Ruhr Museum
Ruhr Museum, level 17 / Photo: Ruhr Museum/Stefanie Grebe
The Ruhr Museum at the Zollverein presents the eventful history of the Ruhr area in one building, and a more spectacular museum would be hard to find. The former coal-washing plant of the Zollverein colliery boasts imposing architecture on a grand scale.
The processing, storage and distribution of coal have left behind a varied legacy of interesting spaces: huge halls with gargantuan machinery, enormous, windowless concrete bunkers, extensive galleries a hundred metres long, offering a unique spatial experience.
The exhibition architecture, designed by the renowned Architekturbüro HG Merz from Stuttgart, melds the content and themes of the exhibition with the existing physical structure, presenting the panorama of the present-day Ruhr area on this vast mechanical stage, the region's cultural heritage in the former coal bunkers and the history of industrialisation in the long lines of conveyor belts in the coal distribution plant. The modern design brings together the natural and cultural history of the Ruhr area in a single integrated concept with a vast array of interactive media. The exhibition tells of early industrial pioneers, of working underground and of life in the industrial age, of war and reconstruction, environmental destruction and the blue skies above the Ruhr.
since January 10, 2010
opening hours daily 10-19
The permanent exhibition is funded by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the City of Essen, and its preparation was sponsored by the Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media. The Ruhr Museum is owned by the City of Essen, the Rhineland Regional Council und the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
You can find further information (in German) at:
www.ruhrmuseum.de