The Zollverein industrial complex in Land Nordrhein-Westfalen consists of the complete infrastructure of a historical coal-mining site, with some 20th-century buildings of outstanding architectural merit.
It constitutes remarkable material evidence of the evolution and decline of an essential industry over the past 150 years. Shaft 12, built in Bauhaus style, was opened in 1932 and is considered an architectural and technical masterpiece and earned reputation as the “most beautiful coal mine in the world”.
It gained World Heritage status in 2001.
[url]http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/975/[/url] />