one world – one ground
Essen
Coal, miners and "Glück auf" Discover more
Swimming on coal Discover more

The world as a playground

He takes a running jump to a concrete wall, swings himself over the opposite wall, then a second jump, his feet landing unerringly on a pole, a front flip through the air, his hands on the soft Tartan flooring: Tim laughs as if nothing unusual had happened in the last three seconds. As traceurs, he and his friends practice the art of dynamic movement almost every day – preferably on the new parkour course at the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex.

Hard jumps, soft landing: parkour runners - in French: traceurs know their body and constantly set it new challenges. In the background, music is booming, its beat driving you to the next somersault, the next jump and the next stunt. Teenagers in particular gain a lot from parkour: on the one hand it increases their self-confidence, on the other hand it promotes new friendships and takes them out into the fresh air. It is the same for Manon. The 22-year-old was born in France, just like the sport of parcours. When she came to Essen from Paris three years ago, she immediately made friends through her sport. Today she works as one of the parkours trainers "at Zollverein". Here, ramps, steps, walls, bars covering around 600 square metres form a special kind of playground, right next to the colliery's former coking plant.

 

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Swimming on coal
Industrial culture turns into leisure space: at Zollverein in Essen, a colliery that for decades stood for heat, coal and hard work, today the cool water plays a major role. The backdrop thrills everyone. Not only the locals like to splash around here.
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Inspiration Essen
One Ground for your home
The clear lines of the industrial architecture of the former Zollverein colliery in Essen were the inspiration for the expressive Modular ONE flooring. Linear structures in rust brown contrast with the cool steel grey.
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