Bauhaus and Modernist Coal Mines

Over the next 3 weekends spamming between March and April, all the trips to Dusseldorf in Germany had the very same purpose: visiting the Ruhr Valley Industrial Area, landmark in the European Route of Industrial Heritage, right in coincidence with the celebrations of the “European Capital of Culture 2010: Essen and the Ruhr area”. In total we would visit 3 iconic places, symbols of a bygone industrial era where this coal-rich region was once one of the most important high quality steel producers in the world.

Even nowadays steel production still strong, of course using much modern techniques without the use of coal for heating and melting, the coal era died at the beginning of 1990 leaving dozens of coal mines and industries abandoned. In many cases, their remains have been erased forever with the regeneration of their former sites back to nature or new constructions; but in other “lucky” cases, the most important for their architecture and engineering have been preserved and are now great museums.

One of them, the largest of its kind in Europe was designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site for its engineering achievement and its incredible design; the largest Bauhaus style building ever created: the Zeche Zollverein. Another, the Zeche Zollern, is in the other hand a masterpiece in the Art-Nouveu style. Equally beautiful.

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