the sun was shining down on germany here after the second world war it was partly thanks to coal they got this economy back on its feet again and although many coal miners paid with their lives in the harsh conditions underground above ground they lived in homes built for the privilege in the one hundred sixty s. the boom times six hundred thousand people work the mines of this region today it's only five thousand and by the end of the year it will be a big fat zero. except for the few who stay behind to mothball operations like of the dozens of other mines in the world valley germany's biggest urban area and largest industrial wasteland. some mines have been turned into outdoor museums others residential and commercial estates or farm land that is if the ground doesn't subside they've been borrowing through this earth since the middle of the nineteenth century. coal and steel made this area the richest in germany for