Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter, Vol.30, No
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Volume 30 Spring 2001 Number 2 IA IN THE RUHR,GERMANY 2001 Study Tour Review he Ruhr Tour, or, as some of us referred to it, the Ruhr Industriekultur im Ruhrgebiet, a heritage route that links the Tuhr, was an immersion in German industrial archeol- region’s many historic and modern industrial sites. Wolfgang ogy, but more than that, we discovered how our invited the SIA study tour to experience the newly developed German colleagues are working in successful ways to route. T make industrial heritage preservation relevant to Our home base was two small hotels in the attractive city of Ruhr Valley communities and, in the process, making successful Duisburg. Fittingly, Wolfgang welcomed us at Brauhaus Schacht strides to preserve massive industrial complexes and landscapes. 4/8, a pub in downtown with a mining theme (“Schacht” = mine Forty-seven SIA members participated in the ten-day tour, coor- shaft). The pub even sells key chains with miniature miner’s dinated by Pat Martin, SIA’s executive secretary and journal edi- hardhats attached. During the 19th century, coal mining and iron tor. Our chief guide and host was Wolfgang Ebert, president of production were the leading sectors of the Ruhr’s industrializa- the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Industriekultur, e. V. (DGfIeV), tion. Duisburg developed as the regional shipping center by virtue of its harbor, which reportedly ranked as which translates as the German Society for Industrial Culture. (continued on page 2) The society is the orga- the biggest inland port in the nizing force behind the Ro u t e Headframe at the Zeche Zollern II/IV mine. Published by the Society for Industrial Archeology Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295 RUHR,GERMANY (continued from page 1) world. The first stop was the Museum der Henrichenberg. This ship-lift is capable of Deutschen Binnenschifffahrt, the inland lifting a 750-ton boat a height of 14 m. shipping museum in Duisburg. It is housed in between two levels of the canal. We toured a former public bath, or Schwimmbad, built the small museum devoted to the lift, the in 1910. Exhibits cover shipping history from nearby 1914 lock and the Dortmund-Ems prehistoric times to the present and include a Kanal, built between 1892 and 1899 from the remarkable model ship collection and other North Sea to Dortmund, a distance of 287 artifacts. The swimming pool has been reused km, for the export of coal to, and the import for a sailboat display. The museum also of iron ore from, Sweden. The served as our introduction to the identifica- Schiffshebewerk was opened in 1899 with tion system on the Route Industriekultur im great ceremony by Wilhelm II and operated Ruhrgebiet. Most sites are marked outside by until 1970. We braved spitting snow and a large yellow pole that looks like a gigantic patches of ice to climb the towers, then map pin. Near the pole are interpretive signs, returned to the museum to see a restored the size and shape of billets of steel. steam engine run in an exhibit reproducing a Du i s b u r g ’ s In n e n h a f e n , or inner harbor dis- boat’s engine room. trict, was the center of the European grain Amazing new solar-powered technology trade after the Franco-Prussian War , and in was featured at the Akademie Mont-Cenis recent years has been redeveloped for mode r n Herne, housing training and seminar facili- commercial and cultural uses. After lunch in ties for the Interior Ministry, a hotel, indoor a former flour mill, we toured the harbor and park, and library. It is capable of operating saw the Fu s s g ä n g e r b r ü c k e ( p e d e s t r i a n completely off the electric grid by using the bridge), a suspension bridge of 1999, the deck world’s largest solar roof installation covering of which can be drawn up at its center to clear 83,700 sq. ft., which, with another 7,000 sq. higher boats by shortening the back stays with ft. array on the façade, produces 750,000 kw. large hydraulic pulling cylinders, and one of hrs. per year. Methane gas from a former coal Eu r o p e ’ s first riveted steel silos, 1905, now part mine, closed in 1978, fuels cogeneration of the Küppersmühle modern art museum. plants. This mine, once the center of the Our day in Duisburg ended at the town of Sodingen, contains the deepest shaft Landschafts-Park Duisburg Nord, a blast in the Ruhrgebiet at 4,268 ft. The building furnace complex that has been adaptively sits directly over the former pit head, floating reused as a park. The Dampfgebläsehaus on concrete piles. (blowing engine house) now houses a perfor- We continued on to the Skulpturen-Park mance stage, a catering hall, and a disco, the Rheinelbe, a sculpture park built on the site coal bunkers contain community gardens, and of a coal mine. Finished in 1999, the park the gasholder is a scuba tank. Paths through was a conscious effort to change public atti- the site are popular for hiking and dog-walk- tudes toward coal mining. The DGfIeV is ing. The complex is illuminated each evening promoting the idea of sculptures set on coal with a light show. Wolfgang explained that waste tips as monuments to industrial her- the furnace was preserved because the cost of itage. The centerpiece of this park is a mas- demolition was great while tourism and recre- sive creation of recycled concrete slabs set ation are the fastest growing sectors of the atop the mine’s waste tip. The tailings are ec o n o m y . Part of the planning was not to sculpted and augmented with waste from spend the capital required to preserve the site other mines to create a hill-like base that is for all time, but to expend funds only on what an integral element of the sculpture. needed to be repaired in the short term to Climbing to the top was akin to making a pil- keep it open as a park and cultural center. No grimage to the altar of ancient Mayan sacri- admission is charged because patrolling the fices. What would the gods of IA demand? property and staffing a gate would be expen- Our third day of touring brought us to the sive. Wolfgang explained that low-cost, low- first of several historic coal mines. The Zeche maintenance adaptive reuse, especially for Zollverein XII (Customs Association commercial, cultural and recreational purpos- Colliery), opened in 1847, is in the great steel es, has been a successful approach for persuad- city of Essen. The mine’s name refers to the ing the public to preserve large industrial sites customs union formed in 1843 among the and landscapes in the Ruhr. It is a preserva- German states, which eliminated tariffs at tion philosophy that we saw repeated their borders and placed trade on a national throughout the tour. level. In 1932 one main shaft was dug to con- One of the gigantic “map pins” that Our first stop the second day was nect four of the seams with the goal of raising mark the Route Industriekultur im Schleusen Park in Waltrop, of which the production to12,000 tons of coal per day and Ruhrgebiet, the Ruhr Valley’s indus- centerpiece is the old Sc h i f f s h e b e w e r k trial heritage route. (continued on page 4) 2 Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter, Vol.30, No. 2, 2001 From Salt to Stainless Steel: Touring the IA Heritage of Syracuse, New York October 11-14,2001 he 2001 SIA Fall Tour will explore Syracuse, NY. Once a major center for 19th-century salt production and still known as the Salt City, Syracuse and its surroundings T today boast an incredible diversity of industrial products and processes. This year’s tour will be sponsored by the Onondaga Historical Association, which operates the county historical museum and research center. A couple of preview events are planned for Thursday. Early arrivals can sign up to board the City of Syracuse as it plies the waters of the State Barge Canal and “locks through” at Baldwinsville. The boat, of recent construction but in the style of lake steamers of the late 19th century, will then take a spin into Solar salt workers, ca. 1900. Onondaga Lake, once the heart of the city’s defining salt industry. That evening, participants will have the option of attending several former industrial sites and a special stop to explore the Under the Eyes of Gambrinus, a beer-tasting celebration at the ruins of the 1860 Geddes brine pump house, one of just two sur- OHA Museum. viving structures of the once mighty salt industry. Additional tour Over the next two days of tours, participants will visit Marsellus stops are being investigated. Casket, founded in 1871 and one of America’s leading producers of A reception at the OHA Museum will start the Saturday fine wooden caskets. Several U.S. presidents rest for the ages in this evening festivities. Several unique venues are under considera- Syracuse product. We also will see remnants of the mid-19th-cen- tion for the banquet, some dependent on renovation schedules, so tury Erie and Oswego Canal, including aqueducts, locks, and a dry stay tuned. Sunday morning will bring walking tours of downtown dock repair facility dating from 1855, currently under restoration. Syracuse’s historic architecture with stops at the Erie Canal Another sojourn will be to the Jamesville Quarry, where a blast Museum, housed in an 1850 canal weighlock, and the Museum of demonstration will be offered.