I decided to focus my attention on coal mines to get a sense of what the Ruhr might have been like back in 1945. The Bergau und Gesichts Museum located at Oer-Erckinswick Germany. This museum seemed to be run by ex-miners. I entered a room full of men who didn’t seem to understand my request to see the museum. Perhaps it was because my German is so bad. Finally one of the men agreed to give me a tour but the tour wouldn’t start for an hour. I settled in and started to sketch until the tour began.
Museum staff started to gain interest as they saw my sketch progress. Art is a universal language. Those who were not giving a tour went into back workshops probably to help refurbish displays. The tour did go to areas that were set up like the tunnels deep underground. I used Google translate to try and understand what was being said in German. I suspect the cell connection was lost underground since translating stopped working.
A manakin was dressed as a miner rescue worker. He wore a large solid backpack. The tour guide opened the backpack to reveal a mini bar of liquor bottles. Th guide laughed. The backpack was actually supposed to house oxygen and medical supplies for any injured miners. I vot my one pair of decent hiking pants dirty by kneeling in a mine tunnel. A small family joined the tour and I got to hear the introductions a a second time. One tunnel had a bicycle that was altered so it would ride on a rail. The little boy from the family was encouraged to ride down the tunnel on the bike.
This museum allowed me to experience what it would be like to work deep underground. Forced laborers were used to step up the mining of coal during world War II. Oer-Erkinswick experienced the war’s impact, since the mining town was important in supplying energy for the war effort. The area faced Allied bombing, like Operation Clarion, targeting infrastructure.
On April 2 and 3, 1945. Oer-Eckinswick was a command post for the 75th Infantry Division. A main intersection in town was called Adolph Hitler Platz. After Hitler committed suicide the intersection was renamed Hunenplatz in late 1945. After WWII all Nazi street names were abolished.