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At the end of the last century, coal mining in the German Saarland seemed unlimited. For example, the Göttelborn mine was expanded in 1994 with a ninety-meter-high headframe, which was then the highest in the world. Göttelborn was ready for the future.

While the Krupp family ruled the roost in the German Ruhr area, the Stumm family was in charge in the Saarland. The cradle of their steel empire was in Neunkirchen.

In 1926, the French Ministry of Defense unveiled plans to fortify the country's eastern borders against possible surprise attacks, such as during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.

Anyone on their way to the top of the Colline Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, France, to visit Le Corbusier's chapel will come across another concrete gem at the foot of the mountain: the headframe of the Puits Sainte-Marie coal mine.

The French Vosges is full of deserted ski slopes due to the lack of snow. Fifteen ski areas have been closed in recent years, yet they have left some traces.

Tête des Faux is a 1208-meter-high mountain in the French Vosges, and its large stature also explains the strategic role it played during the First World War.

In 1904, potassium deposits were discovered in French Alsace. Potassium, or potash, is one of the most essential nutrients for plants, together with nitrogen and phosphorus. That is why potash was exploited to make fertilizer.

The Prosper coal mine was the longest active in the German Ruhr area. The mining giant was named after its director, Duke Prosper Ludwig von Arenberg, in the nineteenth century.

The overgrown ruins and collapsed roofs of the French Arthur de Buyer coal mine do not suggest that a French record was broken here in 1900.

When the Quesnoy coal mine closed in 1972, it was the last active mine in the Belgian Center coal region.