Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex

Zollverein was one of the main anthracite coal mines in Germany, running from the mid 1850's until 1986 or so when the steel mills were closing in Germany and so the need for coking coal also disappeared.

For all you amateur chemists out there, the earliest steel was made using charcoal as its heat source. This was fine until the forests began to disappear. Coal was available but its use in steel making was found to be limited as the steel that formed was soft and weak; not exactly the requirement for good steel! Some genius thought ‘why not bake the coal like we used to bake the timber when making charcoal?’ They did and it worked. The chemistry follows the practicality if the solution but by cooking the coal, the result was to drive off many impurities that were then contaminating the steel; Sulphur was the main contaminant. Imagine the 'rotten egg gas' smell that must have come out of the coking plant!!

So any self respecting coking coal source has a mine and coking coal plant in close proximity; on that basis, welcome to Zollverein!

Zollverein's Shaft 12 Winding Tower - once just a symbol of the coal mine but now a symbol of Essen itself

Like Landschaftspark (see the blog from a couple of weeks ago), this is a huge industrial site that has now been converted to a park and other uses, not least being the new Ruhr Museum.

But back at the height of its production, miners were hauling 24,000 tonnes of material per day to the surface. This was cleaned of unwanted rocks and minerals and then hauled across the road to the coking plant. Given these huge sums of material it is not hard to imagine the huge scope and scale of the sites. Topping it all is the mine head for Schaft 12; retained in its original majesty, the mining head is a massive thing of beauty, soaring above the country side. The materials were then sent to the coking coal bunkers; a massive building that looms 40+ metres in the air (providing this sort of view of the surrounding country side).

These bunkers have now been converted to the Ruhr Museum; an amazing museum that runs over three levels winding its way between the original machinery still left in the bunkers. The effect is stunning! A combination of the old and industrial with the new and interactive displays of the museum.

The theme of the museum is a nod to the coal industry, the people from all over Europe who came to work the mines and  the cultures those people brought. There are hints of the natural history of the landscape as well as acknowledgements of the benefits and pitfalls that befall a region like the Ruhr valley that has endured such heavy industry for so very long.

On this day, there was a temporary exhibition celebrating the Krupp family and their legacy. Steel is their legacy and, for a while, that steel saw a lot of action as canons and armaments for Germany in two world wars.

The first Krupp to kick things of in steel bought the patent for crucible steel and gambled his family fortune of the process; sadly he failed to understand just how much capital he would need and died with a loss making business. His wife got things back on track and then her sons and subsequent progeny drove the business to make the Krupp's the wealthiest family in Germany ... eventually.

The road was never easy and their production of armaments made them a special target for reparations after WW1. Mind you, they made good money from the sales of arms. They also tried to argue that they were unfairly targeted by the British in WW2 for bombing as they had diversified their portfolio by then and would argue produced hardly enough to warrant being targeted. Nice try, I think. However, a documentary I watched earlier in the week suggested that once the British developed their strategic bomber command under 'Bomber' Harris, their very first German city targeted was Essen and specifically, the steel works of Krupp.

Apart from armaments, the Krupp clan seem rightly pleased with their work in railways. Tracks obviously but also springs for rolling stock. But their big achievement was the seamless steel wheel for trains. In fact, so proud of this ingenious invention, that Mr. Krupp decided to take three circles (signifying the three seamless wheels) and applied for a trademark in the 1870's for a 3 ring interlocking device to be the Krupp logo.

So an interesting place to visit. You ride the six storey escalator to the mid point of the museum (in the old days, workers simply walked up the conveyors alongside the coal itself). Feel free to poke around there but make the effort and pay the entry price to the museum. If you don't speak German, pay the 4 Euro and make sure you get the audio guide. As ever, there is way more info in the audio guides beyond even the written information in the museum. It makes the museum more clear and the information helps appreciate the history and creates a feeling of place.

A ticket to the museum also gets you access to the roof and that amazing panorama around the factory and Essen's surrounds.

Looking back to the Coking Plant from the roof of the Ruhr Museum at Zollverein

I caught the train to Essen Hbf (central station) and walked the 5k to the site. Easy navigation as well as you simply follow the bike track that's marked with directions to Zollverein. The day was delightful too; mid 20's Celsius and clear blue skies. The walk is pleasant too as it follows the bike path rather than the roads, so it takes you through some nice village settings as well as through some allotments As well. The allotments were filled with noise and laughter today as Esseners were escaping their apartments and enjoying some sun in their garden allotments.

Check out www.zollverein.de. The website is in German but there is an English translation coming soon. The Germans do this industrial transformation so well. Who would have thought of a museum weaving through the heavy conveyors and chutes of coking coal plant? And delivered with such skill and so seamlessly as well. Go along and enjoy the day!