The idea of building a mining museum came up years ago while walking along the Dattelner Canal. There I met the former mayor of the city, Wolfgang Werner. And he told of a visit to Cannock, Datteln’s twin town in England, where he had visited a mining museum.
So we came up with the idea that the air-raid shelter under the heap of the former Emscher Lippe colliery might be suitable as a museum. 800 people found shelter there during the war. The air-raid shelter is about three meters below the turf and has two 30-meter and two 60-meter shafts. We already knew the shafts as children, at that time the tunnel was still freely accessible.
Before we were allowed to smash the bricked-up entrance in June 2010, a lot had to be done. There was 80 centimeters of mud in the tunnel. It took three years for us to get it out by the wheelbarrow. That was really hard work. But we miners are not necessarily squeamish, we made it with a lot of endurance and muscle power. There is still enough work for us. The expansion is far from finished.
Since 2013, visitors have also been able to take part in guided tours of our bunker and mining museum. Since Russia went to war against Ukraine, visitors have become more sensitive to air raid shelters than before. You can feel that.
You can meet us on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., on the day of the open monument on September 11th even from 11 a.m. Then there are drinks. And depending on the weather even sausages. Of course we hope for many visitors. Good luck for!
