Intro

 Named based on the Ruhr River
 An urban area located in "Nodrhein-Westfalen", or "North Rhine-Westphalia", the most populous German state
 Dortmund is the largest city in the Ruhr region (both in size and population)



Timeline

 Largely Prussian control in the late 17th, 18th century
  Ironworking and coal mining encouraged, expanded
   Examples
    Mark Mining Office founded
    New mining regulations

 19th Century
  Prussian control still present.
   Entire Rurh region under Prussian control by 1815
  In the first half of the century Many advancements in support of coal mining
   Steam engine inroduced to Ruhr, Ruhr's first steam engine factory founded by Mulheim Johann Dinnendahi (1811)
    Others follow
    Likewise, a shipyard for building steam ships founded by franz Haniel, 1828
   Bochum mining college founded in 1816.
   Cologne-Minden Railway opened in 1847. Aids industry greatly.
   coal-coke first used in Ruhr for steel production in 1849
  Latter half of the century, effects are seen
   Coal production: 2m tons in 1850 to 114m tons in 1913.
   Iron production: 11,500 tons in 1850 o 8.2m tons in 1913.
   Deep mining becomes more viable
   Many railways are built
   Many mining companies start up
   The Association for Mining Interests in Dortmund is founded in 1858
   Mass miner strike in 1889, Followed by the founding of the first permanent mining union, "Alten Verband"

 20th Century
  Coal and steel still growing prior to WWII
   Pneumatic drill introduced in the Ruhr region
  WW1 food shortages hurt the Rurh region
  Ruhrreinhaltungsgetsetz, laws about maintaining the Rurh river environmentally, introduced
  Ruhr Uprising, an attempted coup, in 1920.
  Nazi influence increases in the 1920s-40s. Industrialist Fritz Thyssen financially supported the Nazi party.
   He got a donation from the Association of German Industrialists of 3 million Reichsmarks -- about $12m at the time.
  Aftermath of WWII hurts the coal industry, but it recoverse
   Number of mine workers peaks in 1956 at 494,000.



Comparison