Glückauf. Bergarbeiterproteste im Ruhrgebiet / Good Luck. Miners’ Protests in the Ruhrgebiet

This monumental wall mosaic was created as part of Emscherkunst.2010. It depicts the long history of the miners’ protests in the Ruhrgebiet: starting with the first major miners’ strike in 1889 and ending with the government decision to phase out mining subsidies in 2007.
Up until 1958, it shows the miners’ struggle for better work conditions, fair minimum wages, and worker participation in decision-making. The protests occurring in later years mainly had to do with pit closures and the associated mass dismissals.
The artist documents these events on the outside wall of the digestion tank of the former sewage treatment plant. The cylindrical mosaic is made up of millions of centimeter-sized stones that form an image reminiscent of a 20th century political mural or newspaper graphic.
The viewer can move around the structure while looking up at it, so that the events are shown in chronological order. In this way, the artwork keeps the memory of the miners’ protests alive, which were crucial in creating solidarity and in the democratization process in Germany. It also makes clear that the miners’ goals of improving minimum wages and participating in politics and decision-making have not lost any relevance today – even in a radically changed working world.

Further reading:
Public Art Ruhr. Die Metropole Ruhr und die Kunst im öffentlichen Raum. Eds. Walter Smerling and Ferdinand Ulrich on behalf of the RuhrKunstMuseen, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-8632-134-0, pp. 202-203