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The "black gold" makes way for retail and services
The basis for the Ruhr industrial area was created 350 million years ago. With the formation of bituminous coal deposits in the area bounded by the Ruhr, Rhine and Lippe rivers, the region was predestined to become the unique conurbation it is today. These watercourses still define the Ruhr's geographic boundaries - the Rhine in the west, the Lippe in the north and the Ruhr in the south.
Before the commercial potential of coal was discovered the Ruhr had more of a rural flavour.
Numerous castles, moated or otherwise, manor houses and churches characterised the region.
Christianity achieved the breakthrough in the Ruhr as a consequence of the conquests of Charlemagne. The military bases and administrative centres that emerged as the armies crossed the region spawned many towns that were to develop in the course of time. The main artery was, on account of its age, the Hellweg trading route, which ran from the Rhine to the Weser and Elbe rivers. During the Middle Ages the towns of Duisburg, Essen, Bochum, Dortmund and Unna sprang up along this road. In the Lippe region the towns of Dorsten, Haltern, Lünen and Hamm were established at the same time.
The first record we have of the mining of bituminous coal dates back to a deed issued at Dortmund at the beginning of the 14th century. Over the next three centuries coal mining developed, albeit slowly at first. Back then the deposits mined were either situated at the surface, or the miners were able to extract the "black gold" at shallow depths. In 1736 the Ruhr's first mines inspectorate opened, and coal mining came under state control. Around 1790 there were already some 900 small mines operating along the banks of the River Ruhr. In the course of the 18th century their markets gradually spread to the neighbouring regions, and as a consequence the River Ruhr was made navigable for coal barges by the installation of 16 locks. In the 19th century, following the construction of the Cologne to Minden railway line, the transportation of coal shifted increasingly to the railway, the more profitable option. Today the Ruhr retains a very dense network of lines for freight and passenger traffic.
After 1769 the invention of the steam engine by James Watt brought substantial change to the coal industry in the Ruhr. Steam engines were able to handle the groundwater that flowed into the mining areas. And in order to penetrate deeper underground, it was necessary to drill through harder layers of rock, a task made significantly easier by the steam engine. It thus became possible to mine higher-quality coal at greater depths. This advance led to a tremendous upswing in the iron and steel industry, which needed coking coal for its production. With the new possibilities at its disposal the iron and steel industry reached record levels of productivity - the steel manufactured in the Ruhr was produced with the help of bituminous coal and sparked a significant increase in demand for this raw material. Steel was thus a driving force in the development of the coal industry. It meant that tools and hoisting equipment could be produced much more cheaply and quickly. As demand grew, the mining industry spread northwards towards the River Lippe, and the Ruhr landscape underwent rapid change. Collieries sprang up like mushrooms; roads, railway lines and canals soon criss-crossed the region. Coking plants, steelworks and factories were built. Within a short time what was once a dreamy stretch of farming country had been transformed into an urban area dominated by the coal, iron and steel industries.
As the Ruhr's metamorphosis advanced, people flocked to the region and its towns and villages. In the period between 1850 and 1925 the population climbed from around 400,000 to approximately 3.8 million. The Ruhr conurbation emerged in such a short time that it was nigh on impossible to undertake any serious physical planning.
Even in the wake of the destruction brought about by two world wars and the associated dismantling of factories and plant under the reparations programme, the Ruhr was soon experiencing another economic boom. In 1956 coal productivity hit peak levels, with 494,000 mineworkers generating an annual output of 124,600 metric tons of coal. But because coal became more and more expensive to mine, as it had to be extracted from ever deeper seams, the industry gradually fell into decline. New competition from cheaper imports of coal, oil and natural gas triggered the Ruhr's first coal crisis as early as 1958. Employment growth began to falter, and eventually more and more pits were forced to close down until finally a massive wave of redundancies followed. Within the next 20 years the number of working mines fell from 148 to 35, and the workforce was slashed by more than half. The flood of closures hit not only the coal industry, but also the iron and steel sectors. At first, subsidies were employed to counter the effects of the crisis within the region, and then large numbers of jobs were phased out at minimum impact to communities. The subsidies look set to end in the next few years, bringing an end to the coal-mining era in the Ruhr.
The demise of an entire industry meant that structural transformation became inevitable if people were to be offered work and a perspective. In 1960, for instance, the foundations were laid for what is now the densest tertiary education network in Europe. The Ruhr universities in Bochum, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Duisburg/Essen, the Open University at Hagen, plus the private university at Witten-Herdecke and nine other vocationally oriented tertiary institutions document this willingness to rethink traditional assumptions. A number of technology centres have sprung up in the shadow of these institutions, enabling academic and scientific findings to be translated into economic results by the shortest route possible.
In addition to the efforts on the education front, a number of new sectors, such as chemicals, automotive and renewable energy, have been attracted to the Ruhr. The service sector has also become something of a flagship industry for the Ruhr, with some 65% of its inhabitants now employed in retail and services - more than ever were employed in coal, iron and steel.
The structural transformation of the region is also reflected in its cultural offering. More than 200 museums and local galleries, as well as quality theatre, opera and musical venues, represent an attractive programme for a broad audience.
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