Tools from the past—experience 1000 years of mining history at the permanent cultural-historical exhibition of Rammelsberg.

Discovering the Rammelsberg Collection

Recreating the stories of Rammelsberg from the objects and tools of the miners and their families lived and worked here.

Heavy repair tools can be examined in the workshop of Zollverein Shaft XII. – © Jochen Tack / Zollverein Foundation

The collection of the World Heritage Rammelsberg is a diverse, large reservoir of knowledge about mining in the region. The collection currently includes over 200,000 items. In the permanent exhibition, in special exhibitions, in lectures, guided tours, and exchange with other researchers, only a portion of this knowledge and memory are on offer. The collection also holds items that are never on display, because they are so valuable and unique that should they disappear, a piece of the past will be lost forever.

The Rammelsberg Collection includes objects of work, for example these old mine trains. - © Weltkulturerbe Rammelsberg

Rammelsberg is dedicated to gathering and collecting history and items from the everyday life of people and their work. The history of the Rammelsberg ore mine is primarily the history of the people who worked here. To recreate their stories, Rammelsberg collects the normal items that were used at the ore mine Rammelsberg both over and underground, where the miners lived and worked. To discover more, check out the incredible objects on display at the main and special exhibitions of this unique museum.