The coal crisis in the Ruhr Valley, also known as “the death of the coal mines,” started in 1957–58, when German coal became increasingly expensive, and the federal government cut mining subsidies. Due to falling world market prices, crude oil replaced coal as an energy source for heating private households, causing a massive slump in demand for coal. These developments led to the decline of the coal and steel industry in North Rhine-Westphalia. This photograph shows an unemployed man in front of the shaft tower of a decommissioned coal mine in Gelsenkirchen. Photo by Kurt Rohwedder.