake is allegedly and healing.

Tuzla has a great industrial tradition, based on rich salt and coal deposits.

Today Tuzla is a city of new energy, in recent years it has experienced a great expansion of construction and rapid development.