A decommissioned coal mine and the nearby coking plant as a UNESCO World Heritage Site? Many people were surprised, when the "Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex" was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 14th December 2001. Ever since that day, the monument with the impressive Twin Pithead Frame, which represents the great industrial history of the Ruhr Area, has joined the ranks of the Cologne Cathedral and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. For good reason.
The rescue
Even before the last shift on 23rd December 1986, the once most efficient coal mine in the world was put under a preservation order. This decision was taken on 16th December 1986 by the Supreme Monument Authority of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 1993, the coking plant was decommissioned and also listed - after a sale of the plant to China had failed.
The road to becoming a World Heritage Site
The plan to have the Zollverein coal Mine and coking plant inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites gained momentum at the end of the 1990s. Shaft XII, Shaft 1/2/8 and the Coking Plant were defined as the core of the World Heritage, and a management plan for the grounds was drawn up.
Certificate from the UNESCO, the official inscription took place two days after the proclamation.UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
The decision
Talks had been held, expert reports had been prepared, and documents had been reviewed, before the World Heritage Committee finally deliberated on the application from Essen.
On 14th December 2001, Zollverein was unanimously inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the "Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex" in the context of the 25th meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Helsinki.
Prestigious entrance in front of the new central shaft Zollverein XIIUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
The reasoning
The World Heritage Committee substantiated its decision as follows: “Criterion (ii): The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen is an exceptional industrial monument by virtue of the fact that its buildings are outstanding examples of the application of the design concepts of the Modern Movement in architecture in a wholly industrial context...."
"...Criterion (iii): The technological and other structures of Zollverein XII are representative of 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.“
Zollverein Shaft 1/2/8 around 1900UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
From castle complex to Bauhaus architecture
The first Zollverein coal mine already was an architectural pioneer with its symmetrical, castle-like building style.
Ever since it had become possible to extract coal from deeper levels, engineers had relied on brick-built, fortress-like winding facilities, so-called Malakow towers. As the demand for coal had been steadily rising, Zollverein was extended by three further shaft facilities between 1880 and 1900.
Shaft XII
The construction of the new central shaft Zollverein XII set new standards. It was not only considered the most efficient, but also the most beautiful coal mine in the Ruhr District, if not worldwide.
The architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer designed this model plant in the style of New Objectivity. Being functional and symmetrical, simple and monumental at the same time, shaft XII with its distinctive twin pithead frame influenced generations of industrial buildings.
The Zollverein architects
Fritz Schupp (1896-1974) and Martin Kremmer (1894-1945) were commissioned to design a completely rationalized central shaft facility. The two architects formulated their claim as follows:
“We have to realize that the industry with its enormous buildings is no longer a disturbing element in our cityscapes and landscapes, but a symbol of work, a monument of the city, which every citizen should show to strangers with at least as much pride as the public buildings." (Zollverein architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer)
Pithead frame, concrete base, Zollverein Coal Mine, 1932UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
"The most beautiful coal mine in the world"
Construction work commenced in 1928, and on 1st February 1932, the cable sheaves of the 55-metre-high twin headframe started turning for the first time. The impressive winding tower and the steel framework buildings designed in the spirit of Bauhaus architecture established Zollverein’s reputation as “the most beautiful coal mine in the world”.
The completely preserved complex of the Zollverein Coal Mine and Coking Plant is a synthesis of the arts, designed right down to the last details of lamps, banisters and light poles.
Zollverein Coking Plant 1976UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
The architecture of the coking plant
Fritz Schupp was also entrusted with the design of the coking plant, which was built between 1957 and 1961. Again, the Zollverein architect combined form and function in an impressive way.
Europe‘s largest central coking plant. Aerial photo from the 1970s.UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
He arranged the "black side" with the coke oven batteries parallel...
...to the "white side", where the buildings for extracting by-products were located.
View of the Halls 5 and 6 and the Red Dot Design MuseumUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
After the decommissioning
Heinrich Böll and Hans Krabel were commissioned with the refurbishment and conversion of several halls. The two architects from Essen worked at Zollverein for 20 years and adapted their procedures to the special requirements at the World Heritage Site.
Until 1995, initial repair works were carried out, then the main focus was on extending the lifetime of the façades and, as from 2000, on “modified reconstruction” and the requirements of future uses.
From left to right: Winfried Knierim (Managing Director of Bauhütte Zeche Zollverein GmbH), Gerd-Peter Wolf (Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bauhütte Zollverein), Lord Norman Foster (architect) and Prof. Dr. Peter Zec (Managing Director of Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen) appraise the conversion work at the former boiler house in 1996.UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
"Preservation through conversion"
On 23rd December 1996, exactly ten years after the decommissioning of the coal mine, the keys for the reconstructed boiler house were handed over to Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen. The world-famous architect Norman Foster, who for example also redesigned the Reichstag in Berlin, was entrusted with the conversion.
The master plan for the architectural future of Zollverein was developed in 2001/2002 by Rem Koolhaas and his Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). High-quality new buildings were to be constructed on the edge of the World Heritage Site, and new life was to be breathed into buildings that were still vacant. Koolhaas thus established the basis for a development under the motto of “preservation through conversion”.
Escalator at the Coal Washery and Twin Pithead FrameUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
Soon afterwards, the Ruhr Museum, the Ruhr.Visitorcenter with the Portal of Industrial Heritage and parts of the Monument Path were established in the Coal Washery.
SANAA buildingUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
In the immediate periphery of the World Heritage Site, the SANAA building ...
Folkwang University of the ArtsUNESCO World Heritage Zollverein
...and the Folkwang University of the Arts were built.
