We spent the day looking around the Ruhr area, about an hour North-East of Düsseldorf. The central city here is Essen, and it is more of an industrial working area, so it's not very touristy. That said, there are some things of interest.
Our first stop was the Zollverein Shaft Mine. This is the largest coal mine ever in Europe, started in 1847. The huge crane was built for shaft number 12 in the 1930s.
We walked around looking at the different museum exhibits, but the best part was the tour, much to my surprise. I mean, this is, after all, a coal mine.
We got to walk into the areas where the old rail cars still held coal, and see how the cables worked pulling the ore out of the ground. Ground to use: from the time the coal was dumped into the car to bring to the surface, until the coal was washed, sorted and sent out to use was a total of 30 minutes.
The mine was closed down in the 1980s, the coking plant in the 1990s, and now it is an UNESCO Heritage site. The whole site has been turned into an art center with exhibits and shows, dance, music, open-air theater and so on. There are classes to take, and a design museum in the complex.
One last thing: it is considered an architectural wonder because it was built in a particular style called "New Objectivity." The whole complex flows together in a unique way.
We bought a nice Riesling to go with it (with a glass stopper instead of a cork) and it was a perfect meal.
We are getting spoiled with Angelika's cooking... perhaps we can take her along with us on the next part of our trip, as we walk in France...?