Germany · Nordrhein-Westfalen · Wattenscheid
Harpen, Wattenscheid — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Harpen belongs to Bochum. The district sits on the Ruhr Heights, in the city between the Ruhr to the south and the Emscher to the north.
About Harpen
Where to stay in Harpen
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Harpen offers little in the way of hotels, so most stays here begin with the wider bed stock of Bochum. The parish ground around Heilig Geist marks the old core, and from there the rest of the Ruhr, including Dortmund, Essen, and Duisburg, is within an easy run by road or rail. Book in the city instead.
Bochum's centre and its campuses keep the rooms that this quarter does not.
About Harpen
What are the main landmarks in Harpen?
Two churches anchor the quarter. St. Vinzentius and Heilig Geist are the landmarks the district holds in its own right, and anything larger means a trip into Bochum proper or out across the Ruhr Heights. The hill chain gives the district its footing.
Between the Ruhr and the Emscher, this is ordinary Westphalian ground rather than a sightseeing quarter.
What is the history of Harpen?
Westphalia shaped the story. Bochum stands second in Westphalia after Dortmund and fourth in the Ruhr behind Dortmund, Essen, and Duisburg, and Harpen's fortunes have followed that of the city around it. The district belongs, with the rest of Bochum, to the region of Arnsberg.
Nine institutions of higher education now belong to the city, the Ruhr University Bochum the best known among them and the Bochum University of Applied Sciences beside it.
Where is Harpen?
Hills run through the quarter. Harpen shares the Ruhr Heights with the rest of Bochum, lying between the Emscher and the Ruhr.
Good for
More areas in Wattenscheid
Updated August 2026