groups and professionals
Explor Wendel Park offers many visits for groups (associations, pensioners’ clubs, works councils, …). For tourism professionals, half-day or full-day packages are also available. Feel free to download our various offers!
The Wendel Miners Museum …
… located in the “miners’ building”, retraces the daily lives of miners over 150 years before and after their journey underground: the miners’ hall, hanging room (changing rooms), baths and showers, lamp store, lamp workshop, stamp counter,… Covering nearly 1800m², the exhibition spaces set up in the rooms left in their working condition and equipped with sound terminals, videos, objects, etc. present the origin and the history of coal, of its exploitation in Lorraine, the daily lives of miners, the social policies of mining companies as well as the mining professions.
The museum’s highlights:
- Free visits.
- Self-guided tour booklet available free of charge.
- Duration: about 1 hour.
- Information available in 3 languages (French, German and English).
- Guided tours available in French, German and English, booking required (duration 1 hour).
- Free discovery booklet for children
The Wendel Mine …
plunges you into the heart of the galleries, over 1,200 metres below ground. After experiencing the sensations of a real-time descent, the various sites are presented to you in conditions similar to those of the last few years of coal mining (the last French headquarters closed in 2004 at La Houve in Creutzwald). The two preparatory work sites of the rock and the tracing with the single-armed Pantofore and the AM100 allow you to understand how the galleries were dug. Then follow the rock and coal digging galleries with mining sites in horizontal coal seams (inclination of less than 20°), slightly-sloping seams (inclination between 30° and 45°) and sloping seams (inclination of over 45°, the only one found in France. Each of them required specific human and technical skills, as well as adapted machines (Electra 2000, ANF,…). Accompanied by a guide, this trip deep down into the heart of the earth will give you something to think about.
The Wendel Mine’s highlights:
- Guided tours in French, German and English.
- Duration: about 2 hours.
- All of the written information in the Wendel Mine is available in 3 languages (French, German and English).
The tour is on foot, so remember to wear sensible shoes.
The mine complex …
… is the group of surface facilities needed to operate a mine. This complex in Explor Wendel Park links the Wendel Miners Museum with the Wendel Mine
10 markers mark the route and present its history as well as that of the main buildings (the well, the extraction machines, the store, the workshops, the washhouse, the slag heap…).
The mine complex’s highlights:
- The explanation panels are in 3 languages (French, German and English).
TESTIMONIAL MEETING
BOOKING REQUIRED
Share the experience of a former miner and hear all about his professional life (training, career, work underground in the mine, camaraderie between colleagues as well as accidents, difficulties,…) and family life (life in mining towns, local traditions…). During the course of the conversation, he will probably share some new and exciting stories with you…
The testimonial meetings’ strong points:
- Sharing the life experiences of a former miner.
- Available in German, French and English.
- Duration: about 1 hour.
- Booking required
VISITS TO MINING TOWNS
BOOKING REQUIRED
On foot or by bus, let one of our guides tell you the story of the mining towns of Petite-Rosselle. Discover the architecture designed by mining companies between the mid-19th century and the 1960s.
Mining villages and detachedor semi-detached workers’ houses, engineers’ and employees’ houses, dormitories, hospitals… as you visit the various estates known as “Wendel Nord”, “Wendel Sud”, “Leyenne” and “Urselsbach”.
Highlights of the mining towns tour:
- Discovery of local mining architecture.
- Guided tours in French, German and English.
- Booking required
On foot:The tour starts at the entrance of the Wendel Miners Museum and extends over 8 km(about 2 hours).
As this is an outdoor route, please remember to wear suitable footwear and clothing.
By bus:On the car park of the Explor Wendel Park, the guide gets on board your bus (equipped with a microphone) and takes you on a 1-hour tour of the mining towns.
OUR PACKAGES
We also offer various complete half-day or full-day packages including guided tours and meals.
Do not hesitate to contact us for a personalized quote.
