A circular tour by bike that leads to extraordinary sites of mining history.
The Ruhr region was once the so called coal pot of the republic. In 2018
the last coal mine closed, but the pride in mining history
is growing. Old winding frames are becoming beacons of history,
Zollverein - probably one of the best-known collieries - even a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This 41-kilometre cycle tour connects several important colliery sites.
The starting point
The UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein in Essen is also the starting point for this cycle tour. By train, the site can be reached quickly from Essen's main railway station via tram line 107. Alternatively, you can take the regional train to Essen Zollverein-Nord station.
For those arriving by car, there are plenty of parking spaces around the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors can find a good rental bike at the RevierRad station almost directly in front of the distinctive double trestle.
Start of the tour
Junction 59 is located in the immediate vicinity of the 1/2/8 shaft. The tour leads directly past the distinctive Sanaa building, a large concrete cube. Here the route leaves the UNESCO World Heritage site via the Zollvereinweg, a former railway line. After just a few hundred metres, cyclists reach junction 60, where they keep slightly to the left. The tour now leads via Nordsternweg to the Rhine-Herne Canal, where cyclists pass the Tripple ZZZ site, which originally also belonged to the Zollverein colliery and today houses, among other things, the world's only pigeon clinic.
A slab for the Ruhr
At junction 61, it is worth taking a short detour up to the Schurenbachhalde. It was created from overburden from several mines, including Zollverein. These man-made hills are an important testimony to mining and today are attractive landmarks in the otherwise rather flat landscape of the central Ruhr region. The slab for the Ruhr by the artist Richard Serra stands on this tip of the slag heap, which is some 50 metres higher.
A detour to Nordstern Colliery
Another short detour from junction 61 leads to the nearby Nordstern Colliery. In addition to the park of the former Federal Horticultural Show, it is especially worthwhile to climb up to the viewing platform of the Nordstern Colliery and take a look at the Hercules, which has been enthroned on the colliery tower since the RUHR.2010 Capital of Culture.
Colliery Estate and Haldenglück
The circular tour continues through Bottrop. The beautiful garden town of Welheim is cycled through - miners from the Vereinigte Welheim colliery used to live here. Only a little later, the climb up to the Bottrop Tetraeder is worthwhile. The slag heap on Beckstraße was given its pyramid-shaped crown as part of the International Building Exhibition IBA Emscherpark in the 1990s. From the slag heap plateau you look directly down on the Prosper Haniel coking plant, which is still in operation, and the last Prosper Haniel coal mine next to it, which was shut down at the end of 2018. On the huge, no longer needed coal mine sites on the Bottrop/Essen border, a modern cross-city industrial estate is being developed, the "Freiheit Emscher".
From Bottrop to Oberhausen
The tour continues in the direction of Oberhausen. Vondern Castle is a medieval complex with a manor house and outer castle whose history dates back to the 13th century. At junction 7, the Rhine-Herne Canal is crossed again with a beautiful view of the nearby Oberhausen Gasometer. An information centre on the Emscher Landscape Park has been set up in Haus Ripshorst. Here visitors can find out a lot of interesting facts about the industrial nature and the slag heap landscape in the Ruhr area. Just a few metres away is the Sorcerer's Apprentice - a dancing electricity pylon erected as part of the Emscher Art 2013.
Unexpected Nature
From Oberhausen, the route heads south through the beautiful Hexbach Valley. At junction 56, the tour meets the new Ruhr Cycle Route (RS 1), which will one day run from Duisburg to Hamm. The section to Essen city centre has not yet been completed, but it is still a wide cycle path away from road traffic.
Between New and Old
The newly created Niederfeldsee lake with the Radmoshäre cyclists' meeting place is passed and to the left cyclists look down on the scaffolding of the Amalie colliery, followed a little later by the Kruppsee lake with a view of the new headquarters of the industrial group ThyssenKrupp. Here it is worthwhile for history buffs to take a short detour to the historic ancestral home of the Krupp family, which is located right next to the massive company headquarters.
Back to Zollverein
From Essen city centre, the route leads back to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Zollverein. As the final highlight of the tour, you should take time for a walk along the monument trail, and the Ruhr Museum is also part of the must-see programme. The Red Dot Design Museum presents excellent design products.
Weather
