At first sight palatial redbrick facades and artistically adorned gables on buildings dotted around a grassy square are more reminiscent of an aristocratic residence than a coal mine. This was exactly one of the ideas behind the architecture. Today the “mansion of labour” in the west of Dortmund is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and impressive testimonies to Germany’s industrial history. The engine house with its famous Jugendstil doorway is already an icon. But the museum’s outstanding industrial architecture is only one of many different attractive facets. The various sections of the exhibition will take you into a world of harsh working conditions, and the stories of the men and women who worked in coalmining during the 20th century will bring this vividly to life.