LWL Museum Hannover Colliery – Experience Industrial Culture in Bochum

With the media guide, you'll embark on a tour of the museum grounds. You'll discover significant milestones in the history of the Hannover Colliery, explore the historic buildings, and learn about innovative inventions and life around the colliery.

It looks like a medieval castle, but it was actually a mine.

From 1857 to 1973, the Hannover Colliery mined hard coal from its mighty Malakow Tower and proved to be a development center for cutting-edge technology. In addition to numerous innovations in coal extraction and transportation, the colliery played a leading role in the development of conveyor systems. In 1877, mine director Friedrich Koepe used a traction sheave instead of a cable drum for the first time. You'll learn more about this during your tour.

In Action
In the machine hall, you'll experience demonstrations of how the large traction sheave of the steam winding engine from 1893 rotates. It's the oldest example to be seen at its original location in the Ruhr region.

In the middle of nature
You can simply relax in nature on the former mine site. You can discover plants, recognize birdsong, observe insects, or simply be. For the youngest, our mining playground, "Zeche Knirps," is a highlight.

Explore
A short walk from the Malakow Tower, you'll find three faithfully restored settlement houses from the 1890s. The adjacent workers' garden demonstrates the miners' self-sufficiency. Alongside the vegetable patches and old stables, the garden invites you to linger.