© 2004 Tom Striewisch, All Rights Reserved.
Zeche Zollverein was the largest Coal Mine in Germany until it was closed in 1986.
From then on it was developed to a prospering centre for design and art. The North-Rhine Westphalia Design Centre was placed in the former boiler house, which was redesigned in the 1990s by Lord Norman Foster.
In the year 2001 the whole ensemble was rated by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.