From land of coal and steel to arts, culture and entrepreneurs“Don’t get too romantic about the mines of the Ruhrgebiet”, warns seventy-four year old Günther Stoppa. He knows what he’s talking about, as he was one of the thousands of men, who chose to come from Eastern Germany to Zollverein Mine in Essen where the wages were higher and working conditions stable back in 1970. Sixteen years later the mine shut down. Now there are eight coalmines left in Germany and two of them are due to shut down shortly.
“The disused factory sites are not sites of nostalgia and regret, but reflect an era that is drawing to a close” as Günther Stoppa puts it. “There is no more coal down there and in a globalized world, there are others getting it up cheaper than we were able to.”
Nonetheless the Ruhr District with its old-style industrial landscape – and its trademark smoking chimneys – and all that goes with the mining industry such as miners’ colonies, work culture and economic power are absolutely fascinating. In the 1950’s there were 750.000 coal-miners, today there are less than 50.000 in Germany.
The river Ruhr
The Ruhrgebiet, or Ruhr district, is a large area in the Midwest of Germany, located at the river Ruhr, after which it is named. Today the Ruhrgebiet has one of the highest population densities in Germany, partly due to one of the world’s largest coalfields, as well as steel production and diversified chemical manufacturing. An extensive inland-waterway system and one of Europe’s densest railway and highway networks serve the Ruhr district.
Even though industrialization began later in Germany than in Britain, Germany in many respects surpassed Britain, particularly after Prussian Otto von Bismarck in 1871 unified a number of independent German states into one nation, Germany. This gave the German industry extra momentum. Now the country was a single entity with a common currency, besides this France had to pay Germany compensation after losing the 1870-71 War, which was spent on further investments in railroad construction and building projects. Speculation and risky investments took place in the following years ending in a stock market crash in 1873. Despite the crash and economic depressions Germany’s economy grew rapidly. In 1880 German coal production was one third of Britain’s, by 1913 it had increased six fold and equalled British coal production. In the same period the German steel production increased ten fold, surpassing British production.
Ruhr industry in the beginning
Beginning in the 1840’s coalmines were sunk deep into the underground and steel mills erected above. Why, you may ask. The answer being that deep-shaft coal mining could boost the local iron and steel industry. By producing the coal locally, the steel industry could save expenses, as vast amounts of fuel were used to smelt the ore. Often owners of steelworks had their own coalmines, such as the Haniel, Thyssen and Krupp.
People from all over Germany were drawn to the Ruhr district and by the turn of the 20th century the Ruhr was the largest metropolitan area in Europe. One of the iron industry’s best customers was the railway in the USA and later on the German military. After World War I the Ruhr industry was threatened by a crisis due to lack of modernisation and over-capacity, which resulted in the forming of the “United Steelworks” through the merging of industrialists pits and steel mills. It resulted in a cartel and an agreed fixed output. Disputes over iron ore used in steel production that was found in Lorraine led to French occupation of the area in 1921-25. German passive resistance to the occupation paralysed the economic life of the Ruhr and was one of the crucial factors in the collapse of the German currency.
Industrial magnates and workers
“We that came here and worked at the mines didn’t have much to do with the locals, one of the reasons being that we stayed in our own colony of foreign workers from other parts of Germany or foreign countries. Our wives couldn’t work in the mines – not even during the war even though there was a shortage of workers – so they would take care of the children and our homes, participate in the local activities and attend church –a few of the wives worked in an office or a canteen. Generally we didn’t have much money, even though we earned 10-15% more in the Ruhr District than in other mines. But we didn’t have cars or much money to spend on public transportation except on weekends when we would go out and watch our local football teams play. “
A comparison of a workers accommodation and for instance the family Krupps’ residence Villa Hügel is not fair. Accommodation provided by Zollverein was shared four-family houses with a small piece of land bringing back memories of their rural roots (see photo). Günther Stoppa explains: “Housing provided by the mine was often very small by modern standards and without bath. Therefore those that could choose found alternative housing. Miners often have large families; I have four sisters and brothers, my forefathers were also miners and had 12-14 children.”
Günther repeats again and again that he was very satisfied with his job at Zollverein, and with a twinkle in the eye says, “the word of the mine owner had supremacy over the mayors.” The owners of the various mines were undoubtedly prosperous and powerful men, so there is quite likely some truth to the saying. One of the most famous is the Krupp Dynasty in Essen for their steel production and their manufacturing of railway material, locomotives, armaments and ammunition. In 1999 the family business merged with Thyssen AG to form ThyssenKrupp AG.
Arts, culture and entrepreneurs
Today the Zollverein industrial complex is on the World Heritage List as an exceptional industrial monument, because “it constitutes remarkable material evidence of the evolution and decline of the coal industry over the past 150 years.” Zollverein is one of more than 30 industrial sites that make up the Industrial Heritage Trail. The former industrial sites have been renovated and reborn as tourist attractions, cultural centres and high-tech companies. Arts, swimming pools, pubs and cafés (see photo), museums, and entrepreneurs have taken up residence in the former foundries, gasometers, machine halls and collieries, providing a narrative on the past. In 2007 a museum with the unique historic panorama of the Ruhr-area will be opened in Zollverein’s renovated coal-wash, a good starting point for a trip to the “Ruhrpott” or the “Black Gold Trail” by bike or car. Now, Ruhr is free to build a new image, yet keeping its distinctive character of chimneys and machine halls, even if the smoke has stopped coming up the chimneys and the facilities inside have fallen silent.
Essen and Ruhrgebiet will be European Capital of Culture in 2010.
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Birgit O'Sullivan
- 29. januar 2007
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