More Than Industrial Heritage
As a location for arts and culture, Zollverein is one of the largest venues of the Ruhr Metropolis
Concerts, cabaret evenings, talk shows, readings, cinema shows, exhibitions and festivals with spectacular productions turn the monument into a stage. With its numerous halls and the huge outdoor area, Zollverein is one of Germany’s largest venues.
The world of design
With more than 2.000 exhibits, the Red Dot Design Museum presents the world’s largest exhibition of contemporary design in the former boiler house of the Zollverein Coal Mine. Innovative objects from 45 countries make the quality of good design tangible at first hand, as it is permitted for visitors to touch and try out many of the exhibits.
PACT
PACT Zollverein sees itself as an initiator, driver and stage for groundbreaking developments in the fields of dance, performance, theatre, media and visual arts.
In addition to the stage programme, PACT provides space for working processes of artists from all over the world and initiates the exchange between art and science. With various projects, PACT has left the former pithead bath at Shaft 1/2/8 and thus participates in shaping the urban society.
The Festival of the Arts
The industrial monuments of the region become stages for music theatre, dance, performance, drama and concerts – at the Ruhrtriennale, the venues have a major influence on the artistic work.
„Model“. Ruhrtriennale 2015. Choreography in two parts by Richard Siegal.UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
World premieres and new productions, of course also at Zollverein, shape the programme and attract an international audience to the Ruhr Area. Every three years, the festival reinvents itself under a new artistic director.
Culture with a unique atmosphere
Outstanding concerts in places, where noisy machines used to dictate the rhythm, have been organized by Zollverein Foundation for over 20 years. In the former industrial halls, people can listen to jazz, pop, classical and contemporary music.
Lumière II by Robert Henke in the context of the Zollverein ConcertsUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
For example, the WDR Big Band, a world-class jazz orchestra, and Chorwerk Ruhr, one of Germany’s most renowned choirs, regularly take the stage.
Music of now
Once a year, the NOW! Festival turns Essen into the centre of contemporary music. Zollverein Foundation is one of the organizers. Since 2011, artists have been presenting different views on contemporary music.
A region celebrates
By tradition, 24 cities of the Ruhr Metropolis jointly celebrate the Night of Industrial Heritage on the last weekend in June. The Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the largest venues.
Born from the idea of making the region’s industrial heritage visible, the "ExtraSchicht" (ExtraShift) stages the entire metropolis in a spectacular and interdisciplinary way.
Kwaggawerk Art Orchestra on the occasion of ExtraSchicht 2019UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
The long night of industrial culture begins in the light ...
Performance in front of the Twin Pithead Frame on the occasion of ExtraSchicht 2019UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
... and ends - as the name already says - in the night.
The Ruhr region grows together.
As the European Capital of Culture, the Ruhr Area enchanted millions of people in 2010. There was no better place for the opening event of RUHR.2010 than the Zollverein World Heritage Site.
Here, the starting signal was given for a year full of thrilling productions and projects which promoted the networking of numerous institutions in the region.
Shaft Signs for RUHR.2010 – European Capital of CultureUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
Shaft Signs at Zollverein
The art installation visualizes former coal shafts in the Ruhr Area with yellow balloons, in order to make structural transformation visible.
RUHR.2010 – European Capital of CultureUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
A concert at the Zollverein Cokery in the context of the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010.
Ten years later, in 2020, Zollverein Foundation posed the question of what had remained of RUHR.2010, with its event “Zehn nach Zehn” (Ten past Ten). In debates and dialogues, the future of the region was considered, while the most beautiful scenes of the Capital of Culture year were once again made visible in elaborate installations.
C.A.R.
Art – new and visionary. The “contemporary art ruhr (C.A.R.)” brings a media art fair to the Zollverein World Heritage Site in the summer and a fair for contemporary art from all fields in autumn.
It has thus made its contribution to the development of an independent art market in the Ruhr Area – a region with a population of more than five million people.
Images of a region
The Twin Pithead Frame at Zollverein is one of the most photographed tourist attractions in North Rhine-Westphalia. But there is much more to discover in terms of photography at the World Heritage Site: an important place for photography in the Ruhr Area and thus for culture in the coal-mining district is the Circular Thickener.
Tap to explore
The exhibitions, which are presented here, focus primarily on the transformation of Zollverein, on the surrounding districts and on the structural change in the Ruhr Area.
Talk and cabaret
The talk show #halbzwölf (half past eleven) with host Peter Großmann brings together legends from sports, arts and culture.
lit.RUHR
Zollverein is a central venue of lit.RUHR. The international literature festival presents classic readings, literary theme nights and interesting encounters at the World Heritage Site.
Gaming as culture
Next Level – Festival for Games is all about the art and culture of digital games. Fans and experts of digital gaming culture meet at Zollverein to exchange ideas about the potentials of games in arts, education and business.
The future topics of gaming are made tangible through installations, exhibitions, adventure parcours and performances in the halls at the World Heritage Site.
NEW NOW - Festival for Digital Arts
NEW NOW presented by Zollverein Foundation at the Coking Plant is an internationally unique festival for digital arts. The Mixing Plant with its bunkers and huge coal funnels is transformed into an open production site:
Pioneering contemporary artists develop new artworks at the World Heritage Site. With space-consuming installations, virtual landscapes and 3D sculptures creating surprising new worlds, the festival explores phenomena of our time. Instead of coal, Zollverein is now producing ideas.
Today, Zollverein is one of the largest venues in Germany – with art and photography exhibitions, readings and cabaret evenings, concerts and cinema shows. The World Heritage Site is both a monument and a stage.
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