Neukirchen-Vluyn, how two villages became a mining town

Both the village of Vluyn and the village of Neukirchen are located west of the Rhine on a former flow channel of this river, that has silted up. These former flow channels are recognizable in the landscape as curved depressions with a stream or ditch running through it. The first mention of Vluyn is a deed from 900 AD (as in den Flunen). Neukirchen is as the name (meaning new church) suggests a later settlement, first mentioned in 1230 in a land deed from the Camp Abbey (Abtei Kamp). Both settlements lay on the edge of a large complex of arable fields surrounded by large farmsteads. Along the streams we see meadows. Forrest grows on ridges. The rest of the landscape is communal wasteland, mostly heathland called Heide.

This late medieval landscape persists for many centuries until Franz Haniel successfully drills for coal in 1854 and thus shows the existence of exploitable coal reserves on the left bank of the Rhine. Geological conditions made exploitation of these coal seams impossible until the development of pit sinking by freezing. During the 1870s several mining companies were founded. Exploitation is low to start though. In September 1911 the Niederrheinische Bergwerks-Aktiengesellschaft is founded combining the mining concessions Großherzog von Baden, Ernst Moritz Arndt and Süddeutschland.

The urban landscape of Neukirchen-Vluyn has the former colliery Niederberg at its heart. Close to the colliery several housing estates (so-called colonies) were developed to house the workers (shown in deep red). Around that private housing along preexisting streets and roads (shown in amber). Around the old villages Vluyn (V) and Neukirchen (N) a ring road (shown in red) was constructed. Along these ring roads later housing estates (shown in amber) were built. The undulating watercourses are quite striking. The hamlet of Hochkamer (H) still lies among the fields. Near Vluyn the water castle Schloss Bloemersheim (B) still stands. To the north we find the Halde Norddeutchland (HN) a large slagheap near the northern pit of Bergwerk Niederberg.

A site between Neukirchen and Vluyn adjacent to the railway Moers - Sevelen (1909-'10) was selected as the site of the colliery. Work started here in 1913. Two pits were sunk on the Dickscheheide near the Dickschen Hof farmstead. To house the workers of the mine new houses were developed adjacent to the colliery. This started with wooden barracks on the Waldstraße. This temporary accommodation was followed by the Plattenkolonie (1916-'19), Alte Kolonie (1917-'25), Kolonie Möllenbruckshof (1919-'25), Neue Kolonie (1926-'30), Kolonie Londongshof (1926-'27), Glück Auf Siedlung (1948-'58), Rathhaussiedlung (1955-'60), Jahnsiedlung (1955-'60), Siedlung Roosenstraße (1955-'65), Siedlung Fichtestraße (1960-'65) and Grevensiedlung (1960-'65). The location of the mine between the two villages meant an increase in private residences as well. These where mainly built along existing roads. The combination of these urban developments lead to Neukirchen and Vluyn becoming connected by suburban streets. After WW2 (and especially after 1970) building societies developed new housing estates linked to the new ring roads that were constructed around the historic centres of both Vluyn and Neukirchen. In 1981 the conurbation of Neukirchen-Vluyn was granted town-status. In 2001 the Niederberg colliery closed. The site at the heart of Neukirchen-Vluyn has been cleared and will be developed for housing.

The Niederberg colliery is at the heart of several colonies and housing estates: Plattenkolonie (P), Alte Kolonie (A), Kolonie Möllenbruckshof (M), Neue Kolonie (N), Kolonie Londongshof (L), Glück Auf Siedlung (GA), Rathhaussiedlung (R), Jahnsiedlung (J), Siedlung Roosenstraße (SR), Siedlung Fichtestraße (F) and Grevensiedlung.