We are located in the “Rhein-Ruhr” area, the largest of the eleven German metropolitan regions and historically the most important of the German economy.
Numerous coal mines and heavy industries were built at the end of the 19th century. Today we will visit one. The part of the abandoned mine we want to visit is one of the service shafts: opened in 1948 and closed in 2008, this service shaft was 874 meters deep.
The service well was cemented and the extraction tower demolished but the big winch and the typical “kaue” are still present.
Each coal mine had a “clean room” and a “dirty room”, divided in two by the showers for washing. The large rooms had benches with small plaques and the miners had a personal number that corresponded to his kaue.
In the clean spaces, clothing and personal items were kept while the men worked underground. The dirty rooms were the opposite: they kept the miners’ clothes and work items.
What makes this exploration unique is the magic of light that can be created in one of the totally windowless kaues.
How was it possible to immortalize this unique and hypnotic tunnel of lights? Thanks to the many candles we lit in the baskets .. a real show, have fun!
Lorenzo is one of the points of reference about the entire northern Italy. His passion for photography was born with a gift from his grandfather and very soon it diverted into urbex deep love.
