Siegen

Siegen is a 102,836 inhabitants city by river Sieg located in the southern part of Westphalia, in the federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, by the border with Hesse. Siegen is the birthplace of the famous Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens and was reigned by the family Orange-Nassau, which currently are the royal family of the Netherlands.

How do I arrive to Siegen?

  Siegen isn't too well connected with other major cities in North Rhine-Westphalia. 

• Train: there are often trains to important destinations within NRW like Altena (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes) or Cologne (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes). 
• Bus: there are buses to many cities in NRW state.
• Car: if you rented a car from Siegen it can be reached Altena (aprox. 50 minutes), Cologne (aprox. 1 hour), Dortmund (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes), Bonn (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes) or Düsseldorf (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes). It can be reached from Limburg and der Lahn (aprox. 1 hour), Marburg (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes) or Frankfurt am Main (aprox. 1.5 hours) in Hesse; and Koblenz (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes) in Rhineland-Palatinate.

History

The first documentary mention of the place called Sigena dates from 1079, markedly shaped by mining. In 1224, Siegen is mentioned as a town owned by the Heinrich the Rich (Count of Nassau) and Engelbert II of Berg (Archbishop of Cologne), gaining town rights on 1303 and on 1381 passing fully into Nassau hands. Johann VII converted into  Calvinism and his son Johann VIII returned in 1612 to the Roman Catholic Church. In 1632, Nassau-Siegen was conquered by the Swedes and John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen re-introduced Protestantism, going afterwards back to Catholicism. Wilhelm Hyacinth was the last in the line of Nassau-Siegen's Catholic rulers and the Holy Roman Emperor transfered the power to the Prince of Orange and the Prince of Nassau-Diez. Under their leadership, mining, the main source of wealth, blossomed, along with agriculture and silviculture. Prince William of Orange refused to join the Confederation of the Rhine, being unseated by Napoleon and his position passed to the Grand Duchy of Berg. After Napoleon's downfall in 1813, however, William I regained his former German inheritances, but in 1815 he ceded them to the Kingdom of Prussia for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Under Prussian rule, Siegen developed into the South Westphalian centre that it is today. During WW2, Siegen was repeatedly bombed by the Allies (owing to a crucial railroad crossed the town). 

 

What can I visit in Siegen?

 Siegen doesn't have many things to do but it's still interesting to enjoy some time in the city.

These are Siegen's main attractions:

• Siegen Upper Castle: 13th century Schloss built for the Archbishop of Cologne but mainly used since the 14th century by the counts of Nassau, reaching the branch of Nassau-Siegen. Within the palace it's located Siegerland Museum (10-17 Tue-Sun; 4€/ 1.50€  adults/ reduced), museum that explains the history of Siegen and its surrounding area. The collection includes 9 original paintings by Rubens, including Descent from the Cross or a self portrait. There used to be another castle, Siegen Lower Castle, but it was destroyed during WW2.
• St. Nikolai Lutheran Church (10-18 Mon-Fri, 10-12 Sat from Apr to Oct; free): 13th century Romanesque style church whose nave is the only European hall hexagon north of the Alps and has a 53 m high tower too. On its top it has a crown (Krönchen) placed by Johann Moritz von Nassau-Siegen when he was moved from count to prince.
• Siegen Museum of Contemporary Art (11-18 Tue-Sun; 5.90€/ 4.60€  adults/ reduced): art gallery about Contemporary art focused on art practice and its roots. It's also home of Lambrecht-Schadeberg Collection that shows late 20th century paintings and prints by the 13 Rubens Prize laureates (like Giorgio Morandi, Antoni Tàpies, Fritz Winter, Lucian Freud or Sigmar Polke). 
• South Westphalia Active Museum (): small museum located at the Siegen synagogue that shows the Jewish history in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district and conmemorates groups of victims from our region who suffered from Nazi terror. 
• St. Martini Lutheran Church (15-18 Tue-Thu from May to Sep): 16th century church whose history and whose history dates back to the 8th century, being the oldest surviving religious building in Siegen.
• Only 15 km west it can be found Freudenberg, a 17,739 inhabitants town in Siegen-Wittgenstein region. It's traditional town with black-and-white half-timbered hourses that together from the Alter Fleck, a very popular photo spot. Here it can be visited Freudenberg Technik Museum (13-16 Wed, 10-17 Sun; 5€/ 3€/ free  adults/ reduced/ people under 14), an exhibition of machines and technical devices.

Siegen Upper Palace

St. Nikolai Church

 

Altena Castle

Sauerland, the region between Dortmund and Siegen, has more than 20,000 paths to enjoy its mountains, lakes (Sorpesee, Biggesee, Hennesee, among others) and nature, particulary beech and fir forests. It's quite popular among Dutch people looking for some mountain life and residents in Cologne who want to enjoy nature, as well as skiing fans around Winterberg in winter.  In the town of Atterdorn (24,367 inhabitants) it's located the famous Atta Cave (11-16:30 from May to Aug; 11-15:30 from Sep to Apr; 10€/ 6€  adults/ people under 15), cave part of one of Germany's biggest interconnected cave systems, exposed during limestone mining in 1907. Continuing north there's Balve (11,361 inhabitants) and its Balve Cave, biggest cave used as a cultural venue in Europe. Very close to Dortmund there's the municipality of Altena (16,922 inhabitants) by river Lenne, origin for the later Dukes of Berg and famous for its wire production. Here it can be visited one of the most beautiful hilltop castles in Germany, Altena Castle. It was built from the 12th century and has exhibitions about history and life during Middle Ages. Its ticket is included with the one to the German Wire Museum (9:30-17 Tue-Fri, 11-18 Sat-Sun; 6€/ 3.50€  adults/ students and people under 18), museum that shows how wire is manufactured, how they work, their uses and their importance in Altena's history as the center of German wire industry.

Where can I eat in Siegen?

Siegen doesn't a very large culinary offer but the recommendations to eat are Schwarzes Schaf (Erzstraße 46) or Steakhaus El Rancho (Neumarkt 7).

Posted in: Europe,Germany,North Rhine-Westphalia