The Ruhr district had got a history before coal was found. Some towns oft our region are about 1.000 or 2.000 years old.
The biggest part of the land was used for agriculture, but also wide woods and moors in the near of the rivers made the impression of the landscape. Wild horses found their home in the Emscher region in former times. You can find horses on some town heraldic signs of some towns.
Most people worked at farmes, but there were salesmen who were driving with their horse coaches on the trading roads. Besides them there were the noblemen who wanted to represent himself with impressive castles and manor houses. Some of them needed a castle to protect themselves to enemies. But there were also cruel criminal knigths in our region.
Some salesmen got to become very rich because of the industrial development. Now they could afford to do things like tne noblemen - living in luxury.
There are still today about 3.000 castles and manor houses preserved in the whole of Northrhine - Westphalia. I hope that I can present still more of them to you in the next years, dear readers.