Starting around the middle of the 18th Century with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, new technology spread rapidly across Europe. Manufacturers built factories, thousands of workers migrated to the emerging urban industrial areas and throughout Europe trade unions fought for social progress.

Today, industrialisation plants open to visitors and modern technology museums tell the exciting story of European industrialisation and its cultural, social and economics legacies.

Heritage

With over 2 000 locations in all European countries, the European Route of Industrial Heritage invites visitors to explore the milestones of European industrial history. As places of a common European memory, they bear witness to scientific discoveries, technological innovation and workers' life histories. A total of 16 Theme Routes, representing branches of industry, illustrate the European context of industrialisation. 

Travelling today

More than 100 industrial anchor points, each with a particular attractive tourist programme provide the backbone of the European Route of Industrial Heritage including guided tours, multimedia presentations and outstanding events. Major events such as the "ExtraSchicht - The Night of Industrial Heritage" in the Ruhr area or "Industriada" in Silesia, Poland, attract hundreds of thousands of visitors. Smaller industrial monuments also find their audiences with 20 regional routes illustrating the geographical and social impact of local industrial plants. Today, all these testimonies to the industrial past form a Europe-wide tourist network.