Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex: the transformation of a mine closure into a major architectural ensemble

February 11, 2020

Torre de enrolamento da mina de carvão Zollverein

For almost 200 years western Germany was the country's industrial centre, with the Ruhr Valley, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Essen, being one of the most important industrial regions in the world with its more than 1,150 years of history.

The Zeche Zollverein was the largest coal mine in the world and is considered a symbol of the industrial development not only of Essen and its surroundings, but of Germany itself.

This coal mine was in operation for 135 years and was decommissioned in 1986. The shaft tower, one of the most important in the complex, was built in 1932 and influenced the construction of other European industrial centres for several decades.

In 1990 the site was transformed into an industrial architectural monument and became home to an art centre, museums, shops and restaurants. In 2001 the former coal mine was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco, and today it is estimated that the Zeche Zollverein receives 1.5 million visitors every year.

We visited the former Zeche Zollverein mine and in this article we bring you a little of its history, which is a a great case of Mine Closure and the utilisation of industrial spaces for the common good.

Local da mina de carvão Zollverein com a cidade de Essen ao fundo.

Foto em preto e branco da mina de carvão Zollverein

THE RUHR VALLEY IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE CREATION OF THE ZOLLVEREIN COMPLEX

The Industrial Revolution in Germany began later than in Great Britain and France; it took off between 1830 and 1865.

During the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution transformed the various localities of the Ruhr Valley region, which until then had only been small villages. Coal, iron and steel, locomotives and railways, the chemical and energy industries were the economic mainstay of the Ruhr's mining and metallurgical industry.

The Zeche Zollverein coal mine was one of the largest and most modern coal mining facilities in the world and is a symbol of the development of the industry in Europe. Today, the site is the main cultural centre in the Ruhr region and also houses a museum that keeps the history of mining and the development of industrial architecture alive. The complex also houses exhibitions on palaeontology and natural science, mineralogy, warfare, the history of the Ruhr Valley and many other attractions.

COAL PRODUCTION IN THE RUHR VALLEY AND THE ZOLLVEREIN MINE

No other region in Germany has been the scene of as much industrialisation as the Ruhr Valley. In the space of a few decades, a landscape of marshland metamorphosed into a gigantic industrial production area, where seven billion tonnes of coal were extracted until the mining crisis.

The region went through two world wars an economic miracle and the Cold War, as a source of raw materials for the production of steel for cars and the war industry. With the presence of thousands of workers, immigrant towns and workers' towns developed around the industrial estates. In 1956, almost half a million people worked in the mining industry in the Ruhr Valley.

Due to competition from oil and gas in the energy market, coal mining in the Ruhr Valley declined sharply from the early 1960s onwards. In 1964 alone, 13 mines were closed in Essen, and the number of miners fell from 54,413 (1958) to 9,771 (1978).

The Zollverein mine operated until 1986, producing around 240 million tonnes of hard coal. To reach this remarkable milestone, mining was carried out using the longwall method and was operated by more than 8,000 miners day and night in extreme conditions.

THE CLOSURE OF THE ZECHE ZOLLVEREIN MINE

Closure of the Zollverein Mine involved a major effort to decommission machinery and equipment. One of the main challenges of the mine closure involved the drainage plan for the area and the expansion of the pumping stations.

At Zollverein, the future use of the space was widely discussed with society, which decided to conserve the site in order to maintain the facilities that document the production process, how the miners worked and lived.

Ao entardecer o edifício ao redor do poço XII se transforma em uma impressionanteobra de arte, com iluminação única

O TOMBAMENTO E A CONSTRUÇÃO DO CONJUNTO ARQUITETÔNICO PÓS INDUSTRIALLISTED BUILDINGS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POST-INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURAL COMPLEX

The Stiftung Zollverein foundation, which was set up in 1998, began to seek conservation and a new purpose for the industrial monument. In order to receive visitors, it was necessary to guarantee the site's safety, a difficult task given the vast area of the complex (equivalent to 100 football pitches). Renowned architects were responsible for the restoration process.

Inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 2001, the site is the main cultural centre in the Ruhr region and also a museum that keeps the history of mining and the development of industrial architecture alive.

Harmoniously composed according to the principles of symmetry and geometry, with red brick façades on steel structures in the Fachwerk style, the building has a high aesthetic level.

A antiga fábrica industrial se transformou em exposição no museu do Ruhr

On the route of the Zollverein monument, the modernity of the 1920s and 1930s, the development of heavy industry and coal processing can be seen in gigantic machines and conveyor belts, endless rows of furnaces and six impressive chimneys.

Fotos do Zollverein exibidas em caixas de vidro

At the entrance, a model of the mining complex is completely dedicated to the visually impaired, with explanations in Braille. Straight ahead, visitors are taken up a long escalator in the Ruhr Museum. The escalator runs along the diagonal axis outside the structure and takes visitors up to the top floor of the fascinating regional museum.

Along the route with period photos and films, the museum shows who the miners were, what their clothes and tools were and what it was like to work for hours on end without seeing any sunlight.

Os equipamentos, ferramentas e roupas utilizadas pelos mineiros que trabalhavam na mina também são retratados ao longo do percurso

Among the tools on display, there is a hammer used to break through walls of coal, which weighed around 15 kilos. There are also many others that stand out because of their size.

In addition to the mine's industrial artefacts, you can also see displays of geology, palaeontology, mineralogy and archaeology.

Esqueleto de um mamute em primeiro plano. Outras exposições podem ser vistas em segundo plano.

Um canhão, uma pintura e uma figura equestre podem ser reconhecidos. Outras exposições podem ser encontradas em vitrines.

Pista de patinação do Complexo Industrial da Mina de Carvão Zollverein ao anoitecer no inverno

In addition, the Red Dot Design Museum, housed in the mine, has the largest collection of contemporary design in the world and has also become part of world heritage. Every year, the renowned Red Dot Award is presented here for outstanding design.

During the winter, the Zeche Zollverein offers a skating rink for all ages and levels of experience, where you can skate for 150 metres between the large towers and the gigantic rust-red pipes, part of the coal processing structure.

FESTIVALS AND CULTURAL PROGRAMS AT THE ZECHE ZOLLVEREIN

In addition to its brilliant modernist architecture, the Zollverein industrial complex is also a venue for big parties. In recent years, the space has played host to an alternative culture by welcoming several names in electronic music, reinvigorating a previously dormant energy both inside and outside the space's concrete corridors.

The Mischanlage de Kokerei Zollverein, which is an internal space of the complex and the former coal processing point, is one of the most exclusive spaces on the site. With several floors of concrete atriums and long dark corridors, it can be illuminated to create different atmospheres. During the mine's operation, it was a centre of professional life for the mining community. Today, in addition to occasional parties, the space organises an annual exhibition on the region's mining heritage called "The Age of Coal".

Despite the attractions, preservation and protection remain the priority within the cultural complex. For events, the organisers have to deal with expensive security measures, decoration and spatial limitations, as well as time-consuming organisational protocols.

It is in this nostalgic climate, which mixes the melancholy of the coal-black tone and the darkness of the underground, that Germany rekindles the lights of history, recognising the importance of the region for its development and economic pillar of an era in which the legacy synergises the mix of past and now.

The mining methods the production processes and the decommissioning of machinery and equipment involved in the closure of the Zollverein mine complex can be found in our article "The Zeche Zollverein mine and the start of mining production in Germany's Ruhr Valley".

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