Around the Göttelborner Feld, coal mining can be traced back to the 15th century, with the Göttelborn Pit being one of the most important mines in the Saarland.
In 2000, after more than one hundred years of service, the final shift had ended. Only six years after construction of the futuristic headframe above Pit VI had finished. It cost €200m and is the world’s highest headframe at 87 metres.
Today, the former mining compound houses many different businesses. IT and Tech enterprises, a solar energy park, the tourist attraction that used to be the former spoil tip, as well as the Campus Göttelborn. It is used by the University for Applied Sciences of the Saarland and the College of Public Administration.
Here, streets have names like Zum Schacht, Zur Bergehalde, and Am Campus – and then I read another sign saying Boulevard der Industriekultur (Boulevard of Industrial Culture). Here, I recognise the euphemistic label that is also often applied to the Ruhr Area in calling it the Ruhr Metropolis.
Verbalised evidence of a laborious and forced attempt at structural change.
