S | "Über Tage". Architectural traces in Aachen's hard coal mining district

Since the Middle Ages, the "black gold" has been extracted alongside the rivers Inde and Wurm, making the so called ‘Aachener Revier’ one of the oldest coalfields in Europe where mining of hard coal began.

In the 19th century, the mining industry around Aachen experienced an economic boom due to the merger of the administrative bodies of the Inde and Wurm districts, which resulted in the expansion, foundation and union of mines. This progress necessitated the annexation of new settlement sections and restructuring of the localities to create new housing near the mines for the immigrant miners and their families.

From then on, the industrial architecture on the colliery sites, the coal transport infrastructure and the coal tips shaped the landscape and settlement pattern of the mining area. Even 25 years after the closure of the last mine, many traces of mining are still visible, some are beginning to blur, others have disappeared completely. 

The seminar will focus on selected sites of former mines. What influences did mining have on the sites and their infrastructure? What changes began with the end of the coal industry? How were and still are the structures of decommissioned industrial buildings and residential buildings treated? These and other questions are to be answered in small teams by means of an on-site inventory analysis in the form of sketches and photographs as well as literature and archive research.