Ruhr Museum

The new permanent exhibition in the Kohlenwäsche (Coal wash) of the Zeche Zollverein colliery (A 14, shaft XII) was designed by the Stuttgart office of HG Merz and is divided into four levels.

On the 24-meter level, which is accessed by the large external escalator - the largest in Germany -,[2] there is a cash and information desk, a café, and the museum shop.

The 12-meter level represents the region's pre-industrial memory and also includes the museum's collections on archeology, ethnology and natural history.

The new Ruhr Museum opened its doors on 20 October 2008 in the coal mine of the World Cultural Heritage Zeche Zollverein, which was rebuilt to plans by Rem Koolhaas,[2] with a presentation of the Essen Cathedral Treasury.

On 9 January 2010,[2] the Ruhr Museum in the Zollverein World Heritage Site was ceremoniously opened in the presence of the Federal President Horst Köhler in the course of the Ruhrgebiet becoming a "Cultural Capital" during the Ruhr.2010 campaign.