Chemical industry

One of the most exceptional mining complexes in French Alsace, where potassium or potash was brought to the surface, is the Carreau Rodolphe.

To host the 1998 World Expo, the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, spared no expense. An abandoned industrial site was bulldozed to create a new city district with expo pavilions.

The first American oil trickled into Europe via the port of Antwerp in 1863. The Antwerp petroleum industry established itself between the South and Hoboken.

On the eve of the Second World War, the former petroleum port of Antwerp was equipped with a brand new network of above-ground pipelines.

Two hundred years ago, in 1823, the Ghent city architect Louis Roelandt started establishing the first gas factory on the Waalse Krook, specifically on the site where the Ghent city library now stands.

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.