Museum Bergmannshaus

About the museum

When the Emil Mayrisch – Anna colliery complex closed in 1992, ending around 800 years of hard coal mining in the Aachen coalfield, miners from Aldenhoven under the leadership of August Albrecht founded the Bergmännischer Traditionsverein für Stein- und Braunkohle (mining heritage association for hard and brown coal). At first they exhibited large equipment such as passenger cars, coal wagons, pulley wheels and locomotives in the town.

The first museum opened in 1995 in a room in Inden provided by Rheinbraun. In 1996 the municipality gave the association the Haus Vaahsen, a former Capuchin monastery and estate. In around 16,000 working hours the members converted it; the museum opened on December 28, 1997. Earlier, skeletons of monks had been found in the vaulted cellar; the association later reinterred them in a Roman sarcophagus.

Further rooms were added later: the August-Albrecht-Saal in 2003 and an extension in 2009. The museum shows the mining history of the region with equipment and artifacts and is run by the association on a voluntary basis. In Aldenhoven, a miners' monument unveiled in 1995 also commemorates the era of mining.

Highlights

• Mining museum in the former Capuchin estate Haus Vaahsen
• Equipment and artifacts of hard coal and lignite mining
• Run on a voluntary basis by the heritage association
• Free admission
• Open Thursday evenings

Permanent exhibition

• Bergbaumuseum Aldenhoven – The collection documents hard coal and lignite mining in the region, with equipment and artifacts from the everyday life of miners.

Founded

1995

Operated by

Bergmännischer Traditionsverein für Stein- und Braunkohle „Glück Auf“ Aldenhoven 1992 e. V.

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

From the church, the museum is signposted from the Kapellenplatz.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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