Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex
Encyclopedia
The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex (German Zeche Zollverein) is a large former industrial site in the city of Essen
, North Rhine-Westphalia
, Germany
. It has been inscribed into the UNESCO
list of World Heritage Sites since December 14, 2001 and is one of the anchor points of the European Route of Industrial Heritage
.
The first coal mine on the premises was founded in 1847, mining activities took place from 1851 until December 23, 1986. For decades starting in the late 1950s, the two parts of the site, Zollverein Coal Mine and Zollverein Coking Plant (erected 1957−1961, closed on June 30, 1993), ranked among the largest of their kinds in Europe
. Shaft 12, built in Bauhaus
style, was opened in 1932 and is considered an architectural and technical masterpiece, earning it a reputation as the “most beautiful coal mine in the world”.
-born industrialist Franz Haniel (1779-1868), who needed coke
for steel production
. Test drillings in the Katernberg region (nowadays a suburb of Essen
) had disclosed a very rich layer of coal, which was then named after the German Customs Union (Zollverein
) founded in 1834. In 1847, Haniel founded the bergrechtliche Gewerkschaft Zollverein (a special kind of Prussian
corporation for the exploitation of natural resources
) and distributed the shares of the new company amongst the members of his family and the landowner of the to-be Zollverein territory.
Sinking of shaft 1 began on February 18, 1847, with the first mineral coal layer being found 130 meters under the surface. First mining activities took in 1851. Shaft 2 (sunk simultaneously with shaft 1) was opened in 1852. Both shafts featured visually identical stone towers and shared a machine house. This concept was to be adapted by many later twin-shaft coal mines.
Starting in 1857, charcoal piles were used to produce coke. In 1866, the piles were replaced by a modern cokery and machine ovens.
In 1880, sinking of another shaft 3 began in neighboring Schonnebeck. It received a steel framework as its winding tower and was opened in 1883. By 1890, the three shafts already had an output of 1 million tons, placing Zollverein on top of all German mines.
flourished in the late 19th / early 20th centuries, the mine was heavily extended.
Between 1891 and 1896, the twin-shafts 4/5 were built on the border to Heßler (nowadays a suburb of Gelsenkirchen
). The two shafts received special shafts for extraction of coal, transportation of the Kumpels (mine workers) and ventilation, as well as a new cokery. Another shaft 6 was opened in 1897.
By 1897, Zollverein had for years been suffering under mine accidents due to fire
damps
caused by ventilation
problems. To resolve these problems, additional maily ventilation-only shafts were opened near the already existing ones: In 1899, shaft 7 was opened near shaft 3, shaft 8 near shafts 1/2 (1900), and shaft 9 near shaft 6 (1905).
What followed were years of continuous renovation and further expansion. After the construction of shafts 7, 8 and 9, the old shafts 1/2 (including the cokery) were renovated, even one of the twin towers was taken down and replaced by a modern steel framework. In 1914, shaft 10 and a new cokery were opened, as was shaft 9 (which had only since served as a ventilation shaft).
By the eve of the First World War
, Zollverein's output had risen to approx. 2.5 million tons.
of the site. Under Phönix' management, several of the shafts were again modernized, and a 11th shaft was opened until 1927. When Phönix merged into Vereinigte Stahlwerke in 1926, Zollverein came under control of Gelsenkirchener
Bergwerks-AG (GBAG) who started closing most of the meanwhile elderly coking plants.
Schacht Albert Vögler
, as the highly modern shaft was named after the director general of the GBAG, was designed by the architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer and quickly gained notice for its simple, functional Bauhaus
design with its mainly cubical
buildings made of reinforced concrete
and steel
trusses
. The shaft's characteristic Doppelbock winding tower in the following years did not only become the archetype of many later central mining facilities but became a symbol of the German
heavy industry
. Whilst this symbol may have slowly been forgotten when the German heavy industry started diminishing in the second half of the 20th century, it was this shaft and especially its characteristic
winding tower that were to become a symbol of the Ruhr area
's structural change
.
Zollverein survived the Second World War
with only minor damages and by 1953 again placed on top of all German mines with an output of 2.4 million tons. In 1958, shaft 1 was replaced by a totally new building; the complete reconstruction
of the 2/8/11 shaft facility from 1960 until 1964 was again planned by Fritz Schupp. These renovations however, were only to last until 1967, when 11 shafts were closed, leaving shaft 12 the only open one.
Shaft 12 thus became the main supplier of the new central coking plant from 1961 with its 192 ovens, which was again designed by Fritz Schupp. After an expansion in the early 1970s, Zollverein placed among the most productive coking plants worldwide with around 1.000 workers and an output of up to 8.600 tons of coke
a day on the so-called dark side. The white side of the plant produced side products such as ammonia
, raw benzene
and raw tar
.
In 1968, Zollverein was handed over to Ruhrkohle AG (RAG)
, Germany's largest mining company.
and consolidation
of the mining activities. In 1974, Zollverein was joined into a Verbundberkwerk (joined mines) with nearby Bonifacius and Holland coal mines in Kray and Gelsenkirchen
, respectively. In 1982, Gelsenkirchen's Nordstern coal mine also joined that Verbund.
The Flöz Sonnenschein coal layer in the north of the Zollverein territory was the last layer that mining activities took place in on Zollverein territory, starting in 1980. The output of Verbundbergwerk Nordstern-Zollverein was approximately 3.2 million tons, which however did not prove profitable enough so that a complete closure of the Zollverein site was voted for in 1983.
When it closed, Zollverein was the last remaining active coal mine in Essen
. Whereas the coking plant remained open until June 30, 1993, mining activities in shaft 12 stopped on December 23, 1986. Although it is the central shaft of the Cultural Heritage site, shaft 12 cannot be visited as it continues being used as the water drainage for the central Ruhr area
together with shaft 2.
(NRW) bought the coal mine territory from the RAG
immediately after it had been closed down in late 1986, and declared shaft 12 a memorial
. This went along with the obligation
to preserve the site in its original state and to minimize the effects of weathering
. In 1989, the city of Essen and NRW founded the Bauhütte Zollverein Schacht XII that should take care for the site and which was replaced by the Stiftung Zollverein (Zollverein Foundation) in 1998.
After it had been closed down in 1993, the coking plant was planned to be sold to China
. The negotiations failed and it was subsequently threatened to be demolished
. However, another project of the state of NRW set the coal mine on a list of future exhibition sites resulting in first gentle modifications and the cokery also became an official memorial in 2000.
On its 25th session in December 2001, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
declared both the sites of the shafts 12 and 1/2 and the cokery a World Heritage Site
.
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It has been inscribed into the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
list of World Heritage Sites since December 14, 2001 and is one of the anchor points of the European Route of Industrial Heritage
European Route of Industrial Heritage
The European Route of Industrial Heritage is a network of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. The aim of the project is to create interest for the common European Heritage of the Industrialisation and its remains...
.
The first coal mine on the premises was founded in 1847, mining activities took place from 1851 until December 23, 1986. For decades starting in the late 1950s, the two parts of the site, Zollverein Coal Mine and Zollverein Coking Plant (erected 1957−1961, closed on June 30, 1993), ranked among the largest of their kinds in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Shaft 12, built in Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
style, was opened in 1932 and is considered an architectural and technical masterpiece, earning it a reputation as the “most beautiful coal mine in the world”.
1847 - 1890
Zollverein Coal Mine was founded by DuisburgDuisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
-born industrialist Franz Haniel (1779-1868), who needed coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
for steel production
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
. Test drillings in the Katernberg region (nowadays a suburb of Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
) had disclosed a very rich layer of coal, which was then named after the German Customs Union (Zollverein
Zollverein
thumb|upright=1.2|The German Zollverein 1834–1919blue = Prussia in 1834 grey= Included region until 1866yellow= Excluded after 1866red = Borders of the German Union of 1828 pink= Relevant others until 1834...
) founded in 1834. In 1847, Haniel founded the bergrechtliche Gewerkschaft Zollverein (a special kind of Prussian
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
corporation for the exploitation of natural resources
Natural Resources
Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...
) and distributed the shares of the new company amongst the members of his family and the landowner of the to-be Zollverein territory.
Sinking of shaft 1 began on February 18, 1847, with the first mineral coal layer being found 130 meters under the surface. First mining activities took in 1851. Shaft 2 (sunk simultaneously with shaft 1) was opened in 1852. Both shafts featured visually identical stone towers and shared a machine house. This concept was to be adapted by many later twin-shaft coal mines.
Starting in 1857, charcoal piles were used to produce coke. In 1866, the piles were replaced by a modern cokery and machine ovens.
In 1880, sinking of another shaft 3 began in neighboring Schonnebeck. It received a steel framework as its winding tower and was opened in 1883. By 1890, the three shafts already had an output of 1 million tons, placing Zollverein on top of all German mines.
1890 - 1918
Since the coal, iron and steel industries of the Ruhr areaRuhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
flourished in the late 19th / early 20th centuries, the mine was heavily extended.
Between 1891 and 1896, the twin-shafts 4/5 were built on the border to Heßler (nowadays a suburb of Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
). The two shafts received special shafts for extraction of coal, transportation of the Kumpels (mine workers) and ventilation, as well as a new cokery. Another shaft 6 was opened in 1897.
By 1897, Zollverein had for years been suffering under mine accidents due to fire
Firedamp
Firedamp is a flammable gas found in coal mines. It is the name given to a number of flammable gases, especially methane. It is particularly commonly found in areas where the coal is bituminous...
damps
Damp (mining)
Historically, gases in coal mines in Britain were collectively known as "damps". This comes from the Middle Low German word dampf , and was in use by 1480 .Damps included:...
caused by ventilation
Ventilation (firefighting)
In firefighting, ventilation is an important part of structural firefighting tactics, and involves the expulsion of heat and smoke from fire building, permitting the firefighters more easily and safely find trapped individuals and attack the fire...
problems. To resolve these problems, additional maily ventilation-only shafts were opened near the already existing ones: In 1899, shaft 7 was opened near shaft 3, shaft 8 near shafts 1/2 (1900), and shaft 9 near shaft 6 (1905).
What followed were years of continuous renovation and further expansion. After the construction of shafts 7, 8 and 9, the old shafts 1/2 (including the cokery) were renovated, even one of the twin towers was taken down and replaced by a modern steel framework. In 1914, shaft 10 and a new cokery were opened, as was shaft 9 (which had only since served as a ventilation shaft).
By the eve of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Zollverein's output had risen to approx. 2.5 million tons.
1918 - 1932
In 1920, the Haniel family, who had been the owners of Zollverein until then, started cooperating with Phönix AG, a mining company that subsequently took over the managementManagement
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
of the site. Under Phönix' management, several of the shafts were again modernized, and a 11th shaft was opened until 1927. When Phönix merged into Vereinigte Stahlwerke in 1926, Zollverein came under control of Gelsenkirchener
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
Bergwerks-AG (GBAG) who started closing most of the meanwhile elderly coking plants.
Shaft 12
In 1928, the GBAG voted for the construction of a totally new 12th shaft designed as a central mining facility. When in the shaft opened in 1932, it had a daily output of up to 12.000 tons, combining the output of the four other existing facilities with 11 shafts.Schacht Albert Vögler
Albert Vögler
Albert Vögler , was a German liberal politician, industrialist and entrepreneur. He was a co-founder of the German People's Party, and an important executive in the munitions industry during the Second World War....
, as the highly modern shaft was named after the director general of the GBAG, was designed by the architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer and quickly gained notice for its simple, functional Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
design with its mainly cubical
Cube
In geometry, a cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex. The cube can also be called a regular hexahedron and is one of the five Platonic solids. It is a special kind of square prism, of rectangular parallelepiped and...
buildings made of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
trusses
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
. The shaft's characteristic Doppelbock winding tower in the following years did not only become the archetype of many later central mining facilities but became a symbol of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
. Whilst this symbol may have slowly been forgotten when the German heavy industry started diminishing in the second half of the 20th century, it was this shaft and especially its characteristic
Characteristic
Characteristic may refer to:In physics and engineering, any characteristic curve that shows the relationship between certain input and output parameters, for example:...
winding tower that were to become a symbol of the Ruhr area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
's structural change
Structural change
Structural change of an economy refers to a long-term widespread change of the fundamental structure, rather than microscale or short-term output and employment. For example, a subsistence economy is transformed into a manufacturing economy, or a regulated mixed economy is liberalized...
.
1932 - 1968
In 1937, Zollverein employed 6.900 people and had an output of 3.6 million tons, the majority to which contributed the new 12th shaft. The other shafts were not entirely closed and even received new (in comparison to shaft 12 of course far inferior) winding towers, such as did shaft 6. On the premises of the old coking plant of shafts 1/2/8, a small facility of 54 new ovens was opened with a yearly output of 200.000 tons of coke.Zollverein survived the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
with only minor damages and by 1953 again placed on top of all German mines with an output of 2.4 million tons. In 1958, shaft 1 was replaced by a totally new building; the complete reconstruction
Reconstruction (architecture)
Reconstruction is a term in architectural conservation whose precise meaning varies, depending on the context in which they are used.More broadly, such as under the Burra Charter of Australia, "reconstruction" means returning a damaged building to a known earlier state by the introduction of new...
of the 2/8/11 shaft facility from 1960 until 1964 was again planned by Fritz Schupp. These renovations however, were only to last until 1967, when 11 shafts were closed, leaving shaft 12 the only open one.
Shaft 12 thus became the main supplier of the new central coking plant from 1961 with its 192 ovens, which was again designed by Fritz Schupp. After an expansion in the early 1970s, Zollverein placed among the most productive coking plants worldwide with around 1.000 workers and an output of up to 8.600 tons of coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
a day on the so-called dark side. The white side of the plant produced side products such as ammonia
Ammonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
, raw benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
and raw tar
Tar
Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
.
In 1968, Zollverein was handed over to Ruhrkohle AG (RAG)
RAG Aktiengesellschaft
RAG AG, formerly Ruhrkohle AG, is the largest German coal mining corporation. The company headquarters are in Herne in the Ruhr area. The company was founded on 27 November 1968, consolidating several coalmining corporations into the Ruhrkohle AG....
, Germany's largest mining company.
1968 - 1993
RAG began a further mechanizationMechanization
Mechanization or mechanisation is providing human operators with machinery that assists them with the muscular requirements of work or displaces muscular work. In some fields, mechanization includes the use of hand tools...
and consolidation
Rationalization
Rationalization may refer to:*Rationalization , the means of transition from a traditional society into a rationalized one*Rationalization , the process of constructing a logical justification for a decision that was originally arrived at through a different mental process*Rationalization , an...
of the mining activities. In 1974, Zollverein was joined into a Verbundberkwerk (joined mines) with nearby Bonifacius and Holland coal mines in Kray and Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
, respectively. In 1982, Gelsenkirchen's Nordstern coal mine also joined that Verbund.
The Flöz Sonnenschein coal layer in the north of the Zollverein territory was the last layer that mining activities took place in on Zollverein territory, starting in 1980. The output of Verbundbergwerk Nordstern-Zollverein was approximately 3.2 million tons, which however did not prove profitable enough so that a complete closure of the Zollverein site was voted for in 1983.
When it closed, Zollverein was the last remaining active coal mine in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
. Whereas the coking plant remained open until June 30, 1993, mining activities in shaft 12 stopped on December 23, 1986. Although it is the central shaft of the Cultural Heritage site, shaft 12 cannot be visited as it continues being used as the water drainage for the central Ruhr area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
together with shaft 2.
Becoming a monument
As with most sites of the heavy industries that had been closed down, Zollverein was predicted to face a period of decay. Surprisingly, the state of North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
(NRW) bought the coal mine territory from the RAG
RAG Aktiengesellschaft
RAG AG, formerly Ruhrkohle AG, is the largest German coal mining corporation. The company headquarters are in Herne in the Ruhr area. The company was founded on 27 November 1968, consolidating several coalmining corporations into the Ruhrkohle AG....
immediately after it had been closed down in late 1986, and declared shaft 12 a memorial
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
. This went along with the obligation
Obligation
An obligation is a requirement to take some course of action, whether legal or moral. There are also obligations in other normative contexts, such as obligations of etiquette, social obligations, and possibly...
to preserve the site in its original state and to minimize the effects of weathering
Weathering
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, biota and waters...
. In 1989, the city of Essen and NRW founded the Bauhütte Zollverein Schacht XII that should take care for the site and which was replaced by the Stiftung Zollverein (Zollverein Foundation) in 1998.
After it had been closed down in 1993, the coking plant was planned to be sold to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The negotiations failed and it was subsequently threatened to be demolished
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
. However, another project of the state of NRW set the coal mine on a list of future exhibition sites resulting in first gentle modifications and the cokery also became an official memorial in 2000.
On its 25th session in December 2001, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
declared both the sites of the shafts 12 and 1/2 and the cokery a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.