Before World War I there was no mining in Flanders. Although coal seams
were discovered in 1901 in Limburg, in the northeast of Belgium, at great
depth (620 m., under a thick quicksand layer), the first concessions were
conceded in 1906. Shaft sinking (in frozen soil) started in the first mine
at Winterslag in 1912 and coal was reached only a couple of days before the
outbreak of the First War. Only in this mine the digging could continue and
production started in 1917.
In the other mines the digging was interrupted, a lot of machinery were
confiscated by the Germans (as the turbogenerators, the cooling
compressors, etc) and the shafts were flooded. Digging had to start again
after the war, and the production in the other mines started in the
Interbellum.
Since the late 80s/early 90s all thes mines have been closed. Some 50 of
mine buildings were protected by law (although there is now a strong
pressure to abrogate the protection of some of these). Recently the large
machine hall of the mine of Eisden was demolished (there are photographs of
this building in the "endangered sites" pages of the website of the Flemish
Association for Industrial Archaeology, http://www.conservare.be/vvia/
If you like to have more information on these mines, please contact us and
we will try to help you.
As concerns finding this book, it may help to contact Mr. Piet Chielens
([log in to unmask]), director of the 'In Flanders Fields' museum in
Ieper (Ypres). They have a large and excellent documentation center, aand
they have a very good service.
See: http://www.inflandersfields.be/
Greetings
Adriaan Linters
chairman VVIA
Vlaamse Vereniging voor Industriële Archeologie / Flemish Association for
Industrial Archaeology
P.O. Box 30 Gent XII
B-9000 Gent-12
http://www.conservare.be/vvia
[log in to unmask]
At 18:50 22/06/01 +0200, you wrote:
>Hi Ross,
>
>I think it will be very difficult to obtain such a book...
>I did recently a research on the mining history on a Belgian locality,
>Sclaigneaux (Namur). As fas as I know, there was not much mining in Belgium
>during the first war. The only mining in Flanders was coal mining,
>unfortunately I don't have any information on that for the period
>1914-1918...
>If one knows that Belgium was the world-leader of the zinc industry before
>1914 then it is easy to understand why Germany was so eager to destroy this
>flourishing industry.
>In fact, they did it in a very subtle way: they destroyed the competition
>selectively so that only those companies remained that operated partially or
>completely on German capital, the well-known Rhine-industry.
>The stocks at Sclaigneaux were requisitioned for transport to Overpelt, and
>the factories at Baelen looted because they had no bindings with German
>companies.
>The zinc- and lead factories of the S.A. Gustave Dumont at Sclaigneaux, only
>recently modernised in 1910-1913, were completely dismantled by the Germans.
>What couldn't be dismantled was shipped to Germany. The total production of
>zinc in Belgium amounted to 204.000 tons in 1913. In 1917 it was down to a
>mere 10.290 tons.
>One thing was certain: the zinc industry entered a dark period in 1918 and
>people wondered if it would ever be revived. Everything was destroyed! The
>railroads that connected Belgium with the surrounding countries were no
>longer there. Since the zinc industry in Belgium had come to an almost
>complete stop, the allies had built large factories in Great Britain. The
>Americans, English and even the French didn't fully appreciate the amount of
>damage that Belgium had suffered while the Netherlands remained virtually
>untouched by the turmoil of war.
>And still, with courage and necessity, the workers rebuilt the factories and
>rigged up the machines like a giant puzzle. The furnaces were rekindled and
>Belgium restored its transportation grid.
>
>De Nul, Richard
>Churchilllaan 330
>2900 Schoten
>Belgium
>Tel N°: +32 3 658.75.36
>E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>http://users.pandora.be/rdn
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Ross Thomas" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Friday, June 22, 2001 9:02 AM
>Subject: German mining book / Great War
>
>
> > Could any one help me in obtaining a copy of the book "Der Mineur In
>Flandern"
> > published in Oldenbury, Germany in 1918 which concerns German mining
>operations
> > in the Flanders during the Great War ?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Ross Thomas
> >
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'Vlaamse Vereniging voor Industriële Archeologie'
(Flemish Association for Industrial Archaeology)
P.O. Box 30
B-9000 Gent-12
Flanders-Belgium
tel. (+32)(0)56/253373
fax (+32)(0)56/417636 or 255173
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.conservare.be/vvia
The VVIA is the overall volunteer association for the study, the
preservation and the interpretation of industrial and technical heritage in
Flanders
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
visit our website at: http://www.conservare.be/vvia
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The VVIA supports the campaign for the
"European Industrial and technical Heritage Year"
and the European Forum of Associations for Industrial and Technical
Heritage / E-FAITH !
Please note that E-FAITH has it's own website now at
http://www.e-faith.org/
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