Westende colliery

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Westende colliery
General information about the mine
Westende Foerdermachinenhaus.jpg

Winding machine house of the Westende colliery, shaft 4
Information about the mining company
Start of operation 1871
End of operation 1968
Funded raw materials
Degradation of Hard coal
Geographical location
Coordinates 51 ° 27 '54 "  N , 6 ° 44' 21.6"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 27 '54 "  N , 6 ° 44' 21.6"  E
Westende Colliery (Ruhr Regional Association)
Westende colliery
Location Westende colliery
Location Laar
local community Duisburg
Independent city ( NUTS3 ) Duisburg
country State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Country Germany
District Ruhr area

Westende colliery, Kampschacht (around 1910)
Westende colliery, mine I / II (around 1910)
Gate of the Westende colliery, shaft 4
Compressor house of the Westende colliery, shaft 4

The Westende colliery was a hard coal mine in Duisburg in the districts of Meiderich and Laar . The name Westende as the mine name was chosen because the mine was the westernmost colliery in the Ruhr area at the time it was founded. The mine has a long and eventful history.

history

The beginnings

Coal was being mined in Meiderich as early as the late 1840s . In the year 1852 the courage was placed on the fields Westende, Westende II, Amicitia, Borussia, Bielefeld, Duisburg, progress, Ernst III, Gute Hope, Ruhr and satisfaction. In the following year, a recommendation was made for the Germany field. In 1855, the Ruhrort-Mining Company was founded as a limited partnership based in Cologne. The company was founded with English capital. The company commissioned the British entrepreneur Colsone, a bay to bay with the name West End 1 intersect . In 1856 Colsone began with the sinking work for the shaft 1. The shaft was in Meiderich set . In 1858, the shaft reached at a depth the 102 meter carbon . In the same year a level was set at a depth of 118 meters (-89 m above sea ​​level ). Minor coal was mined in an existing seam on the bottom . At this point in time, the operating company was already experiencing financial difficulties. In 1859 the Geviertfelder Westende, Westende II, Borussia, Bielefeld, Duisburg, Progress, Good Hope, Ruhr, Germany and Satisfaction were awarded . In the same year the mine was shut down due to financial difficulties. All work was stopped and the shaft drained. In 1860, all of the mine fields were consolidated under the name Westende . In the same year the Ruhrort Mining Company went bankrupt .

Due to the bankruptcy of the operating company, Ruhrort-Mining Company, the mine property passed into the possession of the newly founded coal company von Meiderich. In 1864 an attempt was made to restart the mine, but this attempt failed. In 1870, the newly founded company Socie'te 'Anonyme des Carbonnage du Rhin bought the Westende and Ruhr & Rhein fields with the associated mines. The Westende colliery was put back into operation in the same year. In the following year, the sinking work on shaft 1 was resumed and the shaft was sunk deeper. In the same year the first level was set at a depth of 159 meters (- 130 m above sea level) and the second level at a depth of 200 meters (- 171 m above sea level). For the drainage was above ground , a steam engine installed, which supplied the pumps with steam through pipes in the shaft. The mine was connected to the railway in the same year. The mine went into operation in the same year. In addition, the daytime facilities were further expanded. Shaft 1 received a headframe made of wood. The complete daytime facilities of the mine were built in the course of the following years on the site between Bahnhofstrasse and the railway lines to Mülheim and Oberhausen .

The first years of operation

As early as 1874, the new operating company went bankrupt and the mine property was owned by a new operating company. The newly founded Socie'te 'Anonyme des Charbonnages rhe'nans zu Meiderich, based in Paris, took over the Westende and Ruhr & Rhein collieries for 16 million French francs . In 1875 a 0.5 km 2 mine field was exchanged with the Concordia colliery . Despite the renewed bankruptcy of the operating company, production was continued in 1875. In 1880 the operating company went bankrupt again and the mine was taken over by a newly founded company. It was renamed together with Ruhr & Rhein as Meidericher Steinkohlenbergwerks-AG . In 1884, one was started on the second sole link to mine Ruhr and Rhine ascended . In 1885 the mine was able to expand further. In the same year, the Concordia III subfield was purchased. As a result, the rights holders now covered an area of ​​17.2 km 2 . In 1886 the sinking work on shaft 1 was resumed and the shaft was sunk deeper. In the following year, the third level was set at a depth of 278 meters (- 249 m above sea level). In 1888, the connection route to the Ruhr & Rhein colliery had to be abandoned with an approach length of 2600 meters due to strong water inflows . A water dam was built at a driveway length of 1000 meters . In 1889, the sinking of shaft 2 began. The shaft was placed next to shaft 1. Shaft 2 went into operation in 1892. In 1893 shaft 2 broke through with the third level . In 1894, the fourth level was set in shaft 2 at a depth of 343 meters (- 314 m above sea level). The shaft 1 was also penetrated up to the 4th level. In 1896 the Meidericher Steinkohlenbergwerks-AG was dissolved and the Westende and Ruhr & Rhein mines were sold to Phoenix Aktiengesellschaft für Bergbau und Metallbetrieb for 5.8 million marks. In order to be able to make this purchase, the share capital of Phönix AG was increased to 4,050,000 marks. In 1898 were in the mine eight seams in Verhieb , the thickness of these seams was 0.7 to 2.1 meters. Six of the seams under construction were made of pure coal, the remaining two seams had a mining portion of 0.25 to 0.8 meters. At that time the mine belonged to the Oberhausen mining district .

In 1899 the daytime facilities at shafts 1 and 2 were renewed. A coking plant with 60 ovens was built on the site . The coking plant went into operation on October 20 of the same year. Shaft 1 was converted into a weather shaft and shaft 2 served as a retracting shaft. In 1902, Phoenix AG's own consumption of coal rose from 35–40 percent to up to 65 percent. In 1906 Phoenix AG intended to reactivate the closed Ruhr & Rhein mine. In the same year, the sinking work for shaft 4 began. This shaft, which was also known as the Kampschacht, was set up in Laar 3200 meters west of the two shafts 1/2. In the following year, the entire field ownership was consolidated under the name Westende. The authorized area now covered 17.1 km 2 and consisted of the Westende, Ruhr & Rhein and Concordia III fields consolidated to the Westende. In the same year, shaft 3, also known as the Ruhr & Rhein shaft, was swamped . The shaft was located 3000 meters southwest of shafts 1/2 on the site of the Phoenix ironworks near the Ruhrort train station. It had a depth of around 241 meters, the second level was at a depth of 182 meters (- 151 m above sea level). In 1908, shaft 4 reached the Carboniferous at a depth of 107 meters. The 6th level was set on construction site 1/2 via a blind shaft at a depth of 540 meters (-511 m above sea level). In the same year, the first level and the second level were cleared in the old field by Ruhr & Rhein . In the following year, the first level was laid in shaft 4 at a depth of 150 meters (- 118 m above sea level), the second level at a depth of 180 meters (- 148 m above sea level) and at a depth of 265 meters (- 233 m above sea level) m above sea level) the 3rd sole is attached. Furthermore, the 4th level was set via a blind shaft at a depth of 351 meters (- 319 m above sea level). A breakthrough was created between construction fields 1/2 and Ruhr & Rhein 3 on the 4th and 1st level. In addition, a breakthrough was created between shafts 3 and 4 on the second level. In the same year, mining began in shaft 4 . In 1910, shaft 3 was converted into a weather shaft. In 1912 the sinking work was resumed at shaft 2 and the shaft was sunk deeper. In addition, the 6th level was aligned using a blind shaft . The bottom was at a depth of 500 meters (-470 m above sea level). On September 11 of the same year there was a firedamp explosion in the mine , killing five miners . The coking plant was rebuilt above ground in 1912.

The other years

In 1913, shaft 2 was penetrated with the 6th level. In the following year, the mine was forbidden by the mining authorities to continue mining under the Rhine and the port facilities. This ban affected almost 50 percent of the entire mine area. In 1915 the coking plant was shut down. In the following years there were several mining accidents with several deaths at the mine . On July 21, 1917, there was a firedamp explosion in construction site 1/2 , killing five miners. Only a little later, several miners were killed in a mountain attack. This rock attack, which occurred on July 17th, affected the mining area in the northeast field on the 6th level. The sunshine seam was mined here with several struts . For the promotion of incoming gained were coals in this pursuit chutes used. The effects of the mountain blow were so severe that a miner who was more than 60 meters away from the site was thrown through the air by the blast of air alone and was seriously injured. A few minutes later, six miners were killed in an explosion. On September 6th of the same year, four miners were killed in another mountain attack. This rockfall also occurred in the mining area in the northeast field on the 6th level. In the years 1919 to 1920, the daytime facilities on operating section 1/2 were renewed. In January 1920 there were two more rock attacks in construction field 1/2 in the northeast field on the 6th level. The first mountain attack occurred on January 7th, killing three miners. Just 20 days later, on January 27, there was another rock attack in the northeastern field, one miner was seriously injured and seven miners were killed. In the same year, the 4th level was set in the construction site of shaft 3 at a depth of 350 meters (- 319 m above sea level) via a blind shaft. In the following year, the 118 mS was driven further under the marl. The purpose of this driveway was to remove residual coal pillars. In the same year the Kampschacht was sunk deeper to the 4th level. On May 15, 1925, operating section 1/2 was shut down, construction site 1/2 was assigned to operating section 3 shaft.

The mine came into the possession of Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG in 1926 and was organizationally assigned to their Hamborn group . On April 21 of the same year, the Rönsberghof colliery was also taken over by Friedrich Thyssen. The Rönsberghof shaft was merged with the Kamps shaft. In the following year, the operation part 1/2 was divided between the mines Friedrich Thyssen 2/5 and Friedrich Thyssen 4/8. On February 1 of 1928 promoting the shaft Rönsberghof been set, the mined coal in this construction site were below ground to the shaft 4 supported and promoted there to the surface. In the course of 1928, the daytime facilities on operating part 1/2 were demolished and the two shafts 1 and 2 filled . In the context of the global economic crisis at the end of the 1920s, extensive measures were taken to concentrate production. On April 1, 1929, the Rönsberg shaft was started up again. In the following year, production in the Rönsberg shaft was stopped again. The shaft remained in operation as a weather shaft. Construction field 3 was allocated to construction field 4. In 1931 the sinking work on shaft 4 was resumed and the shaft was sunk deeper. On March 1 of the same year, the Phoenix / Rheinstahl coking plant was shut down. In shaft 4, the 5th level was set in the same year at a depth of 446 meters (- 414 m above sea level). In 1934, the 6th level was set in shaft 4 at a depth of 557 meters (-525 m above sea level). On August 1st of the same year, the Phoenix / Rheinstahl coking plant was put back into operation. From 1935, the mine began to be dismantled under the Rhine. The resulting subsidence had to be compensated for by raising the Rhine dike. In 1946, after the end of the Second World War, the shafts Kampschacht (shaft 4), shaft 3 and shaft Rönbergshof were still available. The main lift level was the 6th level. As a result of the Schuman Plan , the Duisburg-Hamborn economic area was to be divided. The Westende colliery was to be added to the Ruhrort-Meiderich ironworks. In 1951, a contract was signed between the Waterways and Shipping Directorate in Münster, the port authority and the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerke-AG Group Hamborn, which assured the Westende colliery that it would be dismantled as planned under the Duisburg-Ruhrort port and the lock systems. In 1952, the mine was entitled to an area of ​​18.1 km 2 .

The last few years until the shutdown

As part of the reorganization of the Ruhr mining industry , the Hamborn group was spun off from Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-Aktien-Gesellschaft in 1953. Due to Law No. 27 of the Allied Control Council, the Westende mine was assigned to the newly founded Hamborner Bergbau Aktiengesellschaft. In the same year, dismantling began under the Duisburg-Ruhrort ports. Began with the dismantling of the lock I. The reduction has been made , to the eaves regions on the surface uniformly reduce could. In 1960, the main conveyor levels were the 3rd level and the 6th level. In 1964 the Rönsbergshof shaft was dropped and backfilled. In the context of the coal crisis of the 1960s, Friedrich Thyssen Bergbau-AG, as the operator, decided to shut down the Westende mine in the 1968 financial year. It was shut down on July 31, 1968. The coking plant was taken over by Ruhrkohle AG , which was founded on November 27, 1968 . However, due to a lack of sales for the foundry coke, it was shut down in 1969.

Promotion and workforce

On the mine were bituminous coals mined medium quality. The first known extraction and workforce figures come from the year 1871, at that time 166 miners were employed in the mine who produced 1144 tons of hard coal . In 1875 the production rose to 112,039 tons of hard coal, the workforce was 567 employees. In 1880, 147,960 tons of hard coal were extracted and the workforce was 382. In 1890, 739 employees produced 215,040 tons of hard coal. In 1900 the production was 368,194 tons of hard coal, the workforce was 1407 employees. In 1905 the production rose to 582,308 tons of hard coal, the workforce was 2065 employees. In 1912, 845,000 tons of hard coal were extracted. In 1915, 598,649 tons of hard coal were extracted and the workforce was 2137. In 1920 the production was 463,329 tons of hard coal, the workforce was 2568 employees. In 1930, 852,890 tons of hard coal were extracted and the workforce was 2,651. In 1940, 844,000 tons of hard coal were mined with 2020 employees. In 1950, 520,710 tons of hard coal were extracted and the workforce was 2348. In 1960 the production rose to 708,820 tons of hard coal, the workforce was 2042 employees. In 1965 750,000 tons of hard coal were mined. In 1967, 749,800 tons of hard coal were extracted and the workforce was 1560. These are the last known sponsorship and workforce figures.

Current condition

Today there is almost nothing left of the Westende mine . Shaft 1/2 has been completely built over over time, the area of ​​shaft 3 is used by the Duisburg transport company. The site of shaft 4 is largely fallow as a reserve area for ThyssenKrupp AG , the gate, the compressor house and the hoisting machine hall have been preserved. The compressor house currently has rehearsal rooms for various bands and a two-day open-air festival takes place annually in the parking lot. From the Rönsbergshof mine there are still two buildings and the hoisting machine house. This area is used by the municipal special needs school and the district sports facility "Am Rönsbergshof".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj Joachim Huske : The coal mines 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 .
  2. ↑ a b c Manfred Schmidt: Time leaps Meiderich. Sutton Verlag GmbH, Erfurt 2012, ISBN 978-3-95400-000-5 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Gerhard Gebhardt: Ruhrbergbau. History, structure and interdependence of its societies and organizations. Verlag Glückauf GmbH, Essen 1957
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wilhelm Hermann, Gertrude Hermann: The old collieries on the Ruhr. 4th edition, Verlag Karl Robert Langewiesche, successor Hans Köster KG, Königstein i. Taunus 1994, ISBN 3-7845-6992-7 .
  5. ^ A b Walter Buschmann : Collieries and coking plants in the Rhenish coal mining industry, Aachen district and western Ruhr area. Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-7861-1963-5 .
  6. ↑ a b Oskar Stillich: Iron and steel industry. Volume I, reprint in Unikum Verlag, Barsinghausen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8457-027-80 .
  7. ^ Association for Mining Interests in the Upper Mining District Dortmund: The development of the Lower Rhine-Westphalian hard coal mining in the second half of the 19th century . Julius Springer's publishing bookstore, Berlin 1902
  8. ^ A b c d e W. Lindemann: Mountain blows in the Rhenish-Westphalian coal mining. In: Glückauf, Berg- und Hüttenmännische magazine. No. 10, Volume 62, March 6, 1926, pp. 293-301.
  9. ↑ Six Montan cripples . In: Der Spiegel. April 4, 1951, pp. 35-37.
  10. ↑ Joachim Huske: The hard coal mining in the Ruhr area from its beginnings to the year 2000 . 2nd edition, Regio-Verlag Peter Voß, Werne, 2001, ISBN 3-929158-12-4 .
  11. ↑ The coal of the Ruhr area . Compilation of the most important mines in the Ruhr coal mining area, specifying the quality of the coal mined, the rail connections, as well as the mining and freight rates. Second completely revised and completed edition, publishing bookstore of the M. DuMont-Schauberg'schen Buchhandlung, Cologne 1874
  12. ^ Rockhaus Duisburg (last accessed on April 14, 2014)

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