Germany: Essen – Zolverein Coal Mine Complex
Zolverein Coal Mine Complex is an open air museum of the industrial revolution in Europe dating to 1842; in fact back nearly a hundred years ago this was the most sophisticated technologically and architecturally coal mine in the world. Both the mine and the cooking plant are located side by side, and all operations ceased in 1993. It’s a designated UNESCO World heritage site, although in really think industrial sites like mines are probably not worth the inclusion. Nevertheless, it was interesting to roam at will around century old rusted iron structures built in Bauhaus industrial style.
