Zollverein World Heritage Site

Essen

The Zollverein coal mine and coking plant symbolise the region’s industrial past. It was this industrial site that was the stimulus for the building of worker estates in northern Essen. The extent of the coal production at Zollverein provided the foundation for the workers' pride in the production technology and the modernity of the coalmines allowed miners at Zollverein to ascend the hierarchy of the workforce. In the face of much resistance, Zollverein has been retained as a cultural monument to industrial architecture. As an accessible icon of industrial culture, the complex is symbolic of the rise and fall of an entire industry, demonstrating examples of new approaches in the shaping of structural change in the Ruhr area.

In the course of the consolidation, architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer designed and built the buildings of the Zollverein shaft XII as a central winding tower for a total of four mine locations with the name Zollverein and areas of the neighbouring shaft 1/2/8. Its architecture was the result of a strong link with function, combined with representational requirements in a concept which includes elements of the Bauhaus style. In total, the facilities stretched over an area of 100 hectares and were described as a ‘marvel of consolidation’ at their dedication in 1932. Subsequently, the Zollverein coking plant began operation in 1961. In 1986, shaft XII was the last winding tower in the town to be closed and, in the same year, despite written intent of demolition, the first area – a 12-part grouping of the Zollverein XII facilities – to be declared a historical monument.

Safeguarding the area could only be guaranteed by the site and its structures being taken over by the Landesentwicklungsgesellschaft Nordrhein-Westfalen (LEG). This led to the preservation of the existing buildings. After the inclusion of the project in the IBA Emscher Park in 1989, the organisation, together with the city of Essen and IBA Emscher Park, established the Bauhütte Zollverein, which devised a concept for the preservation, renovation and conversion of the existing buildings and simultaneously served as the redevelopment agency. A development company formed subsequently to the Bauhütte became the Stiftung Zollverein foundation in 2008, the role of which was the protection of the buildings, commercial utilisation of the site and development of the location in terms of tourism. The coal mine has now long been established as a living economic and tourism site with a focal point on art and design.

Further protection of Zollverein came about when the mines and coking plant were included on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2001. A wide range of art and cultural projects and a varied events programme attract around 500,000 visitors to the site every year.

As one of the locations in the Emscher Landscape Park, Zollverein has become an interface of industrial nature and industrial culture, where new forms of landscape design and architecture are tried out. The Zollverein site is one of those inaccessible industrial sites, which could only be opened up to the public as part of the IBA Emscher Park. The artist Ulrich Rückriem was one of the first involved, working to create a sculpture park in the industrial forest. This encouraged a change in the perception of the area as a place of art and nature.

The foundation for today’s landscape design of Zollverein is a master plan devised in 2003 by Professor Henri Bava of Agence Ter. He focused on the continual maintenance of the industrial forest and the meadows and grassland around the structures and buildings with new succession gardens. A system of paths divides the landscape and opens up the site with six entrances for the neighbouring districts. The former rail tracks from shaft XII to the coking plant form central axes in the inner area and were converted into footpaths and cycleways. Tracks already made accessible provide the visitor with unfamiliar views of industrial nature as a consequence of industrial uses.

One highlight in the story of Zollverein’s conversion is the transformation of the boilerhouse into the home of the Design-Zentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen in accordance with plans drawn up by Foster + partners and Böll u. Krabel of Essen (1996).

In 2002, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) from Rotterdam, under the management of Rem Koolhaas, was commissioned to convert a previously developed concept for the economic and cultural development of the site into a master plan for urban development. The results formed the basis for further construction and planning projects. One prominent project is the construction of the Zollverein School of Management and Design by SANAA from Tokyo in 2006. The new Ruhr Museum has been housed in the coal washing plant converted by OMA Rem Koolhaas and Böll u. Krabel since 2008. This building has largely retained its mechanical character and the industrial machinery previously installed in it. In the European Capital of Culture year 2010, Zollverein will act as a central contact point and visitor centre.

Currently, the Stiftung Zollverein and the city of Essen are working together on the qualification of the location as a site for creative industry with a focus on design and on the dismantling of the industrial site. A 3.5-hectare area at the interface with the Zollverein coking plant will be developed as a site for residential and working models of youthful creative companies. In addition to offices, studios and workshops, apartments, restaurants, cafés and a hotel are also planned.