The Ruhr Area National GeoPark

Background

A system of geoparks exists in Germany, initiated in 2003 by the inter-governmental committee for earth sciences of the German states (Mattig et al. 2003). Today, in June 2011, 14 areas have been evaluated and awarded the title “Nationaler GeoPark”. This certification is independent from the UNESCO or European GeoPark Network. However, five of these geoparks are members of these networks likewise. The “Nationaler GeoPark Ruhrgebiet” (“Ruhr Area National GeoPark”) in Germany covers the metropolitan area of the Ruhrgebiet, one of Europe’s most busy industrial regions. It is one of the first to concentrate on economic geology and was the first one worldwide to be situated in an urban area. Initiated by the regional council and the state geological survey, the “GeoPark Ruhrgebiet” was set up in 2004, focusing on the links between geology, industrial development and the social and cultural history of the area (Wrede 2006).

Few landscapes in Europe demonstrate the connection between their natural resources and the economic and cultural development as clearly as the Ruhr Area (“Ruhrgebiet”) in Germany. Some 200 years ago, the term “Ruhrgebiet” did not exist. “Ruhrgebiet” is not defined as a geographical unit: the southern part belongs to the Rhenish Mountains, while the northern and western parts are part of the German lowlands—the Münsterland Basin and the Lower Rhine Plains. Likewise, historically, it never formed a political unit and was always split into different territories. Even today it is divided by administrative boundaries into a “Rhenish” and a “Westphalian” part and belongs to three different districts within the State of North Rhine Westphalia. The identity of the Ruhr Area is defined only by the economic development during the last 150–200 years, which was based mainly on the use of the natural resources of the area: hard coal, ores, salt, and others. At its peak, in the 1950s, nearly 150 mines produced some 125 million tons coal per year. Today, after the decline of the coal mining industry, with only three mines left, the area is facing considerable changes in economic and social structures. Confronted with these changes, people desire points of orientation and identity (Vogt 2006). Many families still have personal links with the mining heritage, but with ongoing structural changes, the awareness of people for the natural roots of the area’s development is diminishing and one day might be lost completely. With geology and natural resources being the crucial point for the identity of the Ruhr Area, the foundation of a geopark in this region is a logical reaction to counteract this development (Wrede and Mügge 2006). The large number of inhabitants forms an important potential of co-operators for the geopark and a large target group for geo-educational programmes. Geosite presentation and geo-educational programmes will keep the public aware of the natural roots of the industrial and urban agglomeration they live in. The idea was first proposed at the annual meeting of the German Society for Geosciences in Bochum 2003 (Wrede 2003).

Aware of the important role the geological heritage plays for the identity of the area and stimulated by the UNESCO Global GeoPark Programme and the German National GeoPark Scheme (Mattig et al. 2003), the Ruhr Area Regional Council and the State Geological Survey of North Rhine Westphalia set up the “GeoPark Ruhrgebiet e.V.” in May 2004 as a non-profit entity. The aims of this organisation are:

  • Protection and conservation of the geological heritage of the area,

  • Informing the public about geoscientific topics and

  • Stimulation of geotourism

by means of coordinating a network of geoheritage and mining heritage initiatives, in part already existing, and initiating new activities in these fields. In 2006 the “GeoPark Ruhrgebiet” was finally recognized as a German National GeoPark.

Geology, Geoheritage and Geotourism

The three geographic units the Ruhr Area is part of, reflect three regions of strongly different geological structure: The southern part, belonging to the Rhenish Mountains, is built up by early Middle Devonian to Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) sediments, which have been affected by the Variscan orogeny at the end of the Carboniferous (Fig. 1). These folded and thrusted rocks locally are unconformably overlain by Lower Permian conglomerates.

Fig. 1
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Ruhr Area National GeoPark: geographic structure and geology

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Towards the north, in the southern part of the Münsterland Basin, a thick sequence of Upper Cretaceous strata covers the Palaeozoic basement, beginning with the Cenomanian transgression. These cretaceous sediments, for their part, are widely concealed by glacial sediments of the Pleistocene.

In the western part of the area, strata of the Upper Permian (Zechstein) to Lower Cretaceous age are more or less completely known from underground exposures and boreholes, but not exposed on the surface. Here, in the Lower Rhine Plains, part of the Mid European Central Graben System, thick unconsolidated sediments of Tertiary, Pleistocene, and Holocene age determine regional geology. The terminal moraine of the Saalian glaciers forms a clear-cut ridge of hills, while the silt-up backwaters of the Rhine and its tributaries fill the depressions of the area.

The Palaeozoic geological sequence, as well as the younger, Cretaceous to Holocene strata, contains numerous raw materials of economic value: Carboniferous hard coal was and still is the most important, but by far not the only, valuable natural resource which gave rise to the economic development. Rich reserves of iron and non-ferrous metal ores also played a significant role until the 1950s. One of the biggest salt mines in Germany is located in the Ruhr Area, exploiting Upper Permian rock salt in the Lower Rhine area. Starting in the Middle Ages or even earlier, saline brines were used in salt works in the past. There are large valuable reserves of Devonian and Mississippian limestone and dolomite, still of great importance today for supply to the building industry and the steel mills and iron works of the area. Sandstones quarried along the Ruhr Valley, sand and gravel found in huge quantities in the Rhine Lowlands, and other raw materials, e.g. clay used for the production of bricks, played an important role in the development of housing areas and infrastructure (Wrede and Mügge 2004). The intense mining activities underground and on the surface, lasting for centuries, made the Ruhr Area one of the geologically best surveyed areas in Germany (Drozdzewski et al. 1996). Even today, more than 70 enterprises still use the raw materials of the area and demonstrate their unbroken importance for regional economy.

As a result of the intense mining operations in the past, but likewise favoured by topography, both artificial and natural geosites are abundant in the GeoPark. Some 400 geosites have been listed by the state geological survey, some of them honoured as “national geotopes” in Germany (Look and Quade 2007). Among them are the famous fossil pit in Hagen-Vorhalle, providing the world’s oldest winged insects from the Namurian, the unique karst and mining area “Felsenmeer” near Hemer and the historic mining district “Muttental” in Witten. Besides these, Germany’s largest show cave is situated in the geopark, and several sites excellently expose the Variscan unconformity. In addition to the classic geosites, some 100 mining heritage sites (among them the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Zeche Zollverein” in Essen), and more than 20 museums displaying regional geology and mining history, supplement the inventory of the geopark.

Despite this richness in geological sights, the Ruhr Area has largely been ignored by many geologists and nature lovers from outside the area, deterred from a visit by pre-judices of a faceless and ugly urban agglomeration. Indeed, this development of an appreciation of the geoheritage, even in areas such as the Ruhr perceived as scarred by mining and heavy industry, was one of the reasons for the initial development of geotourism especially when “the destruction of mines tips, spoil heaps, quarries and pits, as amenity landscaping of old industrial semi-rural landscapes and townscapes remodelled them into tourist acceptable photogenic backdrops” (Hose 1995, p 16) was recognized as an issue for areas similar to the Ruhr in England. However, what is apparent is that those visitors who do come are quite often surprised to find lots of highly interesting sights, often located in green scenery and combined with the infrastructure and facilities of a metropolitan area. Appositely a fairly recent review of geotourism in southwest Germany noted that: “Geotourism is an expression of a growing trend to experience the natural and cultural landscape in contrast to the common urbanized lifestyle.” (Pforr and Megerle 2006, p 119). Even after this relatively short time, it can be seen, and proved by figures, that the creation of the geopark in the area strongly stimulates geotourist activities, e.g. field trips from outside the area. Thus, geotourism may help to overcome the prejudices still existing about the Ruhr Area. Further, it “…could be promoted and supported, through conservation and sustainable measures and by local and regional tourism development strategies. Its participants require little specialist equipment…targeted at the casual or leisure user…provision could include the usual range of interpretive media…” (Hose 1995, p 17). Hence, it could well provide the perhaps unexpected basis for new tourism provision.

GeoRoute Ruhr

Given these prejudices, the idea of tourists hiking in the Ruhr Area initially looked rather exotic. The idea of establishing a long-distance geotrail, which would be really adopted by hikers, seemed to be quite unrealistic. However, the successful installation of geo- or mining heritage trails already has some tradition in the region. It is also worth noting that geotourism is about ‘recreational geology’ and “…it is not generally limited by the seasons; the herbaceous deciduous vegetation layers die back, making it easier to find and see rocks and landforms, in the short [days of the] Autumn and Winter months…It could markedly extend the tourism season…” (Hose 2000, p 136). The large population of the Ruhr Area of some five million people induces a strong request for local recreation opportunities. And, as already stated, many of these people are personally related to the mining history of the region and are therefore open to these topics.

When the last mines in the Ruhr valley closed down, the German Mining Museum in Bochum, the town administrations of Witten and Herbede and private initiatives took the first steps to keep the mining traditions alive, establishing the “Muttental Mining Heritage Trail” in 1972. Today, this trail alone forms a round trip of 9 km of hiking paths, including, e.g. the underground Nightingale Mining Museum, the historic Dünkelberg Quarry and Brick Works (Fig. 2), and a small museum in the former miner’s chapel (Koetter 2001; Drozdzewski and Koetter 2008; Wrede 2010). In 2006, when the Ruhr Area National GeoPark was established, already more than 20 heritage trails existed (Velling 1998). Most of them are located in or near the valley of the River Ruhr, which gave its name to the area. Here the coal-bearing strata of the Namurian and Lower Westphalian crop out on the surface. Coal mining in the Ruhr Valley started at the latest in the fourteenth century, most probably much earlier, and lasted into the 1970s. Since then large parts of the region have been deindustrialized and re-landscaped. Nevertheless, a high concentration of mining and geoheritage sites can still be found. Besides mining heritage the trails cover a wide range of topics: In Mülheim a soil science trail was set up (Fig. 3), the “Lake Baldeney Trail” (Fig. 4) in Essen and the “Kaisberg Trail” in Hagen are classic geoheritage trails with the focus on carboniferous geology. Other trails like the “Deilbachtal Heritage Trail” in Essen highlight a wider range of industrial heritage (Fig. 5). This one keeps alive remainders of the early copper and iron industry and preserves one of Germany’s oldest railroad bridges. The “energy route” in Herdecke presents historic as well as up-to-date technologies of power production.

Fig. 2
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Muttental: field trip to the former Dünkelberg quarry and Nightingale mine. Entrance to the Nightingale mine (on the left), sandstone, coal seam and claystone of the Witten-Formation, a section of Namurian C strata (hillside)

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Fig. 3
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Soil science trail in Mülheim/Ruhr: installation of a soil profile. The door is to protect the soil section. An information panel (not shown here) explains the soil profile

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Fig. 4
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Lake Baldeney Trail: “Kampmannbrücke Quarry” with exposed sandstone and coal seam of the Bochum-Formation, Westfalian A (background) and remainders of former mining activities

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Fig. 5
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Remainders of the early copper hammer (forge) in Essen-Deilbachtal. The forge operated from about 1551 until about 1940. Examples of produced copperware: roof tiles, brewing coppers, pots and much else

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Most of the trails have been initiated by private mining heritage associations with support from local authorities or museums. These associations have been initially founded by former miners and funded by private sponsors and the industry. Today, they involve people with very different backgrounds. Due to this decentralized origin, each of the trails has its individual design, different types of information brokerage, and, if at all, pursues different marketing strategies. The impact of most of these trails was limited to the local residents. The Ruhr Area GeoPark then developed a proposal to consolidate all these individual trails into an all-embracing network, enabling supra-regional marketing in the sense of geotouristic development of the Ruhr Area. This proposal also aroused the interest of Wikinger Reisen GmbH, Germany’s leading operator of hiking holidays, who generously sponsored the project. The realisation of this proposal required the agreement of all institutions involved with the management of the pre-existing trails. Fortunately, they all cooperated, as well as the local authorities and the officially appointed regional hikers association, which, according to the state’s law, has to approve the marking of a new hiking trail. In order to respect the individual character of the existing trails, and to minimize costs, the trails will continue to be managed individually in the established way, but an additional long-distance trail, called “GeoRoute Ruhr”, will connect them all.

Due to the distribution of the existing trails, it was not possible to link them all sensibly by one single track. In the area between Hattingen and Wetter, where trails had been established on both the northern and the southern bank of the Ruhr Valley, it seemed to be more appropriate to split the track into parallel routes. All in all, the length of GeoRoute Ruhr reached 180 km, starting in the city of Mülheim in the west and terminating near the township of Schwerte in the east. A new marker was designed for this trail, symbolizing two coal seams. A group of 14 volunteers marked the trail, which entirely follows public footpaths (Fig. 6). The scientific coordinator of the geopark, Vera Mügge-Bartolović, designed and wrote a guide book including detailed maps of the route and describing some 150 sights along the trail (Mügge-Bartolović 2010). Some of the sights (so-called Geostopps) have been provided with new information panels on site (Fig. 7); however, due to financial restrictions and the problem of sustainable maintenance, their number is still limited. Integrated in the trail system are geological museums and two underground visitor mines. The sights described in the guide book include not only geo- and mining heritage objects, but also cultural sights such as castles, historic churches and manor houses. In combination with the pre-existing trails, a complex network of heritage trails was created, all in all of some 300 km in length and presenting more than 500 objects (Fig. 8). The descriptions of the regional trails are available in the internet (www.geopark-ruhrgebiet.de).

Fig. 6
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Marking of GeoRoute Ruhr. The black stripes on the trail emblem symbolize coal seams

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Fig. 7
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Quarry Deilbachtal, Essen. The former sandstone quarry has been developed for the public as a part of the cultural landscape Deilbachtal, operated by the Ruhr Museum Essen. It has been additionally equipped with an information panel and a wooden safety railing by the Ruhr Area GeoPark in cooperation with the city of Essen

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Fig. 8
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Map of GeoRoute Ruhr

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Most of the route leads through a diversified hilly landscape covered by forests or grassland, and passes along the River Ruhr and its lakes, well known for boating or swimming. It crosses old towns with half-timbered houses, but also confronts the visitor with examples of modern industry and urban development. The contrasts between nature, industrial history and the modern metropolitan development are part of the appeal of the region. This more scenic part of the region traditionally is most important for recreation activities of the local residents. Today, tourism is gradually developing as a new economic field, mainly based on short-term visitors from as well inside or outside the Ruhr Area. Thus, the network of “GeoRoute Ruhr” is embedded in a versatile tourist infrastructure, including excursion boats on the River Ruhr and its lakes, a historic railway line and the Ruhr Valley bike trail. Thus virtually unlimited combinations are possible for the planning of individual excursions and trips. Parts of GeoRoute Ruhr are frequently used for field activities of the great number of universities, high schools and primary schools in the Ruhr Area, contributing to environmental education on different levels. The first steps have been taken to develop a strategy for the nationwide marketing of this new geotouristic highlight.