The winding tower of Shaft XII, the trade mark of the former Zollverein mine
The UNESCO World Cultural Heritage seal.
President of the Federal Republic Johannes Rau officially presents the UNESCO listed building sign to Zollverein.
President of the Federal Republic Johannes Rau and Minister-President of the State of North Rhine Westphalia Wolfgang Clement next to the stele erected at the entrance to the Zollverein site to mark the distinction conferred by UNESCO.
Zollverein, former colliery and now a notable design location, listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage industrial monument.
The former boiler house of Zollverein, the present home of the red dot design museum and the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in the foreground
"We have to recognise that industry with its massive buildings is no longer a disruptive feature in our urban landscape and in the countryside, but a symbol of work, a monument to the city." (Fritz Schupp, 1929)

UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Zollverein

On 14 December 2001, the Zollverein Mine Complex, home to the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen and the red dot design museum, was adopted as part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. Zollverein is accordingly one of only ten modern architectural projects in the world to be accorded this honour.

The world heritage committee praised Zollverein as “a representative example of the development of heavy industry in Europe”. The “architecture of the industrial complex, influenced by the Bauhaus style, which had been an example to modern industrial construction for decades” was noted to be of outstanding value. German President Johannes Rau officially presented the UNESCO plaque to the Zollverein Mine in summer 2002.

The mine complex, built between 1928 and 1932 by industrial architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer, was regarded as the most modern in the world, both technically and architecturally. The architects, inspired by the Bauhaus style, arranged the cubic structures around a central courtyard bordered on one side by the pit-head mechanism. The second axis, at a right angle, leads to the boiler house - a masterpiece of form and function.