Der Ziegenmichel

In the location's words:

Until the middle of the 19th century, today's urban area of Gelsenkirchen was predominantly agricultural. Small farming communities and isolated farms defined the image of the Emscher region before it was captured and transformed by industrialization.

Only a few of the old farms survived this development - one of them was Westermanns Hof in Heßler.

Westermanns Hof
The name of the farm comes from the fact that it was the westernmost settlement of the old farming community of Heßler. The farm was first mentioned in a document in 1332 in the so-called chain book (liber catenatus) of Essen Abbey, which lists Henricus Westen as the first tenant.

Over the centuries, the name of the tenant family changed from "ter Westen" to "Westermann". During this time, the farm remained a collegiate estate of the prince-abbess of Essen. As a lower estate, Westermann belonged to the Nyenhusen upper estate. For centuries, the lease remained in the hands of the Westermann family, who finally bought themselves out of the manorial lordship in 1847.

Sale to the Hibernia mining company
In 1914, the last farmer by the name of Westermann sold the farm to the Hibernia mining company and moved away. The Wilhelmine Victoria colliery appointed new tenants who continued to use the farm for agricultural purposes over the following decades.

Today, the farm is owned by Ziegenmichel and is run as Ziegenmichelhof by farmer Sabine Müller.

The farm is also an anchor point for the environment, education, integration and regional development for education for sustainable development (ESD).