Interviews and Project Findings:
Work in Mülheim

"Before 1950 were more unemployed people than today. In coal mines and steel works were most jobs. Most jobs were in industry and trade."


"In contrast to today there was no unemployment in the "old" Mülheim. The machines weren´t developed as highly as nowadays, so all factories needed many workers - men and women - for their operation. And because there were not enough people, the government needed even the help of other states like Italy, Turkey and the former Yugoslavia. But the factories still weren´t as effective as modern ones. In the middle of the twentieth century many unskilled workers were living not only in Mülheim, but also in the whole of Germany. Later many of them went back to their countries."


"By the Ruhr there was a big factory, the "Friedrich-Wilhelms-Hütte". They produced iron and steel in a blast furnace there. There were also tanneries and breweries. But the most important jobs were in the mines. On the edge of the town there was some farming, but there were only a few farmers. A lot of people were artisans.

A man worked for his family, but the wages were hardly enough to buy new things. The working day started at 6 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. You didn't get a holiday, but everybody was able to find work."


"Work was harder than today, and working hours were longer - for example, 50 hours a week back then and 35 hours nowadays. There weren't so many machines, as these were very expensive or hadn't been developed yet; instead, people worked more intensively."