Settlements
When the number of workers skyrocketed thanks to the industrial giants steel and coal in the Ruhr area, one thing above all was needed: living space. The solution was factory settlements and colliery colonies. 13 of the most important settlements in the region are part of the Industrial Heritage Route. In addition to the diverse architecture and the picturesque buildings of the workers' settlements, they are also a monument to everyday life in the "inner colony".
Cities:
A typical late 19th-century colony, Ziehtenstrasse was designed with simple practicality in mind.
The Flöz Dickebank settlement, created as the Ottilienaue colony, was built in 1868 for the workers at the Alma colliery.
Fancy a walk with industrial culture? Then the Friedrich-Heinrich estate is just the thing. There is a lot of mining history in this settlement for you to discover.
It is considered the oldest workers' settlement in Westphalia: the Lange Riege in Hagen was built at the end of the 17th century as a place to live and work for blade smiths from the Bergisches Land. In the three centuries of their existence, the houses have undergone some changes, but are still considered a "unique historical building ensemble" in Hagen, which has been largely preserved in its original form.
Picturesque colliery settlement in Bottrop
At the beginning of the last century, mining in Duisburg and the surrounding area expanded enormously. In order to be able to offer the recruited workers from Silesia, Austria-Hungary and the Netherlands adequate accommodation, a miners' settlement was built around the Rheinpreussen colliery in 1903.
A visit to the Schüngelberg settlement is a little journey through time.
You will find a wide variety of architectural highlights in the beautiful settlement of Teutoburgia.
A visit to the Dahlhauser Heide in the north of Bochum is an absolute must for fans of industrial culture.
Away from the typical row house settlements, you will find a variety of building types in the Eving colony.
An urban gem is the Margarethenhöhe, which is considered one of the most beautiful examples of the German garden city idea.
With the start of construction in 1846, the Eisenheim settlement is one of the oldest workers' settlements.
