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15.05.13
ERIH Annual Conference 2013 - Save the date - Call for papers now open
ERIH Annual Conference 2013 – Back in the Ruhr Subject:...
15.04.13
ERIH Board meeting in Katowice/Poland
On invitation of the Silesian Voivodeship the ERIH board met in Katowice/Poland and discussed with...
01.03.13
Review of the ERIH Annual Conference 2012
More than 100 delegates from 15 European Countries attended the ERIH Conference 2012 in September...

The treasures of the Earth: European Theme Route Mining
Coal from European and American collieries was the universal fuel during the Industrial Revolution. Nonetheless technical inventions in mining played a relatively insignificant role. The main cause was the ongoing abundance of workers. Colliery owners were able to attain higher outputs simply by employing more workers. For the same reason they were able to postpone any improvements to the catastrophic working conditions for a long time.

A |
Vordernberg | Styrian Iron Trail |
| Hauptplatz | 8794 Vordernberg | Austria | |
| The area around the Erzberg (the Iron Mountain) has been an important source of iron since the middle ages, and the important Voest Alpine steelworks remains at Donawitz. The area is rich in the remai... more >> |
GB |
Wakefield | National Coal Mining Museum for England |
| New RoadOverton | WF4 4RH Wakefield | Great Britain | |
| You had better dress up warm here. For you’ll be going 140 metres underground. And below the earth it is cold, damp and dark. The National Coalmining Museum for England, near Overton in West Yorkshi... more >> |
PL |
Walbrzych | Museum of Industry and Technology |
| ul. Wysockiego 28 | 58-300 Walbrzych | Poland | |
| The city of Walbrzych was the most important centre of coal-mining in Silesia. There are documentary records of mining from as early as 1536, and in the 19th century coal-using industries such as glas... more >> |
D |
Welzow | Welzow-South opencast mining |
| Domsdorfer Weg | 03116 Welzow | Germany | |
| The F60 overburden conveyor bridge carries out a phenomenal amount of work. On one side of the mine it carries away excavated material and then transports it across the open pit to dump it on the othe... more >> |
GB |
Whitehaven | Haig Colliery Mining Museum |
| Solway RoadKells | CA28 9AN Whitehaven | Great Britain | |
| Whitehaven is one of the most spectacular harbours in England, and was built in the eighteenth century partly for shipping coal from mines along the Cumbrian coast, but also for the use of traders to ... more >> |
PL |
Wieliczka | Cracow Salt-Works Museum in Wieliczka |
| ul. Zamkowa 8 | 32-020 Wieliczka | Poland | |
| The salt mines at Wieliczka have been worked for more than 700 years, and comprise more than 2,000 chambers distributed through nine working floors. Parts of the mine have been opened to the public si... more >> |
D |
Witten | LWL Industrial Museum Nightingale Colliery and the Mutten Valley |
| Nachtigallstraße 35 | 58452 Witten | Germany | |
| In 1832 coalminers in the Ruhr valley decided to do it for real – with deep-pit mining at a colliery called Neptune. Until then it was usual for mining galleries to be dug horizontally into the side... more >> |
PL |
Zabrze | Królowa Luiza Monumental Coal Mine |
| Wolnosci 410 | 41-800 Zabrze | Poland | |
| The sinking of the Louisa coal mine at Zabrze in 1791 is often considered to have been the beginning of industrialisation in Upper Silesia. The mining museum project in the city began in 1979, and is ... more >> |
PL |
Zabrze | Historic coal mine "Guido" |
| 3 Maja 93 | 41-800 Zabrze | Poland | |
| You can’t get any lower than this! The shafts in the old Guido colliery in Upper Silesia descend to a depth of 320 metres, making it the deepest visitor mine in Europe. A 250 ton rough coal containe... more >> |
D |
Zeitz | Brown Coal Processing Museum in the „Herrmannschacht“ Briquette Factory |
| Naumburger Straße 99 | 06712 Zeitz | Germany | |
| This factory was already a technical museum before it ceased operations, because briquetting presses and plate dryers from the 1883-1895 series were running here till 1959. A single 12 horsepower stea... more >> |
CH |
Zinal | La Lée Copper Mine |
| Case Postale 198 | 3961 Zinal | Switzerland | |
| The La Lee copper mine, in the canton of Valais, is located on the left bank of the River Navizence, 1920 m above sea level. Visitors are able to explore workings that extend 500 m into the mountain, ... more >> |
