Denkmalpfad Zollverein Essen
Discover industrial history
... at a place that stands for superlatives like no other: Get to know the once largest and most powerful coal mine in the world and the largest central coking plant in Europe on one of our guided tours.
In the Zollverein Monument Trail, you can retrace the path of coal in the authentically preserved facilities of the colliery and coking plant. Gigantic machines, conveyor belts, mine cars, bunkers and hoppers stand for an eventful and moving industrial history. Where once up to 12,000 tons of coal a day were mined, processed and finally refined into coke, you will experience the workplaces of several generations of miners and coke plant workers.
In addition to technical details about the colliery and coking plant, the Zollverein monument trail provides you with a great deal of descriptive information about the working and living conditions of the miners and cokers at that time: about the dangers in mining, the effects of rationalization and shutdown, and everyday life in the colliery settlement. You will also learn a lot of interesting facts about Zollverein's multifaceted development from an active industrial complex to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.