{"id":157,"date":"2020-03-20T15:55:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T05:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldheritagejourney.com\/?p=157"},"modified":"2024-02-13T13:52:48","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T03:52:48","slug":"industrial-world-heritage-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldheritagejourney.com\/industrial-world-heritage-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Industrial World Heritage Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On our Journey, I’ve found myself really enjoying industrial World Heritage Sites. Although it’s not something I’d ever really considered, the World Heritage List has many factories, mills, mines, and company towns. There’s a lot to explore here, so let’s get into it: the best Industrial World Heritage Sites!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Industrial<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

V\u00f6lklingen Ironworks, Germany – World Heritage Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"VolklingenIronworks\"
The impressive complexity of Volklingen Ironworks<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The V\u00f6lklingen Ironworks, located in western Germany’s Saarland<\/a>, is among my favourite industrial World Heritage sites. It opened in 1881, and was one of the reasons behind Germany’s enormous industrial output of the early 20th century. V\u00f6lklingen’s big innovation was that it’s a complete facility, where every step of production happened in the same complex. Raw materials went in, manufactured goods came out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During peacetime, these goods would include tools, sheet metal and other industrial products. But during wartime, the facility produced weapons, ammunition, helmets and other war materiel. Many POWs were illegally forced to work at V\u00f6lklingen, and some managers later served jail sentences because of this practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, the site is a sprawling complex of rusting iron and twisted metal. V\u00f6lklingen was too expensive to demolish after its closure in 1986, so it remained in place and is gradually being reclaimed by nature. It’s fantastic to see, and almost gives the place a post-apocalyptic vibe, which is really cool. On site there’s also a museum, an exhibition centre, and a science centre for kids<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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