Description

Coal to Culture is a 3.5 day tour of the Western part of the Ruhrgebiet, Germany’s coal-mining and steel-producing heartland and will cover the cities of Krefeld, Duisburg, Essen and Wuppertal. And a few bits in between.

The tour will begin and end at Düsseldorf airport and includes three nights in a character hotel including breakfast.

Highlights include the Herzog & de Meuron designed former grain storage Museum Küppersmühle, UNESCO World heritage site Zeche Zollverein, an abandoned former coal mining complex and a ride on the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn. We will cover architecture, design, art and industrial heritage in this often overlooked but fascinating part of Germany.

Tour dates for May and June 2027 to be announced soon.

As some of the places we visit are outside and weather is not always predictable I may possibly make short term changes to the tour.

Collection from Düsseldorf Airport.
Haus Lange/Haus Esters: Designed by Mies van der Rohe (1928-1930). Also a brief visit to the Verseidag Factory by Mies van der Rohe.
Landschaftspark Duisburg Nord: A former ironworks that has been transformed into a public park.
Museum Küppersmühle: A former grain storage turned into art gallery by Herzog de Meuron.
Lehmbruck Museum: Striking museum for sculpture designed in 1958 and extended in the 1980s.
Zeche Zollverein: UNESCO world heritage listed coal mine complex, now home to the mining museum as well as the Sir Norman Foster designed Design Museum.
Villa Hügel: Former home of the super industrialist Krupp Family.
A stroll through Margarethenhöhe, a garden suburb started in the early 20th Century by Margarethe Krupp.
Mariendom Neviges: Brutalist 60’s masterpiece by Gottfried Böhm.
Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden Wuppertal: Sculpture park set up by British Artist Tony Cragg.
A ride on the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn (suspension railways) which opened in 1901.
Drop off at Düsseldorf Airport.

Please Note that I reserve the right to make last minute changes to the itinerary depending on weather and traffic. I also have some other treasures up my sleeve but don’t want to reveal everything.