Ruhrrevier, mining in the Rhineland

Like a Forstrevier (forestry district) mining concessions were awarded within a so-called Bergbaurevier (mining district) and administered by a government official (Bergbeamte) who operated within a so-called Bergamt. In several places in the hills east of the Rhine coal deposits lay so close to the surface that they were mined in shallow pits during the middle ages. The centre of this early (surface) mining was located around Witten, Sprockhövel and Hasslinghausen (south of Dortmund and Bochum in the County of Mark) and in the County of Berg. The first surviving charter for mining dates from 1296 at Schüren House on the edge of the Emscher river.

Around 1700 mining of deeper coal seams is undertaking by blasting pits. This is mainly undertaken in the County of Berg and the County of Mark. By 1737 688 miners were working 105 mines within the latter county. These mines were state controlled by Prussia under the directorate principle. The Bergamt Mark was opened in 1738 in Bochum. Through the directorate principle the mining industry was subjected to state authorisation, control and supervision as an instrument of mercantile and economic policy. Large maps were made to assess and document mining for coal, salt and ore. These mining operations remained small-scale and local. This all changed when Freiherr vom Stein -a baron from Nassau- became Prussian governor of mining in 1784. He visited many foreign mines and introduced several improvements and modernised both the process, the planning and the regulation of mining. He reorganised the way concession boundaries were decided and introduced a joint management structure for the private mining companies by appointing state overseers.

He also introduced steam power in mining. So in 1804 the Ruhrrevier already counted 229 mines. From 1850 onwards many pits were given Malakoff-towers to house the hoist. Later these would be replaced by steel headframes. Within each concession several pits were dug to exploit the coal seams. Mines could be exploited by companies, by families and by conglomerates. As each concession had to be bought the state officials also looked beyond the local area for investors in the mining industry. The model mine Hibernia opened in 1855 and was the first to use concrete cast tubing to secure the pit walls. The nearby mine Shamrock was also exploited by an Irish industrialist.

Around 1846 work starts on a network of railways to connect the existing cities. Some mines already had wooden tracks where horses drew carts of coal to a river at some distance. The new railways lead to the exploitations of many more concessions, especially around the cities, whereas earlier mines had been concentrated along rivers. Many spur lines were built to make existing and new mines accessible. The railways also opened up possibilities for other heavy industry like steel and glass manufacturing. This combined with the excavation of shipping canals -e.g. Dortmund-Ems-Kanal 1899, Rhein-Herne-Kanal 1914 and Datteln-Hamm-Kanal 1915- after Dutch examples created a vast industrialised landscape dotted with mines, factories and housing colonies. The directorate principle became more regulatory over the decades, so from the mid-1800s owners of mining companies can take the economic and technical management into their own hands. This also lead to a rapid expansion of the number of mining concessions. Some concessions were short-lived, others were very profitable and comprised of many pits that were exploited for many decades.

Mining in the Ruhrrevier started in the south adjacent to the Ruhr river and the border with the County of Berg. Small-scale mining existed from medieval times onwards on a small scale in this border region where minable resources were located close to the surface. From 1840 onwards we see a spread of mining activities northwards towards the Lippe river.[image after Sven Sendfeld]

After the increase in imports of cheap coal from the USA, Yugoslavia and Slovakia after 1960 mining fell into decline. To better compete less profitable mines were closed and many miners were let go. In other companies cheaper labourers from Southern Europe (Spain, Greece and Italy) and beyond (Turkey and Morocco) were being employed for mining operations to remain profitable. Nowadays little remains. The Auguste Victoria Mine in Bottrop was closed in 2015. The last mine of the RAG Steinkohle AG still in operation is the Bergwerk Prosper-Haniel in Bottrop. The plan is to ultimately close this mine in 2018. After centuries mining will then cease to be an economic activity in the Rhineland and the Ruhrrevier will be closed.