Field Trips
On Wednesday morning half of the ROTA-students, who do dance, food, technology and political forum workshops went on a trip to „Zeche Zollverein“ museum in Essen. The trip was about a historical building and Zollverein is therefore symbolic of the culture industry in the Ruhr.
In 1847 Franz Haniel bought the region, because there was a lot of coal under the ground. He started to build a factory and to process the coal. Coal, the “black gold”, brought a lot of money to the region , because people used coal to produce fuel and energy. And at that time it was really successful. We also watched a film about the working conditions and people who worked at the factory had been talking about their working experiences and conditions. Working in a coalmine wasn’t safe, they didn’t wear gloves or any other things to protect themselves. But after 135 years of producing coal they closed the factory and it happened because Germany was no longer competitive amongst other countries which produced the coal for lower prices. So Zollverein was closed in 1986.
The ROTA group was divided into three groups and each had a tour guide. The tour was about 2 hours. After that we had some free time, some people ate “Currywurst” and sat down in the sun. The guys were playing football.
So the students said they enjoyed the day in the Ruhr Museum and they are happy because they saw the history of coal produced in Germany.
Laura & Renata
Yesterday, on April 6th, the other half of the ROTA- students, who are from the other workshops, went on a trip to the Landschaftspark Duisburg. The trip was about the industrial history. Inside of ten years the 200 hectare big, old industrial wasteland changes into a multifunctional park.
In the middle of it there is a closed smelter, which industrial factories are used by a different way today. For example the old workshop is a venue for firm parties or things like that now; the old gasometer is today Europe’s biggest artificial diving sport center. In the ore deposit is a crag and a lapsed blast furnace is a look-out now.
When the students arrived they were divided into three groups. Two groups with an English guide and one with a German guide. The German students weren’t really happy about this because they wanted to be with the other people. Some Belgium has to come with them. It was a little bit difficult for them to understand everything because the guide was talking really fast.
First he asked some questions, which no one could answer, apart from Sarina Dedring. She is a member of the geography intensive course from Germany. ;)
The most interesting attraction was to go up the stairs on the lapsed blast furnace. From the top you have a wonderful view over the Ruhrgebiet.
Another attraction for the students was the playfield. There you have to decide whether you go down by stairs or by gliding through a chute. Only the really brave people have chosen the second and more dangerous way.
At last all students were chilling in the sun before they went back to Hattingen. All in all it was a really great trip with a lot of funny situations (see the article: “Rutschgefahr”).
Eva & Patricia