Ruhr Valley (Civ6)/Civilopedia

Since the 1700s, the Ruhrpott (Ruhr Valley) has been dug up – the coal and iron mines there are some of the most productive in the world. Initially the ore was easily accessible by strip mining; after that was exhausted, the German miners dug deeper. By 1850, some 300 mines were in operation in and around the Ruhrpott. And, since it was troublesome to ship all this elsewhere, collieries, blast furnaces, rolling mills and the high chimneys of the Industrial Revolution shaped the skyline. Nor was coal and steel the only things pouring out of the Ruhr; by 1820 hundreds of water-powered mills were producing textiles, lumber and iron bars. Urban centers filled with wage slaves sprawled across the land … until today Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen form one interconnected metropolis. With the recent decline of the coal and iron industries, the Ruhrpott has undergone a cultural transformation, and such edifices as the Zeche Zollverein coal mine complex and the Gasometer Oberhausen have been reborn as historical landmarks, even listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites!