Up to 8.000 workers on shift duty, more than 20.000 tons of raw coal per day, a coking plant with 304 coke ovens – it was all about maximum performance at Zollverein. For the neighbours in the surrounding district, what is now a World Heritage Site had been for decades a forbidden city, with machines roaring and thick clouds rising behind its high walls. Zollverein has meanwhile become a place, where children play and have fun and where people discover nature or do sports.
Zollverein Park
The Zollverein World Heritage Site covers an area of 100 hectares – that's about 140 football fields. The site is open to the public around the clock, and this also includes the Zollverein Park with its distinctive industrial nature.
More than 500 fern and flowering plant species, around 40 bird species and more than 20 butterfly species can be found here. On a length of 3,5 kilometres, the ring promenade leads past industrial facilities, viewpoints and artworks.
Discovering the World Heritage Site while playing soccer-golf
A course as with golf, but instead of hitting balls, you kick them: that's soccer-golf! This free offer for the whole family is the perfect opportunity to discover the World Heritage Site.
On tour by bike
Zollverein is an ideal starting point for a bicycle tour. At and around Zollverein, you can discover industrial architecture, miners’ housing estates and plenty of nature.
Parkour, Zollverein Coking PlantUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
Fun with parkour obstacles
There is no more exciting way to learn how to overcome obstacles: Parkour is about getting from point A to point B across cubes, poles and walls.
Parkour, Zollverein Coking PlantUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
On the grounds of the Zollverein Coking Plant, there is an outdoor facility of about 600 square metres, which is open to the public. Workshops and training sessions for different age groups are held regularly.
Diving into the works swimming pool
The chimneys rise into the air, the coking plant’s oven battery stretches for hundreds of metres, the old quenching tower stands close by – and in the middle of it all, a bright blue pool. The works swimming pool at the Zollverein Coking Plant is one of the most exciting bathing locations in Germany.
The spectacular Zollverein ice rink
In earlier times, there used to be temperatures of over 1.000 degrees in the coke oven battery at the Zollverein coking plant. Today, it gets icy cold right in front of it: In winter, the Zollverein ice rink invites visitors to ice skating and curling.
Zollverein ice rink, Zollverein Coking PlantUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
This is "probably the most fascinating place for ice skating in Germany", judges the Marco Polo travel guide, and the GEO magazine ranks the Zollverein ice rink as one of the nine most spectacular ice skating venues in Europe.
Zollverein ice rink, Zollverein Coking PlantUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
After nightfall, when a light installation illuminates the Coking Plant, you can experience a special kind of winter romance.
Zollverein ice rink, Zollverein Coking PlantUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
