Former hard coal colliery at Bochum-Hordel, closed in 1973 as the last mine in Bochum, now the LWL-Industriemuseum Zeche Hannover open since 1995, with the 1857 Malakowturm over Schacht I, the 1893 steam hoisting machine at its original location, and the
The Zeche Hannover in Bochum-Hordel is today the LWL-Industriemuseum Zeche Hannover, one of eight museums for Industriekultur operated by the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL). The mine, founded in 1847 by capital-holders from the Kingdom of Hannover, sank its first shaft from 1857 and began coal production in 1860. Two stone Malakowtürme were built as the twin headframe of Schacht I and Schacht II; the surviving Malakowturm over Schacht I, erected in 1857–58, is the third-oldest surviving headframe in the Ruhrgebiet.
In 1872 the Essener industrialist Alfred Krupp purchased the mine to supply his Gussstahlfabrik; the Krupp connection drove the development of the mine into one of the largest in Bochum with six shafts across two installations. In 1877, mine director Friedrich Koepe invented at the Zeche Hannover the Koepe Fördersystem — the first use worldwide of the traction-sheave winding principle — for which he received the patent in August of that year. The Malakowturm over Schacht II was demolished in 1939 and replaced by a 65-metre steel structure.
The mine was closed on 31 March 1973 as the last Bochumer Bergwerk; the shaft was backfilled by 1975. The Malakowturm, Maschinenhalle, and Grubenlüftergebäude were placed under Denkmalschutz in 1980. In 1981 the LWL took over the site; it has been open to the public since 1995.
The founding of the Zeche Hannover began on 14 June 1847 with the granting of Schürferlaubnis (prospecting rights) to the Rittergutsbesitzer Karl Richard vom Hymmen in Kaiserswerth and the merchant Julius Möller in Elberfeld. The mine's name reflects the Hanoverian origin of its founding capital. A probe borehole at a second drilling site, the Bohrturm Sechs Schwestern, again struck coal on 29 December 1854. Shaft-sinking of Schacht I began from 1857 and the mine reached its first productive depth in 1860, when coal hoisting and the accompanying twin-shaft surface installation commenced operation. The surface installation was built as a symmetrical Doppelturmanlage — two stone Malakowtürme over Schächte I and II, connected at platform level by a shared Maschinenhalle. The Malakowturm over Schacht I was erected in 1857–58 to a height of approximately 30 metres with wall thicknesses in the lower section of up to 1.60 metres; it is, after the Zeche Carl in Essen (1856) and the Zeche Holland I/II in Gelsenkirchen (1860), the third-oldest surviving headframe of this type in the Ruhrgebiet.
In 1872 Alfred Krupp of Essen purchased the mine to guarantee a supply of Gaskohle (gas coal) and Fettkohle (fat coal) for his Gussstahlfabrik and simultaneously established a second shaft installation, Hannover III, at Günnigfeld, followed by further shafts IV and VI. The mine became a Großzeche by 1908 through the addition of a power station, a new Kokerei, and new Förderschacht V. The Krupp ownership also drove technological innovation: in August 1877, mine director Friedrich Koepe received a Prussian patent for the Koepe-Fördersystem, in which the hoisting rope does not wind on a drum but forms a continuous loop over a traction sheave (Treibscheibe), with the weight of one cage counterbalancing the other. This invention — first applied on Schacht I at the Zeche Hannover — transformed winding technology worldwide and is still the dominant system in deep mine hoisting. The surviving hoisting machine of 1893 in the Maschinenhalle is the oldest such machine preserved at its original location in the Ruhrgebiet; it is placed in motion during guided tours and at the biennial Dampf-Festival.
The Malakowturm over Schacht II was demolished in 1939 and replaced by a modern 65-metre steel Fachwerk headframe. During the Second World War, 31 Luftangriffe caused severe damage; all four hoisting machines on Schächte 1, 2, and 3 were destroyed or heavily damaged. Post-war repair was accomplished by 1948 under American occupation authority. The mine's coal came increasingly from greater depths: seams of Fettkohle and Esskohle from depths of approximately 750 metres were the main product in the mid-1950s. In 1967, as the Kohlekrise deepened, Schacht II was rebuilt as the Zentralförderschacht for all Bochumer Bergwerke, concentrating output from the Verbund of Hannover, Vereinigte Constantin der Große, and Hannibal. The Zeche Hannover was brought into the Ruhrkohle AG in 1969. On 31 March 1973 it was closed as the last coal mine in the former Bergbaustadt Bochum; the Günnigfeld shafts Hannover 3 and 4 were backfilled in 1972, and Schacht I was backfilled by 1975.
In 1979 the remaining surface buildings — those not already demolished — were largely cleared. The surviving structures were the Malakowturm with integral shaft construction of 1873, the Maschinenhalle, and the Grubenlüftergebäude of ca. 1920 and 1929. These were formally listed under Denkmalschutz in 1980. In 1981, the LWL (Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe) incorporated the site into its Westfälisches Industriemuseum. Restoration was carried out progressively; the museum has been open to visitors since 1995 on Wednesdays to Saturdays 14:00–18:00 and Sundays and public holidays 11:00–18:00. In 2001 the LWL added the Kinderbergwerk 'Zeche Knirps' at the location of the former Schacht V. Three privately built workers' settlement houses from the 1890s at 'Am Rübenkamp' were retained by the LWL and are part of the museum ensemble. The Malakowturm and the Dampffördermaschine of 1893 are offered for demonstration at Schauvorführungen. The museum is a Spielort of the ExtraSchicht and an Ankerpunkt of the Route der Industriekultur.