Early workers colonies in the Ruhr Area: Hordel, Hessler and Katernberg

As mentioned before, the industrialisation of the Ruhr Area was extensive and lead to a rapid (sub)urbanisation and urban sprawl. As it became clear to the industrialists setting up collieries, tin mines, glass factories, steel works, chemical plants and the like in the middle of rural areas that housing provision was a necessity, workers colonies quickly sprung up around the many industrial sites.  From 1880 onwards the owners of (potential) industrial sites also acquire land around the actual site required for the new factory or mine to be able to realise housing.

The area between Wattenscheid, Bochum and Herne was given into concession for mining in the 19th century. Prospecting lead to the discovery of coal in 1844 (Herne), 1846 (Bochum) and 1840 (Wattenscheid). Prospecting started after the discovery and exploitation of surface coal in 1722 between Wattenscheid and Gelsenkirchen (at that time still a part of the town of Wattenscheid). As coal mining was an industrial activity that demanded both heavy investment and technical skill in sinking the pits, some collieries took decades to realise. So between 1848 and 1938 many pits were sunk around the hamlet of Hordel that stood isolated at the centre of these mining concessions.

This sketch of the area around the hamlet of Hordel (H) around 1900 with the mansion house Dahlhausen (M) and the water mill (W) shows the dominance of mining. The hamlet has become encircled by spoil heaps, collieries, railways and colonies. Each colliery built its own colony. Colliery Hanover (H1) built the old colony with semidetached housing along a street (1) and a series of parallel Mulhouse Quadragles (2). The new colony (3) consists of a mix of both types. Near the second site (H2) another colony was built: Kolonie Hannover (4). The nearby Siedlung Günnigsfeld (5) belonged to another mine: Zeche Centrum. The Colliery Königsgrube (KG) stood next to Hanover 1 and had several colonies: Alte Kolonie (64), Siedlung Im Lakenbruch (7), Bergmannkolonie (8) and Schübbekolonie (9). Not far from these cemntra colonies a public park Volksgarten Eickel (VE) was built in 1892. It also lay close to the Zeche Hannibal (HA) in Riemke. This colliery had sites (1-3) with some streets of dedicated workers housing in the Kolonie Hannibal (10). Most of the housing was later realised in a garden city: Siedlung Dahlhauserheide (SDH). The Kolonie Pluto (11) was built for the colliery of the same name: Zeche Pluto (ZP). Other nearby collieries were: Zeche Carolinenglück (CG), Zeche Alma (ZA) and Zeche Hibernia (ZH).

Around Gelsenkirchen coal was discovered in 1840. Most of what is now part of this city used to be rolling countryside dotted with villages hamlets and a castle here and there. Nearly all of the districts of Gelsenkirchen have evolved out of from or around collieries and other heavy industry (chemical plants and glass factories). Hessler directly northwest of the city centre is a good example. Prospecting for coal started in the March of Hessler in 1850 and showed deposits that could be exploited around this small hamlet. The concessions were joined in 1855 to form the Wilhelmine-Victoria Colliery. In 1856 work started on sinking the first pit. Groundwater problems meant that it would take until 1863 before production started. Near the second pit the company built the Kolonie Klapheckenhof, a workers colony that grew by adding parallel rows of Mulhouse Quadrangles from 1873.  In 1886 the colliery is bought by the owner of the Hibernia Mining Company an work starts on a third pit near the second one already in operation. As a result the Kolonie Grawenhof was built in 1885 on the other side of the spoil heap. The colliery was closed in 1960.

The colonies of the Wilhelmine-Victoria Colliery are still standing. They were built around the spoil heap (SH) that was raised alongside the railway (in red). This railway is no longer in existence. The westerly row of the colony Klapheckenhof (KHH - named after a farm that stood here before) was the first to be built. A few years later another row of Mulhouse Quadrangles was built, followed a few years later again by a third row. The gardens are on the other side of the narrow path. A second colony was built south of the spoil heap on the site of the former Grawenhof, the name reflects the medieval owner the Count of Mark. This colony Grawenhof (GH) comprises of a single row of Mulhouse Quadrangles between two kinked parths. Beyond the spoil heap a semidetached house for the overseers (O) was built, together with a bathhouse (BH) an a hostel for single workers (H).  

Around Katernberg located halfway between Gelsenkirchen and Essen coal was discovered around 1842. The Haniel family, who had built one of the earliest workers colonies - 1846 Eisenheim in Sterkrade- founded the Zeche Zollverein in 1847 in Katernberg. It would grow to be one of the biggest mining concerns in the Ruhr Area with 12 pits on four sites. The remnants of these collieries have been declared a UNESCO Heritage Site. The first colony was built on land bought by Franz Haniel in 1856. On this Hegemannshof a long street (Victoriastrasse) and a row of streets with Mulhouse Quadrangles would be built from 1860 onwards. Another long street was built parallel on the edge of the land holdings this colony is now known as the only remaining section of the Hegemannshof, but was built in 1890 as a separate project (Meerbruchsiedlung) with rows of Mulhouse Quadrangles along a central street. The pits 4/5 were sunk between 1891-96 built on twin pit system on the border with Hessler. This was near the main street of the village and an already existing colony comprising of a single long street named after the main engineer of the company Josef Oertgen, built in 1873. The colony Ottekampshof was built as two streets with Mulhouse Quadrangles on each side. It was modelled after the Kolonie Schlägel und Eisen near pit 3, built in 1880.

Mining dominated the area between Altenessen and Gelsenkirchen from 1850 until about 1970; the colliery sites are shown in yellow. The small village of Katernberg was surrounded on all sides by collieries, in particular those of the Zeche Zollverein. Colonies were built near each site; the first were developed near the original site (ZV1/2/11). This housing was torn down to make way for the new Coke furnaces (Kokerei Zollverein - ZV-K) in 1957. Near the Katernberg main street  the colony Hegemannshof was built; this was later dubbed Kolonie 1. It comprises of the first section (1) on the Victoriastrasse, the second section Hegemannshof (2), the third section Barkhofsiedlung (3) -north of the Glass works (GH) and the Meerbruchsiedlung (4). A new church (+) was built for the miners dedicated to their patron saint Joseph. The Kolonie Ottekampshof  was colony number 2, comprising of the Alte Kolonie (5) and the Neue Kolonie (6). This colony was located near pits 4/5/11. A new colony with semidetached houses was built near pits 1/2/11 in 1912: Siedlung Theobaldstrasse (7). Similarly near pits 3/7/10, colony 3 was built comprising of Siedlung Schlägel und Eisen (8) and Siedlung Beisen (9). Pit 6/9 also had a colony built nearby. Like Beisen and Theobaldstrasse this colony was built after 1900 with semidetached dwellings. It is known as the Siedlung Stifstsdamenwald (10).

Apart from these housing projects for miners, the company also provided housing for middle management and engineers. These were placed separately or erected at the beginning of the streets built for the workers. This model pioneered by Haniel was copied in many other places in the Ruhr Area, but also in Heerlen, Landgraaf, Genk-Zwartberg, Genk-Waterschei, Eisden, etcetera. Some of these colonies remain, but if they are not listed they have often been "improved" beyond recognition by the present owners.