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.