Evonik Industries, a specialty chemicals company based in Essen, Germany, operates this plant in the nearby town of Marl.... Print ESSEN, Germany— For most of this century, Germany racked up one economic success after another, dominating global markets for high-end products like luxury cars and industrial machinery, selling so much to the rest of the world that half the economy ran on exports.... These days, the former mining region, where coal dust once blackened hanging laundry, is a symbol