Gehölzgarten Ripshorst

Oberhausen

Ripshorst, is a former agricultural area owned by Thyssen, which was intended for industrial expansion but never required. At the beginning of the 1990s, the area was acquired by the Regionalverband Ruhrgebiet (RVR). The goal was to integrate the area into the Emscher Landscape Park (green corridor B) due to its strategic proximity to Neuen Mitte Oberhausen, the Gasometer and to the Rhein-Herne Canal.

The theme ‘environmental tree and shrub garden’ was incorporated into a design concept in which, for example, the agricultural design options were tested with shrubs and reference was made to the environmental dimension of the trees. The central element of the garden is a 60-m wide and 2-km long ribbon of trees, in which the vegetation history is conveyed in four sections. The areas illustrate tertiary forest, pioneer stages up to reforestation and cultivated shrubs. The grass areas are today used as open areas for resting, play or walking, for relaxation or for sporting activities.

Incorporated in the park, is Haus Ripshorst, a converted farmhouse which has been extended with the addition of new buildings. The former residence has become an office building and wooden extensions house seminar rooms and offices. The previous barn was converted into an information centre for the Emscher Landscape Park, in accordance with the plans drawn up by Essen architect Peter Brdenk and light artist Jürgen LIT Fischer.

The information centre provides regular tours as well as courses on nature and environmental themes. Bicycles can also be hired here for discovering the Emscher Landscape Park (RevierRad). Gehölzgarten Ripshorst is open all year round and admission is free. The garden is linked from east to west by the canal banks of the Rhein-Herne Canal and the Emscher Park Cycle Route, and by a pedestrian bridge from north to south. The bridge over the Rhein-Herne canal was designed as a 3-D, steel pressure-pipe arch bridge by Schlaich, Bergermann und Partner from Stuttgart. Running in a semi-circle over the canal, it provides views of the trees and shrubs as well as the canal.