Saarland
The Reden coal mine's coal preparation plant has partly made way for water basins that regulate the water management of the mining area.
Coal mines
In the French coal basin of Nord-pas-de-Calais, Germany's Ruhr and Saarland, England, Wales, and Belgium, coal was brought to the surface in hundreds of coal mines for many years. Today, coal mines have become heritage sites or have been demolished.
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Hainaut
In the 19th century, many Flemish inhabitants commuted daily by train to le Centre (the mining region around La Louvière) to descend into one of the coal mines.
Hauts-de-France
From 1905 to 1988, coal was extracted from the underground in the Charles Ledoux coal mine in Condé-sur-l'Escaut in France.
Hauts-de-France
Once a year, this disused railway bridge plays a starring role, namely during the passage of the spring classic in cycling: Paris-Roubaix.
Wales
The south Welsh Rhondda valley was one of the world's largest mining regions for almost a hundred years, but after the turbulent closures, only a handful of coal mines survived.
Hauts-de-France
In the Fosse Delloy, exploiting the coal basin only lasted forty years because it was not a profitable endeavour.
Hainaut
The millions of euros of public money pumped into the renovation of the Binche coal preparation plant since 2008 are still not making any difference a decade later.
Ruhr Area
The steel headframe is all that remains of the Thyssens' mining empire in the German town of Duisburg.
Ruhr Area
The domed coke mixing plant in Oberhausen is the most remarkable remains of the former Osterfeld coal mine.
Ruhr Area
A stone's throw from the headquarters of the Zeche Zollverein in Essen, a headframe has been preserved from a smaller coal mine that was part of the mining giant.
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