LWL-Museum Zeche Zollern

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The Zollern II/IV colliery was built from 1898 onward as a prestigious showcase facility of the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG. Architect Paul Knobbe gave the surface buildings historicist brick facades reminiscent of northern German Gothic, which earned the mine the nickname "Schloss der Arbeit" (Palace of Work). The machine hall, completed around 1902, is by contrast a steel-frame structure; Berlin architect Bruno Möhring gave it an Art Nouveau portal with colored glass windows. The hall housed the first electrically powered main-shaft winding engine in European mining.

Coal production ended in 1955, the shafts were filled in by 1967, and by the late 1960s the site faced demolition. Thanks to committed preservationists, the machine hall was listed as a protected monument at the end of 1969 – the first industrial building in Germany to receive this status. This marked the beginning of a new way of thinking about the industrial heritage of the Ruhr region.

In 1979, the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (Westphalia-Lippe regional authority) founded its decentralized industrial museum, which today comprises eight sites, with Zeche Zollern as its headquarters. After a lengthy restoration, the permanent exhibition opened in 1999, presenting the social and cultural history of Ruhr mining in original buildings such as the wage hall, the miners' changing house, and the lamp room. The colliery is an anchor point of the Route of Industrial Heritage and the European Route of Industrial Heritage.

Highlights

• Machine hall with Art Nouveau portal by Bruno Möhring
• Brick facades of the "Schloss der Arbeit" (Palace of Work) by Paul Knobbe
• First industrial building in Germany to be listed as a monument (1969)
• Exhibitions in the wage hall, miners' changing house, and lamp room
• Underground experience MONTANIUM (guided tours only)

Permanent exhibitions

• Maschinenhalle – The Art Nouveau machine hall with its historic machinery is considered an icon of industrial heritage.
• Geschichte der Zeche Zollern – Exhibition in the Old Administration Building on the origins and development of the model colliery, with a model and inclusive stations.
• MONTANIUM – Underground experience that can only be visited on guided tours (€2 surcharge).

Operated by

Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL)

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Free admission on selected free-entry days of the LWL museums.

Free admission with the LWL-MuseumsCard, LVR-Museumskarte, German Museums Association (Deutscher Museumsbund) ID, or ICOM card. The Easy German (Leichte Sprache) text on the website still lists older prices (€5, reduced €2.50, groups €4.50) and free admission for companions; the prices entered here are those from the main page.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

Elevators to all visitor areas, accessible restrooms in the Old Workshop and wage hall, three accessible parking spaces, two loaner wheelchairs and a rollator in the foyer. Inclusive exhibition in the Old Administration Building with tactile floor guidance system, audio stations, objects to touch, and texts in Braille. Tactile tour "Bergbau mit Händen begreifen" and tours with German Sign Language (DGS) interpretation can be booked (request at least four weeks in advance); website texts in Easy German (Leichte Sprache) and DGS.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Playground / play area
• Kids’ birthday parties

Monthly family Sunday for children aged 6 and up with a family tour followed by crafts in the children's workshop. Free quiz sheets for the colliery grounds and the special exhibition. Playground with sand and water area behind the beer garden, picnic tables. Free program for elementary school children during the summer holidays; children's birthday parties for ages 5–7 and 8–12.

Getting there & parking

For GPS, enter "Rhader Weg 5" (parking lot).

Amenities & dining

• Café: not available
• Restaurant
• Museum shop

Restaurant "Pferdestall" with beer garden (Tue–Fri 13:00–22:00, Sat–Sun 12:00–22:00, closed Mon). Museum shop. Dogs on a leash on the outdoor grounds; only assistance dogs in buildings.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties: not available
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 689 guests.

For corporate and cultural events: machine hall (up to 689 people, unheated), Magazin/event hall (up to 300 people), wage hall (from 18:00), and four seminar rooms (up to 20 people each). Private parties only in the Pferdestall restaurant rooms. Civil wedding ceremonies in the wage hall (up to 100 guests) or the Old Administration Building (up to 40 guests).

Plan your visit