Welterbe Zollverein

The Colliery and the Coking Plant at the Zollverein World Heritage site. This plant was closed down in 1986, until then, 12,000 tons of coal per day were brought to the surface, prepared and turned into coke here. It is now the main visitors centre for the Ruhrgebiet region. This region can be further explained by following this Wikipedia link. It is the 5th largest urban area in the world, occupied by 5.3 million people. I spent a week here, staying in Essen West and traveling everyday by trains or tram. It really is like one large city, with no real centre. It began its rapid growth during the industrial revolution, and after 1960, the area went through problems resulting from the closing of most of its factories. During the 1980s, the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Emscher Park was begun to give a strong boost to the derelict river Emscher area and with a goal of urban development and ecological renewal. Here is a good article giving a description of the project.



Visitor's Centre. Excellent range of descriptions, bookstore, café; however nearly everything was in German. The information assistants can all speak english, and most large signs have small english captions, but all brochures except a select few are in German. A bit difficult for me, I wasn't able to continue my German studies last semester due to other required courses. I am dissapointed, I feel as though my time here would have been richer if I could have been stronger in German.




This as well as other sites along the region are part of the 'Industrienatur' route, where the reclamation of the sites by nature is celebrated. Here, interesting juxtapositions of planted species, which were intended to more clearly demarcate routes on the site, were next to spaces where nature was colonising by its own logic.





A popular way to explore the Ruhr region is by bicycle. It isn't too expensive, and is probably the best way to really explore the region.