Carl Alexander Pit

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carl Alexander Pit
General information about the mine
Mining technology railroad
Funding / total 54 million t
Information about the mining company
Operating company Röchling;
Société des Aciéries
Employees 3,600
Start of operation 1921
End of operation 1975
Funded raw materials
Degradation of Hard coal
Geographical location
Coordinates 50 ° 54 '37 "  N , 6 ° 9' 28"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 54 '37 "  N , 6 ° 9' 28"  E
Carl Alexander mine (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Carl Alexander Pit
Location of the Carl Alexander pit
Location Baesweiler
local community Baesweiler
City region ( NUTS3 ) Aachen
country State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Country Germany
District Aachen coal mining area

The Carl-Alexander mine was a hard coal mine in Baesweiler and thus one of the mines in the Aachen hard coal field .

history

Remaining workshop on the mine site

Towards the end of the 19th century the north migration of the Wurmreviers began , with which the valley slopes of the Wurm were increasingly abandoned. A joint venture between the two steelworks " Röchling " from Völklingen and "Société des Aciéries de Longwy " from France acquired the mining rights in an area of ​​approx. 36 km² north of Alsdorf . About a third of this was to be developed through the shaft system to be built.

In 1908, work began on the two shafts northwest of Baesweiler. Shortly afterwards, the construction of houses for the miners began in Baesweiler and a little later in Boscheln , now part of Übach-Palenberg . The name of the mine consisted of the first names of the directors of the two steelworks, Carl Röchling and Alexander Dreux. During the First World War , construction work almost came to a standstill due to a lack of manpower and material, so that production could not start until 1921. Röchling's iron and steel works took over all ownership shares in the mine . Since the main purpose of the mine was to produce coke for steel production , a coking plant was also built on the mine site.

In the following years, the production capacity and workforce grew, which also brought strong growth in the village of Baesweiler: In 1905 the village had only 1,480 inhabitants, in 1925 there were already 3,680 and in 1950 8,270. The production amounted to about 1 million tons of hard coal annually around 1960 , with a workforce of about 3,600 men.

A branch line from the Alsdorf - Herzogenrath railway line was built to transport coal and coke by rail . This route was used exclusively for the company's own freight traffic .

The mine survived the Second World War without major damage.

The end

The coal crisis began in the late 1950s . In the course of this economic development, Röchling planned to close the mine in Baesweiler. Since the mines in the neighboring towns of Übach-Palenberg, Merkstein and Mariadorf closed in 1961/62 , this would have led to a large number of unemployed in the region. At the urging of politics and trade unions , as well as to round off its own ownership of mine fields, the Eschweiler Mining Association (EBV) took over the mine in 1965.

In the following years the mine was connected underground with the neighboring mines " Anna " in Alsdorf and " Emil Mayrisch " in Siersdorf . The workforce was gradually reduced. In 1975 the promotion of "Carl Alexander" was finally stopped. The coal reserves that belonged to the mine field and still existed were extracted via the more efficient shafts by Emil Mayrisch until this, as the last mine in the worm area, ended in December 1992.

Lookout point on the mine dump

Relics

The wooded heap , which rises about 100 m above ground level, can be seen from afar . The dump has been open to entry since 2006. By the spring of 2008, the heap and the area at the foot of the heap had been redesigned to form the Carl-Alexander-Park : a circular path and an ascent to the summit plateau were laid out, as were some leisure activities at the foot of the heap. Another access path as a walkway several meters above the ground, a viewing platform and a restaurant were opened in May 2008. Furthermore, a smaller commercial area is to be created on the site in the coming years .

On the actual mine site, structural remains are a hall and the ventilation structures on the former shafts. All other operating facilities above ground were demolished.

There are numerous residential buildings in Baesweiler itself and in Boscheln. In addition, some monuments and many street names remind of the mining history of the city.

Web link