Germany · Nordrhein-Westfalen · Herne
Baukau, Herne — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Baukau is a part of Herne in the Ruhr, first named in a 1378 document, divided between Baukau-Ost in Herne-Mitte and Baukau-West in the Stadtbezirk Wanne.
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Where to stay in Baukau
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
Schloss Strünkede is the reason to come out here. The castle and its Gothic chapel stand in the Schlosspark in the Emscher lowland, ringed by Gräften, and the chapel is the oldest surviving building in the whole of Herne. Two museums share the ground.
The Emschertal-Museum occupies the castle and keeps a library open to the public, while the Städtische Galerie sits in a Gründerzeit villa in the same park. Beds are Herne's business, not Baukau's.
Things to do in and around Herne
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
1- Städtische Galerie im Schlosspark Strünkede Heritage
Churches & Religious Sites
3- St. Marien Heritage
- ev. Kirche Baukau Heritage
- kath. Gemeinde St. Marien und Vikarie Heritage
Castles & Historic Sites
1- Schloss Strünkede Heritage
worth knowingacross 3 categories in and around Herne
About Baukau
What are the main landmarks in Baukau?
The castle chapel outranks everything else in Herne. Its Gothic fabric belongs to Schloss Strünkede in the Schlosspark, which makes it the oldest building still standing in the city. Football fills the same park.
The stadium of SC Westfalia Herne is there, and it is the largest sports ground Herne has. Two industrial landmarks close the skyline. The Steag power station on the Rhein-Herne-Kanal carries a chimney 300 metres tall and a cooling tower, both visible from a long way off.
What is the history of Baukau?
A Gut called Bokouwe is named in a document of 1378. The Bauerschaft Baukau belonged to the Kerkspel Herne from the Middle Ages and lay under the lordship of the Strünkede knights. It became a commune in the Amt Herne in 1844.
When Herne received town rights in 1897 the remaining communes of that Amt were made into the Amt Baukau, taking in Horsthausen, Pöppinghausen, Bladenhorst and Hiltrop, and on 1 April 1908 Baukau became a Stadtteil of Herne and the Amt was dissolved. Coal came in 1866. The Zeche Providence began working the field that Wilhelm Endemann had first called von der Heydt in 1855, a second shaft was sunk from 1894, and the Harpener Bergbau AG fixed the name Von der Heydt when it took the mine over in 1889.
Output was later joined to the Zeche Julia, which lasted until 1961.
Where is Baukau?
Baukau lies in the Emscher lowland at the northern edge of Herne, where the Emscher forms the boundary with Recklinghausen and the Rhein-Herne-Kanal runs parallel to the river, with the ground rising south toward the Herne town centre.
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More areas in Herne
Updated October 2026