.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
This section is all about housing development—from farmsteads to mining settlements. See how mining transformed the townscape and community life—and how, over the decades, a diverse community shaped by migration and closely tied to the coal mine emerged.
Toward the end of the 19th century, sinking of the Werne Coal Mine began in Werne. The Lower Saxony joint-stock company Georgs-Marien Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein was searching for a new site for coal mining. The Piesberg coal mine in Osnabrück had to be abandoned in 1898 due to a water inflow. A suitable site for sinking a shaft was found in Werne.
Work on Shafts I and II began in 1899. Coal production began as early as 1902. Between 1912 and 1913, Shaft III in Rünthe was developed as another mining site with a complete mining infrastructure. This included, among other things, a coal washing plant, administrative offices, a boiler house, a workers’ lounge, and its own power plant. The Great Depression led to the closure of the coking plant and surface facilities in 1930; the boiler house and power plant were demolished in 1937. After World War II, cable transport at Shaft III was temporarily resumed. Operations were finally ceased in 1960. Until the year 2000, the shaft was still used for dewatering and ventilation of the neighboring facilities. Today, only the administration and workers’ lounge building, as well as the coal washing plant, remain.
As the coal mine expanded, so did the town of Rünthe. As early as 1900, the mining company had the first workers’ houses built on what is now Schachtstraße. The ongoing need for labor made it necessary to construct additional residential buildings and new streets. The coal mine settlement grew steadily and increasingly shaped the entire townscape.
In addition to housing, a basic infrastructure was established to support the lives of the miners and their families: schools, grocery stores, religious institutions, and clubs. The coal mine was a workplace, the center of daily life, and the driving force behind development. Many workers from abroad, particularly from Eastern Europe, also began arriving in Rünthe as early as the late 19th century. Thus, the town was shaped not only by the coal mine itself but also by cultural and religious differences and social change. For decades, Rünthe was closely tied to mining—economically, socially, and geographically.
1900: Northern Schachtstr.
1904/05: Glückaufstr., Knappenstr.,
Fäustelstr.
1906: Rünther Str.
1909: Schlägelstr.
1910: Overbergerstr.
1916/20: Schwarzer Weg
1922: Wernerstr., Ostenhellweg,
Westenhellweg
1924/25: Wierlingstr., Waldemeyerstr.,
Urnenstr., Otto-Wels-Str.
As the coal mining industry boomed, Rünthe also grew rapidly. In the early 20th century, the once-rural village developed into a vibrant mining community. With the influx of numerous mining families, daily life had to be reorganized. New schools were built, and grocery stores and merchants took over the supply of goods. Taverns became important gathering places and served as venues for social interaction and community life. Little by little, the simple mining settlement grew into a diverse community.
Significant immigration began as early as the late 19th century. The coal mines’ growing need for labor attracted people from Westphalia, the Rhineland, Saxony, and the eastern provinces of Prussia. Starting around 1870, many people from the eastern parts of what was then the German Empire came to the Ruhr region and to Rünthe. They came primarily from the regions of Posen, Silesia, and West Prussia. Many of them were Catholic, spoke Polish, and were later referred to as “Ruhr Poles.”
Because they spoke a different language and had a different culture, they were often viewed as “foreigners.” Many people treated them with prejudice. That is why the “Ruhr Poles” founded numerous associations of their own. This allowed them to preserve their language and traditions. At the same time, the “Ruhr Poles” played a decisive role in shaping the social and cultural development of the Ruhr region. Many of their descendants still live in the region today.
After World War II, more migrant workers arrived from Italy, Greece, and Turkey. In the 1980s and 1990s, many ethnic German repatriates from Poland and the former Soviet Union followed, finding work in the mines that were still in operation. Rünthe, too, thus became a place where many cultures came together. This diversity continues to shape the neighborhood and the region to this day.
The rapidly growing population led to a severe housing shortage. The mining companies responded by building their own workers’ housing estates, known as “colonies.” This was often done with the support of the Bochum Miners’ Association, a miners’ social insurance organization responsible, among other things, for health and social benefits.
The Miners’ Mutual Aid Association provided low-interest loans for housing construction. A prerequisite for this was compliance with certain building specifications, including sufficient space and sound construction methods. The goal was to improve the workers’ quality of life and prevent diseases such as typhus, dysentery, and diphtheria. In Rünthe, these requirements were easily met thanks to the town’s rural location.
These settlements were more than just places to live. They laid the foundation for a new way of life characterized by solidarity and close-knit neighborhood ties—a social fabric that remains evident to this day in the cityscape and in the sense of community.
As the population grew, so did the need for schools. The school at Bummannsburg, built as early as 1874, had become too small by 1900. In 1903, a new school building was therefore constructed for the Catholic community (today: Freiherr-von-Ketteler-Schule), and the old schoolhouse was converted into a poorhouse. The Protestant Hellweg School followed in 1905. In the years that followed, the school system was steadily expanded to meet the growing demand.
Everyday life in the colony also included grocery stores where the coal mine’s workers could shop at affordable prices. In addition, dairy farmers and millers made regular rounds through the settlements. Money was tight, and candy was a luxury. Children satisfied their sweet tooth with bread and beet greens or homemade candies—the so-called “Klümkes.” As much as possible, families provided for themselves through small vegetable gardens.
The desire for community was particularly evident in club life. In addition to traditional shooting, veterans’, and national guard clubs, gymnastics clubs, music groups, amateur theater troupes, carrier pigeon fanciers’ clubs, and fishing clubs sprang up. The Polish immigrants in the Ruhr region also founded their own clubs, including sports and women’s associations as well as professional interest groups. One example of strong union self-organization is the miners’ association “Bruderkette,” which was founded in 1914.