The landmark of Dortmund is the big U on top of a former brewery building. Today the building houses besides others the Museum Ostwall and some exhibition rooms. The elements looking like mosaics are actually movies shown high over the city.
A detail I was especially impressed in. At the coking plant Hansa I saw a pithead bath. In this hall the workers put their clothes in special frameworks. Each framework is movable up and down by a chain.
Kokerei Hansa is a former coking plant in Dortmund. Today the plant houses a huge climbing gym named Kletterhalle Bergwerk and the remaining installations can be visited by guided tours.
In earlier times German miners used to have a small garden for vegetable and animals behind their homes. While strolling around a mining settlement next to the colliery Zeche Zollern I came across this special breed of chickens. In German they are called Sundheimer.
An interesting detail seen at the colliery Zeche Zollern: The Lohnhalle. This is a building shaped like a station hall with some cashier’s desks inside. Here the miners were paid their wages.
A fascinating detail of the Zeche Zollern, a colliery in Dortmund: The door at the machine hall is built in the style of Jugendstil (Art Nouveau).
The ‘Alte Verwaltung’ served as administration building and office of the director. It was designed by the architect Paul Knobbe. It looks a bit like a manor house or a chapel, doesn’t it?
The Deutsche Bergbau-Museum (German Mining Museum) consists of a show mine and a big collection of exhibits regarding mining. The photo above was taken at the elevator bringing visitors down to the show mine.
The Ruhrtriennale is an annual music and arts festival in the Ruhr area of Germany. The locations of the Ruhrtriennale are generally industrial heritage sites like the Jahrhunderthalle in Bochum, the Zeche Zollverein or the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord.
The Jahrhunderthalle is a venue for such famous events like the Ruhrtriennale. Interesting detail: The hall was constructed on top of an existing plant. After that, the soil was risen up to the level of the hall. So the first plant became part of the basement.
The Ruhr Museum is placed in the former coal preparation plant at the Zeche Zollverein. On several floors, it tells not only the story of the Zeche (coal mine) but also shows the history of the Ruhr area (Ruhrgebiet).
The Zeche Zollverein (Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex) is a larger former industrial site and is inscribed into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. I was especially impressed by the use of Bauhaus style for some buildings.