Zeche Zollern colliery and mining in the Ruhr Region: Travel through time
It’s hot, cramped and dark. Sweat is running down your forehead. You are a miner and used to hard work. Your job: To extract coal from a depth of 600 metres. Let the Zeche Zollern colliery, the beautiful little sister of the Zollverein Colliery, take you on a journey through time: back to the mining of the past.
LWL-Industriemuseum Zeche Zollern Colliery
Westphalian State Museum for Industrial Culture
Grubenweg 5
44388 Dortmund
Zeche Zollern colliery: Museum and festival venue
This used to be a place of hard slog, now the headframe, railway lines and brick buildings are the only reminders of the old days. Instead of hard slog, visitors to the Ruhr Region can take their time and explore – because today this Ruhr Region colliery is one of the museums belonging to the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) (Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe). In the permanent exhibition, the museum tells the story of the mine, the fates of the miners, their leisure time and their work.
The colliery is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage and a model example of Dortmund’s structural transformation into a centre for culture. There are regular events set against the backdrop of the colliery, such as the Fair Ground Festival – “Once Upon a Time”. This “temple to hard work” also opens its doors during “Extraschicht (Extra Shift) – the Night of Industrial Culture”.
The beautiful little sister of Zollverein Colliery in Essen
As an industrial monument, the Zeche Zollern colliery bears this affectionate epithet for good reason: the architecture of this site is remarkable, a mixture of brick Gothic, onion turrets and many more picturesque features. The Jugendstil entrance to the old machine hall is particularly popular with many visitors. Fortunately, contrary to plan, the colliery was not demolished after its closure.
Instead it has been preserved, so that you can experience industrial culture here. Afterwards you can retire to the colliery restaurant, which is located in the former stables.
