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At the end of 2018, the last coal mine in the Rhine-Ruhr region was closed and an era that shaped the entire country, economically and socially, is now over forever. But even though the last pit has gone you can still experience this impressive underground world with your own eyes in our Virtual Mine.

This WebVR site uses the latest technology and transmits large amounts of data.

Should it stutter on your device, we recommend running glueckauf.wdr.de on a desktop computer with a stable Internet connection.
The site also works with VR headsets Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

starts the interactive 360° WebVR experience directly in the browser.
Virtual reality headsets are automatically supported.

Episodes

Miners' Glossary

About the project

The Production

In the Virtual Mine you can choose between different episodes. In the Glossary you will learn about the miners' special language. In two further chapters we will tell you something about the origins of this exceptional project.

Episodes

A Miner's Day with Andy

360°-Report

It's a hard to say goodbye to the work that has basically been his life for so long. The Steiger (Foreman) Andreas Schreiter takes you to where he works at a depth of 1200 meters - in the Prosper Haniel coal mine.

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Monorail through the Mountain

Interactive VR Ride

Once you've managed the Lift Cage, the journey continues further on underground with the Diesel Cat. The Cat judders through kilometer-long tunnels at a speed of 10 km/h. End station: Coal Plough.

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The Steiger Song

360° Music Video

Der Ruhrkohle-Chor (The Ruhr-coal Choir) sings the hymn of the Ruhr region. Overground. Underground. Each verse in a different location.

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Where Coal Once Was

360° Photo Gallery

The departure from coal did not come suddenly. It's been a story of decline for decades. Here we show you some places where coal used to be mined and out of which something new emerged

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Hack the Coal from the Seam

Interactive VR Experience

Time to get stuck in yourself! Slip into the mind of a miner from a hundred years ago, pick up the (virtual) pickaxe and hack the coal from the seam...

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Photogrammetry

VR discovery tour in 3D

This is only possible in a Virtual Mine: You can explore the Prosper Haniel coal mine all on your own. With the controller of your VR headset you can work your way through to the coalface itself.

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Real-time Lift Cage Descent

360° Experience

The descent into the mine with the lift cage is over 1200 meters deep. This is exactly the same amount of time it takes the real miners when they work underground.

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From here your journey into the underground world begins. In the Virtual Mine you can choose between different themes, either with this menu or by climbing into the interactive 360° Lift Cage. From there you can also go straight to the individual episodes.

To the Lift Cage

Miner's Glossary

Glückauf, Kumpel! The miners have their own language. Many terms and phrases are now in popular use in the German language. You can discover them in the various episodes. The respective explanations are in textual and audio form.

More words and terms still to be discovered

Here for the audio of the miner's words

In the episodes you will find further terms with this symbol

In the WDR documentary "Kumpel ABC" people from the region explain further terms from the mining industry and the tradition of the Ruhr area.
To Kumpel ABC. So spricht das Ruhrgebiet" (That's how the Ruhr region speaks)

About the project

glueckauf.wdr.de is a WebVR project. It was produced with a maximum resolution of 8k and can be used on many current devices, from smart phones to desktops or high-end VR headsets HTC like Vive and Oculus Rift.
Everyone visiting glueckauf.wdr.de, on whatever device, has declared themselves ready to descend into the depths of the earth in the Lift Cage.
Instead of guiding the user linearly through a story, as is the case with many other 360° video productions, at glueckauf.wdr.de the viewer can experience the mine interactively, individually and on their own initiative. The interface between the individual parts of the overall project is not a typical navigation menu. Instead, the Lift Cage is ready and available for the user to use. Whoever then climbs in and selects their desired episode will, a short time later and accompanied by some miners, be descending rapidly into the depths of the earth.

The WebVR project glueckauf.wdr.de was developed in cooperation with WDR (Programme Area Internet) and the digital production studio: Kubikfoto.

Further participants:

360° -Report "A Miners Day with Andy":

IntoVR (Christiane Wittenbecher) www.intovr.de

Photogrammetry:

realities (David Finsterwalder, Daniel Sproll) www.realities.io

Where Coal Once Was:

schnurstracks (Chris Witzani) 360.schnurstracks.de

The Steiger Song, Monorail through the Mountain, Real-time Lift Cage Descent:

Kubikfoto³ (Ole Leifels, Holger Weber, Thorsten Schomburg) www.kubikfoto.de

Hack the Coal from the Seam:

Aesir (Benjamin Fritzsche), remote-control (Stefan Kreutzer) www.aesir-interactive.com // www.r-control.de

Voice over:

Sabine Heinrich, Peter Nottmeier (WDR)

Kumpels in front of the camera:

Uwe Hölting, Andreas Schreiter, Holger Stellmacher (RAG)

Recording Director:

Dirk Meffert (WDR)

Production Manager:

Bettina Stein (WDR)

Producer:

Michelle Blum (WDR)

360°-Audio:

Matthias Fuchs (WDR)

Research:

Heinz Greuling (WDR)

Audio Director:

Martin Zylka (WDR)

Idea, Concept, Realisation, Project Directors:

Stefan Domke, Thomas Hallet, Stefan Moll, David Ohrndorf

Thanks to the Ruhrkohle AG, in particular Michael Sagenschneider and Holger Stellmacher for their content and their organizational and logistical support during the entire production.

Special thanks also to all the members of the Ruhr Coal Choir (www.ruhrkohle-chor.de) and the Westphalian Horn Quartet (www.westfaelisches-hornquartett.de)

Our VR project has been produced with a special technique which is based on a skilful combination of 360° photos and videos.

Under the title"Abschied von der Steinkohle" (Farewell to the Coal), WDR has created a collection point for information, backgrounds, contributions, audios, videos, picture galleries and other content.
To the WDR Collection

The Production

glueckauf.wdr.de is WDRs most elaborate 360°/VR project so far. This is because the use of electrically or electronically operated cameras underground is usually strictly prohibited. Why? Even a single spark, e.g. when a battery is changed, can trigger a firedamp explosion (an underground methane gas explosion). For conventional film and photo shootings in 2D, explosion proof rental cameras have been used for years - but for the relatively young 360° technology there is no such explosion proof housing. To build them and have them pass the "Bergamts-TÜV" safety regulations would have taken enormous sums of money and devoured an infinite amount of time. The last colliery would have been closed before filming had even begun.

That, in the end, a 360° filming at a depth of more than 1,000 meters was allowed, is all down to a special permit with specific conditions. For each day of filming, the ventilation was maximized. Areas with a fluctuating gas concentration were taboo and battery changes were only allowed to take place above ground. In addition, the team were accompanied on every film shoot by members of the mine rescue service (the "underground fire brigade") - flanked by specialists who regularly checked the gas content of the surrounding air with measuring instruments."

Exactly how much this production differed in every detail from all the previous ones became very clear on the first day of filming: the entire team suddenly found themselves in the Waschkaue (changing room) in uniform. This is because in the worst-case scenario even a pair of sparking underpants can ignite a firedamp explosion. So even the underwear for the work underground was provided by the mine. In double rib blue.

Incidentally, this project will probably remain forever the most complex and above all, the only 360° project that has ever been produced in a German coal mine. This is because no more permits will be granted for the filming of 360° projects before coal mining itself ends in December 2018."

Check out the complete photo gallery of the underground shooting.

View Gallery