Industriedenkmal-Stiftung NRW

Industriedenkmal-Stiftung NRW, 09.02.2012 12:48

www.industriedenkmal-stiftung.de/docs/9977874944135_en

History

The Zollverein coking plant was constructed between 1957 and 1961 and for a long time was regarded as Europe¥s most modern coking plant. The coking plants on the so-called "black side" and those on the "white side" which were used for the extraction of by-products and coal derivates – ammonia, crude benzene, crude tar – were designed to deal with huge rates of production. Capacity was expanded in the early 1970s when up to 8,600 tons of coke were produced at Zollverein every day.

The coking plant was built to link up the central shaft number XII at the Zollverein pit. This had been constructed between 1928 and 1932 by the renowned architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer, and is widely regarded as a masterpiece of industrial architecture of the time.

Fritz Schupp was also commissioned to plan the coking plant. His designs follow the architecture of the Zollverein pit XII. Unadorned cubical buildings, the use of reinforced concrete and steel frameworks and brick facings characterise the architecture of this massive coking plant. Together with the Zollverein pit, the coking plant forms an ensemble of high architectural quality which is of great importance to industrial history. In 2001 the sites were included in UNESCO¥s world heritage list.

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