Ruhr Area
In 1890, coal mines were popping up like mushrooms in the German Ruhr area. The Zeche Zollern was one of the seventy newcomers you can still visit today.
Industrial Heritage
Discover Europe's rich industrial heritage with a journey through its historic sites. From towering steel mills to repurposed factories, explore the monuments to innovation and the legacy of the Industrial Revolution.
- 413 destinations
Hainaut
In the shadow of the Strépy boat lift, an unused four-lane road leads to a freshly ploughed field.
Belgium
Germany
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Coal trains, military transports and steam locomotives across the High Fens have made way for cyclists on the historic Vennbahn—a report of the route between the German city Aachen and Waismes, in Belgium.
Hauts-de-France
On the border of the French town of Lens stands this 66-meter-high colossus made of reinforced concrete: the extraction tower of Fosse n° 11-19, a French coal mine that closed 30 years ago.
Berlin
On the former GDR border between West and East Berlin, you will find the forgotten remains of the wastewater treatment plant of a disappeared textile factory.
Zeeland
Of the more than 260 water towers that have appeared in the Dutch landscape since 1856, 175 remain, including the water tower in Axel in Zeeland.
Berlin
A 75-year-old scale model is the only reminder of the plans for constructing a new southern curve featuring a steep banking on the AVUS circuit in Berlin.
Wales
'Welsh Slate' dominated the north-west economy of Wales from 1850 onwards. Slate was exploited in dozens of quarries, such as in the smaller Rhos, on a flank of the Moel Siabod mountain in Snowdonia.
Wales
Thanks to the use of 18th-century cutting-edge technology - coal and steam - Blaenavon Ironworks in south Wales became the second largest iron producer in the world.
Wales
Judging from the crumbled remains of Clydach Ironworks, you wouldn't expect more than a thousand people to have been working here in 1840.
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On the occasion of International Art Nouveau Day, celebrated each year on June 10, a look at how this ornate architectural movement found its way into the most unlikely of places like coal mines, power stations, and railway yards and the long, sometimes heartbreaking battles to save what remains.
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