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Published: April 2nd 2023
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Zollverein
Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex is a former heavy industry complex in Essen. It is sometimes referred to as "the most beautiful coal mine in the world". Coal, steel and rust
This blog entry is going to be the last one we publish from our trip in Germany in 2022. The sites it covers chronologically both belong in the first week or so of our trip, not in the end. But hopefully nobody who reads this care about that. To us it makes more sense to put them together in one blog for a few other reasons. Those reasons are mainly
=> They are UNESCO world heritage sites
=> They are large photogenic sites - hence we want to publish many photos from each site. When we want to publish a lot of pictures of one site we prefer to do it in a separate blog entry.
=> The sites are in many ways quite similar. Both are large industry sites that have been closed down and turned into museums.
Zollverein Coal Mine Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex is a former heavy industry complex in Essen in the Ruhr Area. Some of the buildings on the site are constructed in the architectural style known as
Bauhaus. The Bauhaus style is generally seen as aesthetically pleasing. Therefore this site is sometimes referred to as
Winding tower
Winding tower in Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex "the most beautiful coal mine in the world".
The mine was in operation from the mid-19th century to the 1980-ies. After the coal mining stopped the rest of the industry complex was in use only for a few more years. In early 1990-ies the era of heavy industry at the site ended permanently.
When Zollverein was closed its architectural value and value as an industrial history site was taken into consideration. The gigantic complex was saved from demolition and turned into a museum.
Walking around in the site was an interesting experience. There are railways, conveyor belts, winding towers, huge fans, smokestacks and so on. Even if you decide to skip the museums and tours you can easily spend two hours or more in Zollverein.
Völklingen Ironworks Around 70 km south of Trier, close to the border of France, is the city Völklingen. When you arrive from north into Völklingen Central Station a striking feature on the right-hand side of the train is the massive
Völklingen Ironworks. This industrial complex was active from 1880-ies to 1980-ies. Also here the historical value was recognised when the industry was closed down. Instead of tearing
Winding tower and buildings
Some of the buildings in Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex are constructed in the architectural style known as Bauhaus. down the huge blast furnaces the site was made into a museum.
Völklingen Ironworks is by most people seen as having less aesthetic value than Zollverein Coal Mine. It is probably more often referred to as an "eyesore" than as "the most beautiful ironworks in the world". But if you are into abandoned heavy industry sites and enormous rusting steel tubes and pipes this site is a piece of heaven.
Völklingen Ironworks covers a much smaller area than Zollverein Coal Mine but can easily take just as long to visit. The site is very compact and much of it is like a big maze with walkways going in various directions and in various levels. The highest level accessible to visitors is perhaps 30 meters up. It is a bit of a climb up the stairs to reach that level. But once up there the views of the steelworks is quite rewarding.
The site is also used for art exhibitions. That might come in handy if a significant other needs to be entertained while you walk around among the abandoned transport carts, rusting steel beams and crumbling storage houses.
We know
Elevated railway
Within Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex elevated railways were used for transport that we are not good with words. There is very little or no poetic value in anything we write. So whenever we want to write something that is a bit more inspiring than just dull explaining text we need to borrow words from others. Although the text below is a tribute to Giants Stadium in New Jersey it still fits pretty well here.
"
Now, when all this steel and these stories Drift away to rust And all our youth and beauty Has been given to the dust When the game has been decided And we're burnin’ down the clock And all our little victories and glories Have turned into parking lots"
/"Wrecking Ball" Bruce Springsteen
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Chrome Hearts Beanie
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