The castle, built in Neo-Renaissance style, houses 269 rooms on 8,100 m² of living and usable space, most of them with truly castle-like dimensions and ambiance, such as heavy wooden and leather paneling on the walls.
From the very beginning, the villa was equipped with the technical refinements of the time, such as a telephone and a hot water heating system; little known is that it also houses a swimming pool. The imposing structure is located in a 28-hectare park in a prominent position above the Ruhr Valley, for the work in the house and gardens, no less than 648 people were employed in 1914.
In 1890, Kaiser Wilhelm II visited the then owner Friedrich Alfred Krupp at Villa Hügel for the first time; further visits followed. The last Krupp, Alfried, renounced living in the rather cool-looking estate and built a bungalow nearby.
Since 1953, large art exhibitions have regularly taken place at Villa Hügel. Outside of the exhibition periods, the historic living quarters, the park, and the historic Krupp exhibition can be visited. Villa Hügel is managed by the Kulturstiftung Ruhr.
