Adopting German types: the mining colonies of South Limburg

Increasing industrialisation in the Netherland really took off after 1850 on the back of neighbouring Wallonia and Ruhr Area. The Kerkrade Collieries of Dominiale Mijn and Neuprick - both exploited under auspices of the Rolduc Monastary- couldn't meet the increased demand for coal, so the adjoining area was prospected and new concessions were granted. The Oranje-Nassau mining company exploited two such concessions after the coal field of Oranje-Nassau -owned by Henri Sarolea- and coal field Carl  -owned by the German brothers Honigmann were brought under a single entity with four collieries named ON1-ON4. The combined enterprise was the largest private mining company in the Netherlands. Other private concessions were Laura & Vereniging and Willem-Sophia. All the concessions hereafter would be exploited under auspices of the state by the Dutch State Mines.  

Sarolea was granted his concession in 1893, but it would take until 1900 before the first coal was brought to the surface at Oranje-Nassau 1. The first colony was built in 1899 as Kolonie Morgenster (Morning Star Colony) on farmland near the colliery and the railway. This first colony was followed by a colony at Grasbroek and one at Leenhof. Most colonies were built after 1908 when the German family Wendel took a large stake in the company and introduced German city planning models. After 1918 the focus shifts again and housing is not provided directly by the mining company, but by specially founded building societies (most notably "Ons Limburg" founded by dr. Poels in 1913) and housing coops. The second wave of miners housing thus takes the shape of social housing inspired by garden city models.

The Colonies Husken (H - 1906) and Grasbroek (GB - 1904) were built directly north of the ON1 Colliery. Husken -which originally also featured a row of semidetached housing for middle management- comprises of two rows of Mulhouse Quadrangles.  Between 1915-18 this colony was expanded with the Musschemig Colony (M) comprising of white semid etached houses arranged according to artistic principles around a small public garden (G). This colony -instigated by the Wendel family- shows the direction factory housing was taking after 1908. Musschemig was expanded in 1920 by building two rows of identical terraces (T) of 4 along the edges.

Near ON2 -within the mining concession Carl- a colony of Mulhouse Quadrangles was built on the land previously belonging to the manor farm Leenhof (LH) between 1905-07. Colony Leenhof 1 (L1) comprises of 12 such buildings on either side of a central street, much like examples from the Ruhr Area. Leenhof 2 (L2) was built as a grouping of 6 more Mulhouse Quadrangles. In 1910 and 1911-12 respectively, the colony was expanded with a further two sections for workers, Leenhof 3 and 4 (L3 & L4), again with Mulhouse Quadrangles. Each colony also had one semidetached building housing two overseers. Leenhof 4 also has some blocks along the main road set aside for middle management (mm) dating from 1915. These are situated across from the church (c) and school (s). Between 1913-18 a separate colony for middle management was built hogher up the hill, on the other side of the railway. This Colony Schaesberg (CS) has a striking circular layout and was designed on Sitte-esque artistic principles. It is, however, not a garden village!

Beersdal Colony takes its name from a large manor farm near the Caumerbeek (a brook) and was built halfway between ON1 and ON3 along the thoroughfare linking the town of Heerlen with the city of Sittard via Hoensbroek. This would be the largest colony of the Orange Nassau Moines. It comprises mostly of Mulhouse Quadrangles mixed with rows of semidetached houses for middle management in a regular layout. The street plan is a widened grid with a large green space in the middle. The service railway (black line) once cut through this colony, hence the change in orientation of the Mulhouse Quadrangles on the left.

Colony Rennemig was built on the edge of the site of Oranje-Nassau III (ON3). Here, not far from the hamlet of the same name a colony was built that consists of several parallel streets with semidetached workers housing. It is an example of the basic street colony. Between 1913-18 these streets running of the main road were constructed. The six double houses along this main road were constructed first, the dead-end streets came second. These streets stop abruptly at the edge of the valley of a brook (the Rennebach a tributary of the Caumerbeek).The railway (in black) that once connected this colliery with ON1 via Beersdal explains the difference in pattern on the right. This colony is a good example of urban planning by engineers.

The other mines also had workers housing constructed. These range from simple rows of cottages along a street (Laura and Sophia) and cottages along purpose-built streets (Wieën Colony - State Mine Hendrik) to groups of Mulhouse Quadrangles (Butting Colony for State Mine Emma and Terwinselen 1 for State Mine Wilhelmina), or a mix of semidetached and terraced cottages (Terwinselen 2). The Terwinselen Colony eventually grew into a garden village after it was expanded in several building campaigns (1918-19, 1920s and 1930s).

The Colony Hopel was built for the Laura Colliery (LC) in Eygelshoven (E). The first colony (C1) of this private mining company was little more than a row of identical cottages along a pre-existing road on the edge of both the mining site and the village. This second colony (C2) was named after the hamlet of Hopel (H). It was situated between the colliery and the spoil heap (sh) located along the railway on the other side of a brook (Strijthagerbeek) that rises near the Winselerhof. This brook joins the Anstel river south of the village of Eygelhoven. Further south the water mill (w) of Boerenanstel once stood.

As is visible from the sketch of the colony below, it took inspiration from the garden city model with vernacular-inspired architecture. The setting is, however, that of a colony with a regular street plan and the blocks situated parallel to the streets as the bottom sketch clearly shows. In red the building that's no longer standing.

The Terwinselen Colony takes its name from the Winselerhof Farm (WF) that still stands near the source of the Strijthagerbeek (a brook). The State Mine Wilhelmina (SMW), opened 1906, was situated directly west of this old farmstead at the end of a spur line of the Heerlen-Kerkrade railway. A large spoil heap (sh) was located near the pits and would eventually take up most of the site. Directly next to the mine two rows of Mulhouse Quadrangles (Q) were built in 1906. These were followed by semidetached cottages (T1) and a school (S1) between 1911-12. This was followed by an expansion northwards along the railway with a mix of semidetached cottages, up-down apartments and terraces between 1913-19 (T2). A Casino (C) was built near the oldest section. After that the colony was expanded on the eastside directly south of the colliery by cottages built along curved streets and around a small green (g). Most of these buildings in this garden village (GV) date from the 1920s. The church (Ch) was built in 1922 beyond a newly created village square (v). A centre was created with shops (S) and a second school (S2). The area east of the church was developed for housing in the 1930s.

Urban animal: Wet Wet Wet

There is a long tradition of presenting the city and the country as being opposed to each other, with the moral influence of nature rated higher and therefore to be preferred. This distinction resulted in the urban environment being presented as cultural (manmade) and the countryside as natural (untouched, pure, fundamental, etc). Now that the city has expanded into an urban landscape of varying densities with a certain degree of open water and greenery, and with rationalisation in agriculture on the other side, this situation has changed fundamentally. The urban environment is now often the preferred habitat of wild species of plants or animals, or serves as a refuge.

In most Dutch cities there is some form of open water available. This can be a river, a brook, a pond or a canal. Water within the urban environment always results in specific species -as long as the water is not too polluted. Some species that were rare have benefitted from the post WW2 urban expansion and can be seen along the waterside in many cities and towns.

The wild duck -there are several species- can be found everywhere where there is water. They have become especially populous in water rich housing developments. The Mallard shows a clear distinction between the sexes (left) the male the more colourful birds, whilst the female is a variation on brown. In some parks these birds can be found in great numbers on the water but also on land napping. The park birds are most often "soup ducks", i.e. hybrids of wild and domesticated animals. The Grey Heron had become rare, but urban expansion has proven the saviour of this species as the imposing birds prefer shallow clear water with lots of fish and frogs. Many can be seen along canals, on the edge of park ponds and along other urban surface water.

The Coot is a related to Rails and can be found in a band across Eurasia and parts of North Africa. There is also a subspecies from Australia. These black water birds with the white frontal shield can be found along most open water. In the Netherlands they remain year-round. The nest is a mount of grasses and sedges on the edge of the water, but in places with many dogs often in the middle of a canal or pond. The omnivorous birds feed both on land and under water. The males defend the nest by speedboating across the water (right). They are one of the most common birds in Dutch cities.

There are many species of Duck. On the left an artificial lake with Mallard -a type of dabbling duck- and the Red-crested Pochard - a species of diving duck. The males of this last species are even more showy than the Mallard with their red heads, pinks bill and black chest (middle).This artificial lake is also used by an angling club so many large Carp can be seen in the water. Near the cycle bridge they come up begging for bread...

The majestic Mute Swan can be found in the middle of the city gliding across the water. Ducks tend to avoid their big cousins (swans and geese), except in parks where they are fed by the public. Wild ducks can even be seen in canals. As the are dabblers the will eat what is on the water surface, directly under water or along the banks. Some will even graze in parks, although this is more common for geese.

Mining colonies of the street and grid types in the Ruhr Area

Of the four types of mining colonies to be found in the Ruhr Area, the simple type comprising of one or more streets with houses on either side or between them dominates the colonies built between 1850 and 1918. In many cases the Mulhouse Quadrangle is used as an efficient and sanitary method of housing workers. All early mining colonies are of the simple street type. This was often expanded into a ladder of parallel streets. In other instances streets were laid out on a grid. The street type remained a favourite until planning preferences shifted towards garden villages and housing estates on artistic principles.

The Siedlung Repelen in the city of Moers was built between 1930 and 1936 to provide housing for the Pattberg Pit that was sunk in 1927. It comprises of some stores and a series of large blocks along straight streets arranged around central communal gardens and is thus a mix of the Gartenhof and the street colony.

The Bergsiedlung Mausegatt-Kreftenscheer was built as Kolonie Wiesche (1899-1902) and was later extended (1905-10). This colony was built just south of the village of Heissen near Mühlheim on the Ruhr. Here a coal mine was opened in 1700. It was reopened in 1809 as a deep colliery called Zeche Wiesche. The first building phase of distinct semidetached cottages with brick facades and alternating roof directions were built on both sides of a long street that only connected to another street on the east side.

In 1905 the colony was expanded by building a parallel street -Kreftenscheerstrasse- and connecting it at the end to the Maussegattstrasse, thus creating a loop. The layout is very similar with semidetached houses in two types on each side of the straight and narrow road.

The architectural expression of both building phases is strikingly different. The oldest building have brick facades with brick detailing and typical dormers (left). The housing of the second building phase takes inspiration from the English cottage and was clearly inspired by the writings of Muthesius. These houses have rendered facades with brick trims, bands and details.

The Neue Kolonie Hannover was built near the colliery of the same name. Of the old colony little remains that warrants a picture being taken of it. The "new colony" has survived better and is now protected. The layout is an irregular grid of streets with a combination of Mulhouse Quadrangles and semidetached cottages. The Alte Kolonie was started in 1864 as a street with cottages for miners and 6 detached houses for middle management. It was later expanded northwards. Most of this old colony was destroyed by an air bomb.

An example of one of the Mulhouse Quadrangles that are dotted around the colony in groups -instead of single rows-. Both the design of this building and the way in which the types of housing are mixed are evidence of the changing ideas about workers housing. Work on this section started in 1902 after the takeover of this mine by Krupp and finished in 1926.

Around the core of irregularly placed Mulhouse Quadrangles this colony is characterised by terraced housing placed on a variable building line along the road. This should be judged as the incorporation of Site-esque principles in the plan (not Unwinesque: Unwin had not written his book in 1902 when these houses were planned).

The Pluto Colliery in Wanne-Eickel was officially named Zeche Pluto Wilhelm after the name of Pit 3 Wilhelm. The pit came into production in 1875 and was connected by underground galleries to the other pits of the Pluto Colliery. A building society was responsible for the erection of housing for the miners employed on this new site. This was built as a series of parallel streets with identical housing on either side. The streets differ in architecture depending on the year they were built. Here a look down the Mathildenstrasse built in 1919.

The Pluto colony IV was also known as the Hühneleitersiedlung (Chicken Ladder Estate). Here the Hüttenstrasse, the second street to be built in 1902 after the Vereinstrasse (1899) These large blocks have for family dwellings each, spread across two floors. The facades are characterised by the use of render and colour blocking.

Render also gives the housing of the Kolonie Klapheckenhof its distinct character. A narrow street separates the Mulhouse quadrangles from the gardens, that can just be seen on the left. The other two houses of each quadrangle had a similar arrangement with a garden opposite. The first row was finished in 1873 three years after the Wilhelmine Victoria colliery opened nearby. A further two identical rows were built in 1881 and 1885, making this one of the oldest mining colony in Gelsenkirchen.

The setup of the Kolonie II or Grawenhof Colony was very similar with a single row of identical Mulhouse Quadrangles with white facades and brick extension with kitchens. This long row seems almost endless and is located between the spoil heap and the cemetery. Thus most was made of the long and narrow site. These houses were built between 1886 and 1889.

The Ottekamphof Siedlung comprises of two parallel rows of Mulhouse Quadrangles built along a single central street with paths leading to garden behind the housing.  This colony, built between 1893 and 1896, was an expansion of an older section (1873). The houses are all identical with a large dormer bringing light to the loft space with the bedrooms. Of the older section, little remains. It was basically a long street with a cluster of Mulhouse quadrangles at the end. Only a single quadrangle survived WW2.

The houses are fairly similar, although the floor plan of the Mulhouse Quadrangles built on the last street differs slightly to create an asymmetrical layout better suited for an alignment along a central road. To this end the entrances of the two dwellings facing away from the road have a side entrance.

The Meerbruchstrasse was built on the edge of the Hegemannshof Colony between 1890 and 1895 after plans by the building department of the Zeche Zollverein. The Hegemanshof itself comprised of 5 parallel streets of variable length with Mulhouse Quadrangles on both sides. This earlier colony was built between 1860 and 1868. The Meerbruchstrasse is reminiscent of the no longer existing Hegemannshof Siendlung. The effect of the long straight street with housing at regular intervals is enhanced by the trees in the street.

Standing on the former railway bridge crossing the Meerbruchstrasse -now a cycling route- one can really appreciate the length of these straight streets that are so characteristic of such nineteenth century workers colonies. Also these streets often make no effort to blend into the existing spatial structure of the place. It is in part against this type of housing that the advocates of urban planning on artistic principles protested. This housing was designed by the engineers in the mining companies building department often with very little variation.