Graf Wittekind visitor mine
| Graf Wittekind visitor mine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
 Entrance tunnel 4 with display board |
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| Information about the mining company | |||
| Start of operation | 1582 | ||
| End of operation | 1900 | ||
| Successor use | Visitor mine | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | Hard coal | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 51 ° 25 '15.8 " N , 7 ° 28' 48.2" E | ||
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| Location | Syburg | ||
| local community | Dortmund | ||
| Independent city ( NUTS3 ) | Dortmund | ||
| country | State of North Rhine-Westphalia | ||
| Country | Germany | ||
| District | Ruhr area | ||
The Graf Wittekind visitor mine is a visitor mine in the Syburg district of Dortmund . The visitor mine emerged from the former Graf Wittekind and Schleifmühle collieries . It is located on the western slope of the Syberg below the Hohensyburg . The visitor mine is part of the Syburger Bergbauweg .
Emergence
The history of hard coal mining on the Syberg in Dortmund-Syburg can be traced back over 400 years and can be divided into three major operating phases. On the western slope of the Syberg, the Schleifmühlenbach had dug into the mountains for a long time, exposing the Sengsbank lean coal seam in several places. There was already documented evidence of the mining of hard coal from the Sengsbank seam in the area of today's visitor mine in so-called Pingen. For this purpose, small shallow pits were dug where the seam reached the surface of the earth, in which the coal was quasi mined in an open pit. A mining method that initially only allowed small amounts of coal to be extracted. The mining in the so-called "Becker Field" took place in the first phase of operation until at least 1663.
With the transition to tunnel mining, it was finally possible to mine the seam in several places over a larger area. In the area of today's visitor mine was the Sengsbank seam with a thickness (= thickness / height) of 50–60 cm and a slope of 25–30 ° in the slope (see sketch). The seam was reached through tunnels that were driven into the mountain from the slopes of the valley, and mining routes were driven in it. These stretches were in turn connected by cutting up and down (= small, inclined connecting shafts between the individual mining stretches, which were created in the slope of the seam) and the coal lying in between was mined. In this way it was possible to mine the seam systematically and over a large area.
In the second operating phase, the Schleifmühle mine was put into operation in 1740 . a. was in the area of the old mining in Becker field. The seam was developed through several tunnels. The production in 1755 was 164 t / year, which was reduced with a workforce of 6 men. The coal was mainly used in forges and lime kilns in the Hagen area. In 1801, mining by the Schleifmühle mine ended and operations ceased.
It was not until 1858 that efforts were made to mine coal again at the same location, but due to disputes over mining rights, it took another 10 years until the new Graf Wittekind mine began to produce coal again on the Syberg. For this so-called follow-up mining, in which the remaining seam areas in the upper area of the slope were removed, some old tunnels and pits from the predecessor “Schleifmühle” were used and these were supplemented by further tunnels on the southern side of the valley. Before 1900, however, operations came to a standstill for economic reasons and was finally shut down. During the Second World War, parts of the mine workings were used by the citizens of Syburg as shelters during the air raids and the tunnels remained open after the war. It was not until 1977 that the tunnel mouth holes of the conveyor tunnel and tunnel No. 4 were filled in by the city of Dortmund for reasons of liability. From 1986 on, the underground tunnels were restored and restored by the Association for the Promotion of Mining Historic Sites in the Ruhr Area. The tunnel systems have been a visitor mine recognized and monitored by the mining authorities since 1997 .
Handling and receipt
The Dortmund Working Group was founded in 1986 within the Förderverein Bergbauhistorischer Ststätten Ruhrrevier eV , founded in 1982 , which initially laid out what is now the mining trail on the Syberg and dealt with the history of local mining. In this context, the consideration also arose of locating and opening the old mine workings (= underground areas of the mine) on the Syberg in order to check whether the relics of mining history were preserved. Just a few months after the working group was founded, the first tunnel was opened and a first look into the old mine workings was possible. These efforts finally led to the fact that after clarification of all legal and official issues, the excavation and clearing of the first mine work could begin. After first the mouth holes of the tunnel 4 and the conveyor tunnel Graf Wittekind, as well as in the further course u. a. of the Schleifmühle conveyor tunnel had uncovered and secured, the first clearing work began a little later in the adjoining mine building. Here, the pits were replaced by the introduction of new extensions (= predominantly wooden structures to support the mountains above the pits) and broken rock cleared out of the way. The work required for this demanded a lot of strength from the members of the working group, as a large part of the routes and tunnels were only very small in height and width. In this way, a route network of approx. 500 m exposed. The mine has been an official visitor mine since 1997, and its volunteer employees guide around 500 visitors every year through the world of mining 200-300 years ago.
Todays use
The visitor mine is annually used by approx. 500 visitors visited. The tours take place on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. by prior arrangement. A contact person for making appointments can be found on the website of the visitor mine. For security reasons, max. 5 visitors per pit guide take part in a guided tour, whereby several groups can enter the pit at the same time. For the Befahrung the workings visitors are hard hat , overalls, knee pads, gloves , ass leather and miner's lamp equipped. The sponsoring association points out that, despite the protective clothing, the private clothing worn underneath can become soiled. Shoes worn during driving can also become very dirty. The approx. 2-2.5-hour drive through the tunnels is partly done in a stooped position, but mostly crawling on all fours and is physically demanding. Tunnels with a total length of around 500 meters and early mining systems can be viewed in the Graf Wittekind visitor mine . Visitors climb over conveyor peaks to higher-lying or slide to lower-lying pits, overcoming a height difference of up to 60 m. For people who would like to carry out the work of the miners in early mining themselves or are interested in permanent collaboration in the team of the visitor mine , the Friends' Association offers so-called trial shifts.
gallery
Guided tour in the visitor gallery
On site: Schrämen
Web links
- Graf Wittekind visitor mine website (accessed February 17, 2020)
- Website Friends of Mining Historic Sites Ruhrrevier eV (accessed on November 23, 2018)
- Trial shifts - just take part. (accessed on November 23, 2018)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Tilo Cramm: The Graf Wittekind visitor mine in DO-Syburg. In: City of Schwerte (ed.): AS The magazine of the city of Schwerte. 19th year, No. 76, Schwerte September 2006, pp. 4–6.
- ↑ a b Tilo Cramm: The clearing of the conveyor tunnel of the Graf Wittekind colliery near Syburg. In: City of Schwerte (ed.): AS The magazine of the city of Schwerte. Volume 18, No. 73, Schwerte December 2005, pp. 32–34.
- ↑ City portal Dortmund: Butter and Toughness - The Mining Historic Sites Syburg. (accessed on November 23, 2018).
- ↑ a b c Dortmund Tourism: Getting dirty in a real mine. (accessed on November 23, 2018).
- ↑ a b c d e f g Friends of Mining Historic Sites Ruhrrevier eV: Dortmund Working Group. (accessed on November 23, 2018).
- ↑ Joachim Huske : The coal mine in the Ruhr area. Data and facts from the beginning to 2005 (= publications from the German Mining Museum Bochum 144). 3rd revised and expanded edition. Self-published by the German Mining Museum, Bochum 2006, ISBN 3-937203-24-9 .
- ↑ Tilo Cramm: Clearing the gallery No. 4 of the Graf Wittekind colliery near Syburg. In: City of Schwerte (ed.): AS The magazine of the city of Schwerte. Volume 18, No. 72, Schwerte September 2005, pp. 8–11.
- ↑ Kölner Stadtanzeiger: On all fours through the tunnel. (accessed on November 23, 2018).
- ↑ a b c Förderverein Bergbauhistorischer Ststätten Ruhrrevier eV: Guided tours, opening times, contact persons. (accessed on November 23, 2018).
- ↑ a b c d Ruhr Guide: "Graf Wittekind" visitor mine. (accessed on November 23, 2018).
- ^ IN-Stadtmagazine Dortmund: Monument of the month June 2018 - the mining historical sites of Syburg. (accessed on November 23, 2018).