Ruhr Museum at the Zollverein World Heritage Site in Essen
Essen
The Ruhr Museum at the former coal mine offer a unique complete production on the history of the Ruhr District. The permanent exhibition shows the developments over time based on 6,000 exhibits. In particular, mining and its origins in what is now an industrial region are vividly discussed.
The Ruhr Museum in Essen is one of the most important museums in the Ruhr metropolitan area. As one of the oldest exhibition centres in the Ruhr District, it can look back on a history of more than one hundred years. The current location in the former coal washing plant on the site of the Zeche Zollverein coal mine was opened in the year of the City of Culture Ruhr.2010.
The building of the beloved institute of learning is particularly impressive: The old industrial facility of the coal washing plant was redesigned by the renowned architect Rem Koolhaas and fitted with an enormous orange exterior escalator.
Inside the Ruhr Museum, visitors can learn about the history of the Ruhr District and industrialisation and trace the course of coal based on around 6,000 exhibits: The permanent exhibition shows the development over time. A walk around the museum becomes a walk from the present into the past underground.
A multi-media introduction to the topic is offered by the panoramic film Ruhr 360° in the Portal of Industrial Culture. Form here, the path leads past preserved machines and conveyor belts belonging to the former coal mine to the viewing platform on the roof of the coal washing plant, which offers an impressive view of the region. In addition to the permanent exhibition, the Ruhr Museum holds extensive collections on geology, history, archaeology and photography, which are presented in regular special exhibitions.
The Red Dot Design Museum is next to the Ruhr Museum and should be visited immediately afterwards on a day trip. In the former boiler of the coal mine, it presents over 2,000 everyday and industrial objects that have won the Red Dot Award. The Phänomania Erfahrungsfeld experience park, an interactive museum for children, is also worth a visit and is on the World Heritage Site.