voda schreef op 4 april 2019 15:48:
German president presented with last piece of black coal mined in Ruhr region
After some 200 years, industrial black coal mining in Germany came to an end when the last piece of coal mined in the country was symbolically handed over to German President Mr Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday. After receiving the piece of black coa, the German president paid tribute to the contribution of miners to Germany's economic reconstruction after the Second World War. Mr Steinmeier said “The lump of coal represented a part of history, of the economy of scarcity after the war, of the beginnings of Europe, of economic development. The coal was not only a symbol of the past, however, but also stood for the energy and inventiveness of an entire Ruhr area region."
The seven-kilo piece of coal, mined at the Prosper-Haniel mine in the Ruhr area, had already been presented to the German president after the mine closed in December. The coal had been taken away to be prepared and preserved for the occasion.
Steinmeier is planning to keep the coal in his office at Bellevue Castle. After finishing his term in office, the piece of coal will be exhibited in the Haus der Geschichte museum in Bonn.
Source : Strategic Research Institute