Zeche Zollverein

The Zeche Zollverein is a large former industrial complex used for coal mining, located in the city of Essen in Western Germany. It has been inscribed into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since late 2001.

Mining activities took place from place from 1851 to 1986, and for decades the two main parts—the Coal Mine and the Coking Plant—ranked among the largest of their kinds in Europe. Shaft 12, built in Bauhaus style and opened in 1932, is considered a technical and an architectural masterpiece, so the place bore the (unofficial) title of “most beautiful coal mine in the world.”

Similar to dozens of other mines in this industrially coined Rhine-Ruhr area, the Zeche Zollverein was one of the largest employers and thus an important center of professional life for more than one century. With the decline of the coal mining and similar heavy industries in the second half of the 20th century, these larges complexes had to close down one after another. The Zeche Zollverein stopped mining activities in 1986 and was predicted to face a period of decay. Fortunately, the state of Northrhine-Westphalia bought the whole site and declared it a heritage site. Like similar industrial complexes nearby (for example, the Zeche Zollern in Dortmund or the Gasometer in Oberhausen) it has now become a fascinating place where a historic and industrial appearance meets contemporary culture. Serving as a museum, a recreational park area as well as place for theater, art galleries and photography workshops, everyone visiting the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region with its 11 million inhabitants should make a stop here.