Settlement Rheinprussia

The Rheinpreußen settlement is not only a testament to the history of mining on the left bank of the Lower Rhine and the construction of workers' housing at the beginning of the century, it also stands for the cooperative model and is a reminder of the residents' years of struggle to preserve their settlement, which even included a hunger strike. Today the settlement is a listed building and has been owned by a residents' cooperative since 1985.

An open construction with one-and-a-half-storey semi-detached and single houses: Rheinpreußen differed from the schematic worker colonies of the 19th century, but still relied on a predominantly rectangular street grid. With its change in facade and roof design, the arrangement of the buildings, the emphasis on the corner houses and their avenues, the colony is also in the tradition of the English settlement type. Life, however, was subject to the strict supervision of the mine administration at all times: twice a week, a colony administrator checked the streets and apartments, and bonuses were even offered for their maintenance. In 1966, the German oil company (DEA) sold the settlement as the successor to Rheinpreußen. In their place, 5.600 high-rise apartments were planned.

Massive resistance was formed among the residents against the demolition of the settlement: They founded a citizens' initiative for the preservation of the settlement houses. In 1979, seven members of the citizens' movement went on an 18-day hunger strike on the steps of Duisburg City Hall. A drastic appeal that led to the goal: the city bought the houses, whose management was transferred to a newly founded cooperative.