1847
The merchant and industrial pioneer Franz Haniel from Ruhrort had the first shaft of the future Zollverein Coal Mine sunk in the area that is now known as Essen-Katernberg – a real technical challenge in the 1840s.
Franz Haniel named the mine field and the later shaft facility after the German customs union “Deutscher Zollverein”, which had come into force in 1834. Besides the detection of particularly sought-after fat coal, the connection to the new Cologne-Minden railway line was also an important advantage of the location for the entrepreneur.
Hegemannshof estate in EssenUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
1856
The owners, the Haniel Family, had the first housing estate built for the colliery’s workforce.
Mineworkers’ house of Ottekampshof estate on Joseph-Oertgen-Weg (today Essen-Katernberg) around 1900UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
In 1860, the first tenants moved into the Hegemannshof estate, which was expanded over the following four decades.
Ottekampshof estate. In the background: the third shaft facility Zollverein 4/5, 1907UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
In addition to Hegemannshof, further settlements emerged, including amongst others the colonies of Ottekampfshof (photo), Kolonie III, Stiftsdamenwald and Theobaldstraße.
Each of the settlement houses had a shed and a large garden for the families' self-supply.
1880-1901
Until the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, the demand for “black gold” continued to grow. New industries emerged, and the railway network was steadily expanded. The development of all new industries depended on coal as a source of energy.
Between 1880 and 1895, a total of three pits were planned and built at the Zollverein coal field: Shaft 3/7 as from 1880, Shaft 4/5 as from 1891 and Shaft 6/9 as from 1895.
Between 1880 and 1901, Zollverein was the most productive coal mine in the Ruhr District. As from 1890, one million tons of pure hard coal were extracted per year. In 1900, more than 5,000 miners worked at the Zollverein Coal Mine.
The old coking plant of Shaft 1/2/8 in the 1920sUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
1857-1914 Zollverein coking plants
Three of the four Zollverein shaft facilities operated their own coking plants from 1857, where the mine product coking coal was refined into sought-after coke, the fuel and reductant for iron and steel production. From the 1880s, the by-products tar, ammonia, benzene and sulphuric acid could be extracted from the coke oven gas.
1914-1918
The First World War began: 27 percent of all men employed in the Ruhr mining industry were called up for military service, while others left the mining sector for jobs in the less dangerous and better paid arms industry.
There was a shortage of labour in the Ruhr coal mining industry.
As hard coal was indispensable for military transports and armament requirements, women, young people, older miners and for the first time also forced labourers were deployed at the coal mines and coking plants during the war.
1918-1926
After four years of war, during which little investments had been made in the meanwhile obsolete Zollverein facilities, the company faced the economic challenge of increasing production output. The population in the Ruhr area suffered from hunger and cold. 80,000 miners went on strike in the Ruhr District.
At the same time, the Haniel company began to fear the nationalization of pure mining operations, such as the Zollverein Coal Mine, which was made possible by the November Revolution.
The steel company Phönix AG was again looking for a mine to supply its plants with coal.
In 1920, the Haniel company formed a syndicate with Phönix: after 73 years in the Haniel family business, Zollverein became a metallurgical mine.
After the merger, investments were again made in the modernisation of Zollverein and the further expansion of Zollverein’s transport connections.
In 1926, Phönix AG was incorporated into Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG in the context of a major merger process. As from then, The Zollverein coal mine belonged to the world's second largest steel trust and was administered by the Gelsenkirchen mining group.
Aerial view of the Zollverein Shaft XII shortly after the start of operationsUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
1932
With Zollverein XII, the coal mine got a new central shaft facility: on 1st February 1932, this “colliery of superlatives“ started operations and took over the central coal production of almost all Zollverein shafts.
With a daily output of up to 12,000 tonnes of pure hard coal, the 55-metre-high twin pithead frame hoisted three to four times the amount of an average coal mine in the Ruhr Area.
Zollverein was not only one of the most efficient and modern coal mines in the world, but also attracted attention because of its architectural style: The architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer designed this model complex in the style of New Objectivity by arranging twenty steel framework cubes and cuboids along two axes.
The clear structure and the functional arrangement of the buildings reflect how the processes are structured inside them. Arranged along two axes, the chimney of the boiler house (photo) and the pithead frame are the highlights of the huge building complex.
1939-1945
View of the Zollverein site during the Second World War. Single bomb damages are visible. The Krupp factories in the centre of Essen were the focus of allied air raids, while the Zollverein facilities in the north of the city were spared, except for isolated building damage.
Once again, miners were sent to the war front. As from 1941, the absent mineworkers were almost exclusively replaced by forced labourers, mainly from the USSR, Poland, France and Italy.
Most of them had to work in the Ruhr mining industry under inhumane conditions. Many forced labourers did not survive their deployment or remained permanently unfit for work afterwards.
The annual output of the Zollverein Coal Mine in 1945 was only 869,000 tons, roughly equivalent to the annual output of 1888. So coal extraction had to be boosted for reconstructing the country.
Fallen off the train: women collected fallen down pieces of coal at the tips and along railway tracks. After the war, everything was scarce – including heating material. The illegal procurement of coal was officially tolerated in the harsh post-war winters.
Miner with mining hammer in the 1950sUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
1945-1961
After the end of the war, coal extraction and processing at Zollverein gained momentum again – in the 1950s, it reached peak performance again.
Miner with mining hammer; as from the 1950s, this type of coal mining was replaced by large-scale machines…
Coal ploughUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
… e. g. the coal plough.
The Zollverein Coking Plant under construction, around 1958/1959UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
As from 1961, Zollverein became the site of a modern central coking plant, which was built only a few hundred metres from Zollverein Shaft XII and Shaft 1/2/8.
Europe‘s largest central coking plant. Aerial photo from the 1970s.UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
In September 1961, the first coke was “squeezed” out of the oven; after an extension, the Zollverein Coking Plant was the largest central coking plant in Europe as from 1973.
1957-1968
The year 1957 marked the turning point in German hard coal production. Coal became increasingly replaced by crude oil.
In 1958, 9.5 million tons of coal were stored on coal tips, and rising.
In the 1960s, numerous mines were closed down.
In 1968, Ruhrkohle AG was finally founded to handle the phase-out of German coal mining in the long term – and above all in a socially acceptable way.
52 coal mines and 29 coking plants, including the Zollverein Coal Mine and Coking Plant, were transferred to the ownership of Ruhrkohle AG.
1974-1986
As part of the consolidation measures of Ruhrkohle AG, the Zollverein Coal Mine took over the coal extraction and coal processing activities of two other collieries: in 1974 Zollverein entered into an alliance with the Holland Coal Mine in Wattenscheid (today: Bochum-Wattenscheid); after the latter had been closed down, Zollverein formed another alliance with the Nordstern Coal Mine (Gelsenkirchen-Horst) as from 1983.
In 1983, it was decided that the Zollverein Coal Mine was to be closed down. On the evening of 23rd December 1986 – after 135 years – the Zollverein Coal Mine belonged to the past. The steel and mining town of Essen had lost its last coal mine.
1987-1993
The State of North Rhine-Westphalia acquired the property of Zollverein Shaft XII and commissioned a utilisation concept.
One week before its closure, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia put Zollverein Shaft XII under a preservation order, thus saving the coal mine from demolition.
Conversion of the former central workshop into an event hall in 1991. After its refurbishment, the hall was used for exhibitions and concerts.
During the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Emscher Park (1989-1999), the redevelopment of Zollverein Shaft XII was declared a flagship project.
In the 1990s, galleries, cultural institutions and freelance artists and designers moved into the refurbished former above-ground facilities.
1993-2000
In February 1993, the workforce of the Zollverein Coking Plant was informed about the imminent closure of the plant. When the last coke was ”squeezed out” on 30th June 1993, the mood was depressed. Unlike after the closure of the Zollverein Coal Mine a few years earlier, not all staff members were kept employed.
View of the ”black side” of the Zollverein Coking Plant.UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
After the failed attempt to sell the facilities including their relocation to China, the coking plant was renovated as from 1998.
In 2000, the Zollverein Coking Plant was also awarded monument status.
Casino ZollvereinUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
Zollverein Shaft XII got two new visitor attractions: Casino Zollverein in 1993 and the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in 1996.
View of the boiler house during its conversion into the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen (1993-1996)UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
Especially the conversion of the former boiler house by the offices of Foster and Partners (London) as well as Böll and Krabel (Essen) attracted much attention.
Today, visitors can explore the exhibitions of the Red Dot Design Museum.UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
Today, visitors can explore the exhibitions of the Red Dot Design Museum.
2001
At the 25th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee on 14th December, Zollverein Shaft XII, Shaft 1/2/8 and the Zollverein Coking Plant were unanimously designated as the 25th World Heritage Site in Germany – for the Ruhr Area, this was a so far unprecedented distinction.
The jury of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee substantiated the inscription of the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen on the World Heritage List as a remarkable industrial monument by stating that “[...] its buildings are outstanding examples of the application of the design concepts of the Modern Movement in architecture in a wholly industrial context.”
Zollverein Shaft XII also documents “a crucial period in the development of traditional heavy industries in Europe, when sympathetic and positive use was made of architectural designs of outstanding quality.“
View of the former production axis, each building had a function in the coal preparation process.
