Germany · Nordrhein-Westfalen · Essen
Byfang, Essen — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Byfang keeps the character of a village inside Essen, a southeastern borough named for the forest that once enfolded it.
About Byfang
Where to stay in Byfang
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Beds are rare in Byfang. The borough holds its village character within Essen, which makes it a quiet address rather than a base, and travellers who want hotels take rooms in the middle of the city instead. St. Barbara stands among its houses.
Choose Byfang if you want a village address over quick access to the sights of Essen.
About Byfang
What are the main landmarks in Byfang?
St. Barbara is the landmark on Byfang's list. Nothing else in this southeastern borough carries a listing, which fits a place taken into Essen in 1929 that has held the shape of a village since. The city's big names sit far off.
Zeche Zollverein and Museum Folkwang belong to the built-up Essen, not to this quarter.
What is the history of Byfang?
Byfang came into Essen in 1929. Before that it was a settlement enfolded by forest, and the name records the fact, taken from befangen or umfangen, words that mean to surround or to enfold. The village shape survived the change.
St. Barbara stands as the borough's church, while the industrial Ruhr city that took Byfang in keeps its collieries and museums well beyond these lanes.
Where is Byfang?
Byfang is a southeastern borough of Essen, a village-scale settlement in the Ruhr that was once surrounded by forest.
More areas in Essen
Updated September 2026