Musée français du pétrole, Petroleum museum in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn, France.
The French Petroleum Museum is located where continental Europe's first commercial oil fields were operated. The collection displays drilling machines, extraction equipment, and technical records from different periods of this industrial story.
This area was home to continental Europe's first successful oil extraction, which began in the mid-1800s. This discovery triggered industrial development that shaped the region for more than a century.
The exhibits reveal how oil production shaped the lives of people in this region and transformed local communities over time. You can see how this industry was woven into the everyday work and livelihood of those living here.
Visitors can see preserved mining shafts and original drilling equipment along with rock samples from the oil deposits. The site is best reached by car, as it is located in a rural area.
A fascinating detail is that the oil deposits here reached depths of around 400 meters underground and were extracted using methods that were advanced for the time. The techniques developed by early workers later served as a model for oil drilling in other parts of Europe.
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