Ruhr
Coal, coke, iron and steel in one basin — and the industrial region that two world wars were partly about.
A region in western Germany where coking coal and iron ore working occurred close together, which is the combination that decides where a steel industry forms. Coal is expensive to move relative to its value, so heavy industry historically went to the coal rather than the reverse.
At its height it was the densest concentration of coal mining, coking, iron and steel production in Europe.
History
Industrialised from the mid-nineteenth century, and central to German armaments in both world wars, which is why it was a target in one and occupied in the aftermath of the other. The European Coal and Steel Community of 1951 placed Franco-German coal and steel production under joint authority explicitly so that another war between them would be materially impractical — which makes this region the origin of the European Union.
Coal mining ended in 2018 with the closure of the last deep mine.
Economic significance
The Ruhr is the standing example of a region built on one material system and having to become something else when it ended, over decades and with mixed results. It is also the clearest demonstration that heavy material industries are located by geology and freight cost rather than by policy, until the geology runs out.
How we know: checked recently · only one source, so there is nothing to cross-check it against · stated directly by the source.
How this connects
Where a connection has been confirmed by an outside reference, that reference is named beside it.
produces
- Steel — alloy · coking coal and iron working close together, which is the combination that decides where a steel industry forms
is associated with
- Industrial Revolution — event · and later the reason the European Coal and Steel Community placed Franco-German production under joint authority
Sources
- Wikimedia Foundation · Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain dedication)
- Material WorldOur own writing