Ruhr Area
Four wooden cooling towers cooled thousands of cubic metres of water produced by the Hansa coking plant near Dortmund daily.
Coking plants
In coking plants, coal is heated. The result is coke, purified coal used as fuel for blast furnaces (in steel mills).
- 6 destinations
East Flanders
In the 1960s, Flanders had its first steel factory along the Ghent-Terneuzen canal. There, Sidmar (Sidérurgie Maritime) rose from the ground. Today, it is the home of the only active blast furnaces in Belgium.
Ruhr Area
The Hansa coking plant in the German city of Dortmund operated for 64 years, but the factory closed its doors in 1992.
Saarland
Julius Buch built the Völklinger Hütte in 1873, where steel was produced until 1986.
Ruhr Area
The Schwelgern coke-oven plant, built in 2003 along the river Rhine in Duisburg, is one of the most modern, environmentally friendly and largest coke-oven plants in the world.
Ruhr Area
In 1993, the Kokerei Zollverein coking plant was at the end of its rope: the steel crisis of the 1990s caused the demand for coke to melt away.
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If you love hiking and exploring industrial history, the Minett Trail in southern Luxembourg is the perfect adventure. Winding through the country’s historic steel heartland, this trail connects old industrial sites, cultural landmarks, and striking landscapes.
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