Losing access to my photobucket account (I should really start making a note of my passwords) combined with a general hiatus from exploring means I never posted up this report from my January 2011 urbex tour of Germany. Anyway, here it now is in glorious technicolour (plus some black and white...)
Brief History
Zeche Hugo is a former coal mine located in Gelsenkirchen, Germany (relatively near Düsseldorf). Established in 1873 the mine continued to operate until 2000, at which time the coal seam under Gelsenkirchen had been almost fully exploited. At it's height in the 1960's it employed 5000 and excavated 3.5 millions tons a year. It operated out of 8 shafts and eventually reached a depth of 1200 metres.
Zeche Hugo is famous for its large hall of 'bird cages', officially known as 'Kaue', they were used to hold workers clothing and possessions during their shifts. As the mine worked into the latter half of the 20th century, a large proportion of the workforce consisted of immigrants, mostly of Turkish descent.
The Explore
Zeche Hugo was our first explore of the time and is a strong contender as my favourite. A large part of this is due to the 'Kaue hall'. When you first enter it is truly breathtaking, like some kind of insane aviary. Completely unlike anything we have over in the UK. However this is not all Zeche Hugo offers, despite much of it being demolished there are still extensive offices, shower, workshops etc which are still relatively impressive in their own right.
Access was relatively easy, perhaps thanks in part to having a veteran of Zeche Hugo with us. Simple metal fencing surrounds it, no nasty spikes or barbed wire. No real signs of security around the main building, although there are live sites nearby which you'll want to take into consideration. The main site consists of one large complex which houses the Kaue hall and all the other workshops/worker rooms. So once you're inside there's no real need to head outside again.
Thanks to Morse and his mate (whose name I can't remember) for organising the explore and showing us around.
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Brief History
Zeche Hugo is a former coal mine located in Gelsenkirchen, Germany (relatively near Düsseldorf). Established in 1873 the mine continued to operate until 2000, at which time the coal seam under Gelsenkirchen had been almost fully exploited. At it's height in the 1960's it employed 5000 and excavated 3.5 millions tons a year. It operated out of 8 shafts and eventually reached a depth of 1200 metres.
Zeche Hugo is famous for its large hall of 'bird cages', officially known as 'Kaue', they were used to hold workers clothing and possessions during their shifts. As the mine worked into the latter half of the 20th century, a large proportion of the workforce consisted of immigrants, mostly of Turkish descent.
The Explore
Zeche Hugo was our first explore of the time and is a strong contender as my favourite. A large part of this is due to the 'Kaue hall'. When you first enter it is truly breathtaking, like some kind of insane aviary. Completely unlike anything we have over in the UK. However this is not all Zeche Hugo offers, despite much of it being demolished there are still extensive offices, shower, workshops etc which are still relatively impressive in their own right.
Access was relatively easy, perhaps thanks in part to having a veteran of Zeche Hugo with us. Simple metal fencing surrounds it, no nasty spikes or barbed wire. No real signs of security around the main building, although there are live sites nearby which you'll want to take into consideration. The main site consists of one large complex which houses the Kaue hall and all the other workshops/worker rooms. So once you're inside there's no real need to head outside again.
Thanks to Morse and his mate (whose name I can't remember) for organising the explore and showing us around.
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