German Mining Museum

Founded in 1930, the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum is the largest mining museum in the world and combines a public museum with a research institute. Beneath it lies a demonstration mine built specifically for the purpose from 1935 onward, about twenty metres down with two and a half kilometres of galleries fitted with real machinery from different periods, from hand tools to shearer loaders, so visitors walk through working conditions across a century. It is not a former mine but a purpose-built teaching facility. The winding tower above, visible across the city, was moved here in 1973 and 1974 from the closed Germania colliery and carries a viewing platform.

Highlights

• The demonstration mine - 2.5 kilometres of galleries twenty metres down.
• The machinery - real equipment from hand tools to modern cutters.
• The winding tower - a headframe moved from a colliery in 1973.
• The research collections - mineral, technology and mining history holdings.

When to go

Year-round; the museum closes Mondays. The underground tour takes about an hour and involves walking and steps. School groups fill weekdays in term time.

Before you go

The mine below is purpose-built, not an original working pit. The tour involves a lot of walking with low sections. It closes Mondays.

Nearby

Essen's Zollverein lies west; Dortmund is east.

Key facts