Settlement Dunkelschlag

The settlement of Dunkelschlag is a former miners' settlement in Oberhausen-Sterkrade. The derivation of the name arises from its immediate proximity to the forest area of Dunkelschlag.
The settlement was built in 1904 by the Gutehoffnungshütte to accommodate workers from the nearby new Sterkrade mine. Initially, 50 houses were constructed with the so-called cross floor plan, each containing four apartments with separate entrances. The individual apartments consistently had two rooms on the ground floor and two more on the upper floor. Toilets and stables were located in separate buildings in the yard and garden area. Through later acquisitions and new constructions, the colony grew to 68 houses with 256 apartments. The newly laid streets in the settlement still bear the descriptive names: Erz-, Gruben-, Schacht-, and Zechenstraße. In addition, there is Dammstraße, which runs parallel to the railway line Oberhausen–Arnhem. The first generation of residents mostly came from the eastern provinces of the German Empire and neighboring countries. As a result of the sinking of numerous new shafts, the number of miners in the Oberhausen area increased significantly around 1900. While the share of Eastern German and foreign workers among the workforce in the Oberhausen mining area was still 15.7% in 1893, it rose to 54.6% by 1912.

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