The Ewald mine ran for 125 years until it was closed in 2000. Like many other collieries in the Ruhr area at that time, the Ewald colliery was also troubled by the shortage of workers. She therefore carried out several recruitment campaigns in Silesia, Northern Bohemia and the Ore Mountains. Settlements were built for the immigrants near the mine, the first of which was built in 1874 on today's Elisabeth- and Sophienstrasse. A second shaft started production in 1892. In 1954 the colliery received the new central shaft 7, in which the entire production was lifted until it was closed.
Numerous historical buildings are still preserved today, including a Malakow Tower from 1875, the administration building that was built around 1900 next to the driveway and the neoclassical office and chew building opposite from the 1920s. After the colliery was closed, the city of Herten developed a sophisticated usage concept together with RAG Montan Immobilien GmbH. The urban design by the architects Cino Zucci, Martin Halfmann and Peter Köster divides the “Projekt-Ewald” into seven “layers of land”: a rainwater canal, a valley made of trees and a spacious promenade structure the complex, which adds new commercial and office complexes to the historical building stock juxtaposes. The element of water gives the location another distinctive profile.
The Herten Hydrogen Competence Center (H2H) is located on the northern part of the site. All stages of a possible hydrogen economy are developed and tested here, from hydrogen production to logistics and application. The focus of generation is the extraction of gas from the renewable energy source "biomass" in the "Blue Tower".
In the meantime, with Christian Stratmann's “RevuePalast” in the former heating center, an event location in the south machine hall and the Herten tourist office in the former wages and lighting hall, several tourist uses have already been established on the area. A "classic car center" is also being built in the shaft hall.