This is a great post-industrial site. I have visited here previously so it was really interesting to me to see this site again but from a different perspective. We entered the park from the agricultural area which I had never been to before. There is a 4H-like program there for kids to experience farm work, animals and nature. It is really interesting to see such a post-industrial site take place now on a agricultural area and natural grassland. We walked further into the park where the really interesting old steel mill is. This is a fourth nature park and nature is definitely taking up its part in this area. As the memory of the mining industry fades over time, so will this park. That is the real beauty that I see in this park and why it is so interesting to me at least. We were able to walk up the tall stairs that went probably over 300ft high. There was a really nice view from up here..meanwhile it was a struggle for some students who were afraid of heights. There is so much to be explored on the actual factory itself I am happy that we were able to visit the site multiple times.
The really FUN part of this park is the innovative ideas of reusing the concrete pillars that held coal material as a rock climbing wall. There were designated areas for assisted rock-climbing as well as areas that anyone could climb on without equipment. There were a lot of people climbing the facades the days we were there! Some were even professional it seemed…
Another really cool area was the large curving tunnel slide that you could use. It was metal and very FAST! A bunch of local schoolchildren were playing on this slide and even greeted some of us on our way down. Frank and Geza even used the slide and it was really cute.
CURRYWURST FOR LUNCH!!! This is the local traditional Dinslaken meal that you can find on the streets all over Germany. Th currywurst was a LOT better here than in Essen however. Had this for lunch with some fries and mayo (pommes sauce as they call it).
We were able to visit the gift shop where I found some really great souvenirs that reflected a lot of the history from this area.
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