German Mining Museum

The German Mining Museum (Deutsches Bergbau-Museum) in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, is a national museum and research centre focused on the history and technology of mining. It is one of Germany’s leading mining museums and houses a large collection of mining artefacts.

Public exhibitions cover mining techniques, tools and social history, and a visitor mine allows paid guided access underground to reconstructed galleries and machinery. The site displays large machines and models that illustrate coal and metal extraction methods and their development.

Founded in the 20th century to preserve mining heritage and to support research, the museum has grown into an important centre for mining studies and public education on industrial history.

The museum is located in the city of Bochum in the Ruhr region of Germany, an area historically associated with coal mining.

• Collection and research: Hosts one of the most extensive mining collections in Europe and combines public exhibitions with an active research institute focused on mining history and technology.

What to See #

• Visitor mine: A purpose-built visitor mine allowing public descent below ground to view galleries, machinery and historical mining conditions.
• Exhibition halls: Museum exhibition halls showing models, artefacts and photographic archives covering coal and metal mining from regional and international contexts.