Niederberg mining colonies: brick vernacular and cottage style

The present-day Plattenkolonie comprises of English inspired buildings in a so-called cottage style. These houses are alternately 1 or 2 floors with a hipped roof. The buildings are connected via low side extensions.

Part of the wall around the Niederberg colliery still remains, the ornate brick piers fit in with the style of architecture utilized in the Alte Kolonie. The Plattenkolonie east of the Hindenburgplatz, here on the Waldstraße, looks like it was once planned to be much bigger. It now comprises of three rows of buildings that form a U-shape next to the rather desolate public space of the HIndenburgplatz.

Another example of the cottage style used for the Plattenkolonie. The rendering on the walls contrasts greatly with the brick facades used in all the other mining colonies of the Niederberg colliery.

These old coal wagons (Förderwagen) can be found in several places in Neukirchen as a reminder to the mining past at the Niederberg colliery. This one stands opposite the Glück Auf Siedlung. The  Glück Auf Siedlung was named after the miners' greeting "Glück Auf" which is short for: "Ich wünsche Dir Glück, tu einen neuen Gang auf". It originated in the German Ore Mountains of Saxony in the 16th century and was later used as a wish to emerge from the pit safely.

The Glück Auf Siedlung was built after WW2 and consists of both short and long simple brick buildings that

Next to the Hindenburgplatz the old entrance to the mining colony was accentuated by this small public space at the beginning of the Laukenstraße from which the long residential streets run towards the old route (now the Ernzt Moritz Arndtstraße).

The brick buildings are mostly two floors with a hipped roof. Originally wooden window shutters adorned every building. These referred to  window shutters prevalent in the vernacular architecture of the Rhineland.

Low buildings of only a single floor with a hipped roof are also used in the Alte Kolonie. These short terraces refer to both the historical farm type and the reworking of the cottage into terraced housing within the English garden city movement.

In the second building phase, with the Weddigenplatz at its heart, the low cottage-like terraces are enlarged both in length as well as in height to create larger living accommodation. The ornamental use of round arches to indicate the entrance is a feature of the buildings of this phase and can be clearly seen on these houses on the Weddingenplatz.

The contrast between the second building phase (left) and the first is clear in the architectural treatment of the block and the details. The second phase is best characterized as a more picturesque example of brick vernacular architecture.

The Neue Kolonie consists only of apartment blocks. These brown blocks in brick are situated along the streets in an ordered fashion. The loft space beneath hipped roofs is part of the living accommodation.

The apartment blocks have the entrances on the inside along the communal garden. Each entrance has an ornamental brick surround. The architecture is austere but also ornate with  for instance protruding bricks that emulate a classical corner lesene.  

All apartment blocks are situated around communal gardens that are still in use as such. These green spaces are open to everyone, not just residents. All entrances are located along the communal garden space.

The Etzoldplatz is the main focal point of the mining colony. The high Dutch gables refer to older brick architecture from the Rhineland and are utilized here to great effect. The apartment blocks are arranged in a stepped fashion emphasizing the entrance and maximizing the visual impact of the gable ends.

This ornate baroque-inspired brick architecture is used to maximum effect around the Etzoldplat. From the Etzoldstraße at the back the end gables with their ornate curls indicate the formal entrance to the Neue Kolonie. The adjoining blocks are of the standard type with a hipped roof.

The old stables (left) are now used as outbuildings for storage, although some are in use as a dovecot thus staying true to their original intended use. Standing in the middle of the northeastern communal garden the old pit tower of the Niederberg colliery can be clearly seen framed by the brick piers of an ornamental gate.