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With the last shift at the Prosper Haniel colliery in Bottrop, an era comes to an end in December: the age of Western European coal mining.
DIE STEINKOHLE brings to life the challenges that people have had to overcome over the last 250 years in the extraction of black gold.
And it shows in an emotional and surprising way how German and European history is reflected in coal mining.
In 1923, the occupation by French troops turned the Ruhr region into a political pawn, and there seemed to be no alternative to reconquering it due to the importance of coal.
The economic crisis also destroyed millions of jobs - both a breeding ground for the National Socialists, who made coal the key raw material in their plans.
Once again, coal is at the center of domination and destruction, and the world is on the brink of a new war.
But without it, reconstruction and the economic miracle would be unthinkable.
With the founding of the Coal and Steel Community, it becomes the midwife of European unification.
At the end of the 1950s, international competition and oil lead to the closure of numerous coal mines - the beginning of German subsidy policy.
While environmental damage became apparent in the 1960s, the oil crisis in the 1970s brought a brief comeback for hard coal.
But its decline is unstoppable, resulting in structural change.
At the end of 2018, the German hard coal mining industry is to be phased out in a more socially acceptable way than in England and France.
An end that remains an eternal task and offers new opportunities.
