The Identity of Mining Engineers: A Void in the Memory of Mining Communities

Abstract

Former mining provinces in Belgium are mainly perceived with a focus on the working classes or the built heritage. Two of the best known examples of the built mining heritage are currently the Musée des Arts Contemporains de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles at the site of Le Grand Hornu and the site of the former C-Mine in the mining town of Genk. Related to the interest in the working classes is the major share of atten-tion given to the working-class dwellings as a testament to contempo-rary social relations and perceptions. Analysis of photographic records is also popular, and the working classes are again the main topic of interest when researching social evolution in the last quarter of the 19th century in Belgium (Puissant, 1982; Scholliers, 1982; Kurgan-van Hentenryk and Puissant, 1990; Deneckere, 1997; Deferme, 2002; Deferme, Claes and Vints, 2007; Januarius, 2008; Januarius, 2009; Van den Eeckhout, 2005; Van den Eeckhout, 2009; C-Mine, 2012; MAC, 2012).