Former Ruhr hard coal colliery whose surviving listed 68-metre concrete headframe over Schacht IV stands as a public landmark and events venue in Bönen.
Zeche Königsborn was a hard coal colliery operating across multiple shaft installations in the Kreis Unna, taking its name from the Saline Königsborn in Unna. The colliery's origins lie in 1872–73, when the industrialist Friedrich Grillo purchased the Saline Königsborn and acquired the surrounding coalfields, consolidating them on 24 November 1873 as the Gewerkschaft Steinkohlen- und Salzsolbergwerk Königsborn. Shaft sinking at the first installation in Unna-Königsborn began in 1874 and coal production commenced in 1880.
The installation at Altenbögge-Bönen — Schachtanlage III/IV — was developed from 1901 with the sinking of Schacht IV adjacent to the existing Schacht III. In 1923 ownership passed to the Klöckner-Werke AG. Over the Schacht IV the Klöckner-Werke erected a 68-metre reinforced concrete tower headframe between 1927 and 1929 to the design of the architect Alfred Fischer, a structure of major significance in the architectural history of industrial construction, marking the transition towards functionalism and serving as a model for later Ruhr headframes.
In peak years up to 4,000 workers produced up to 600 tonnes of coal per hour at the Bönen installation. Production was halted on 15 May 1981. After all other surface structures were demolished, the headframe was designated a protected monument on 27 February 1990.
Acquired by the Landesentwicklungsgesellschaft NRW in 2000, it has since been adapted for cultural and public use by the Förderverein Zeche Königsborn III/IV and the Bürgerstiftung Förderturm. The light art installation Yellow Marker by Mischa Kuball has illuminated the tower since 1999.
The history of the site begins with the broader history of Zeche Königsborn, whose formation was prompted by the entry into force of the general mining law of 1865, which finally removed the state's ability to block new concessions around the Saline Königsborn. On 21 September 1872 a private consortium led by the industrialist Friedrich Grillo purchased the saline and its associated sole field from the Prussian state for 300,000 Taler. Grillo had already pre-emptively secured concession applications for the surrounding coalfields, and following the purchase the consortium additionally acquired the coal fields East End, East End 2a, East End 2b, East End 3, East End 4a, East End 4b, Prinz August, Prinz August IV, Prinz August V, and Werner Glück in 1873, conducting a field exchange with Zeche Massener Tiefbau of two square kilometres.
On 24 November 1873 all field components were brought together in the Gewerkschaft Steinkohlen- und Salzsolbergwerk Königsborn, with a total concession area of 17.2 km² of coal field and 24.1 km² of sole field. In 1874 sinking of Schacht I began in the locality of Unna-Königsborn, approximately one kilometre north of the Bahnhof Königsborn. The sinking was carried out by the Parisian firm Lippmann, Magnet & Co. using the Kind-Chaudron method to protect the sole springs.
A railway connection was established in 1877. The Carboniferous measures were reached at 178 m depth in 1878. The first level was established in 1880 at 279 m depth, and the second level at 359 m depth in the same year.
Coal production commenced in 1880, and by 1885 annual output was 6,532 tonnes. A brikettfabrik was brought into service in February 1882, and a Moritz ventilator was installed under order of the Oberbergamt to address serious ventilation deficiencies. Sinking of Schacht II in Heeren-Werve began in 1887, approximately two kilometres north-east of Schacht I. The eastern coalfield was found to contain superior fat coal reserves from 1885–86.
In 1901, a few metres north-east of the existing Schacht III in Altenbögge-Bönen, the sinking of Schacht IV was begun. By 1902 it had reached the second level. The shaft was brought into service with a ventilation fan as an air-return shaft in 1902.
In 1904 winding at Schacht I in Unna was substantially reduced as operations were consolidated onto the Schacht II installation in Heeren. Between 1922 and 9 February 1923, through a transition period beginning with a contract with the Lothringer Hütten- und Bergwerksverein in 1922, the Zeche Königsborn passed into the ownership of the Klöckner-Werke AG. On 1 December 1923 the Königsborn field was merged with the Bramey field, bringing the total concession to 52.8 km² covering sole, ironstone, and coal.
In 1924 a modernised coke works with by-product recovery was erected at the Anlage 3/4. A brikettfabrik was brought into service at Schacht II in 1926. In 1927 the existing headframe over Schacht IV began to be altered and replaced.
Between 1927 and 1929 the Klöckner-Werke erected a new headframe over Schacht IV to designs by the architect Alfred Fischer, described in subsequent literature as one of the most significant documents in the architectural history of Ruhr industrial building of the 1920s. The 68-metre reinforced concrete tower, with closed walls and the winding engine housed in the uppermost floor, marked the transition towards functionalism and became a model for later closed-wall headframe construction. The footprint of the tower is 14 m × 20 m; the shaft reached a depth of 1,007 m.
In peak years during the period 1930 to 1980 up to 4,000 workers were employed at Schachtanlage III/IV, and Schacht IV raised up to 600 tonnes of coal per hour. During the Second World War more than 1,780 forced labourers suffered under the conditions at Zeche Königsborn III/IV between 1939 and 1945. In 1950 sinking began on the ventilation shaft Schacht VI (Schacht Friedrich) in the Bönener Bauerschaft Flierich, approximately three kilometres east of the Anlage III/IV; this shaft entered service in 1952.
In the same year 1950 work began on deepening Schacht IV. On 1 March 1951 Schacht V broke through to the fourth level of Anlage III/IV. In 1951 Zeche Königsborn, together with Zeche Werne, was separated from the Klöckner-Werke AG and on 21 December 1951 incorporated into the new independent Bergwerksgesellschaft Bergwerke Königsborn-Werne AG.
In 1952 Schacht VI entered service as ventilation shaft up to the third level; Schacht V then served the fifth level as the principal winding level. In 1964 coal winding from Schacht V was halted, and coal was thereafter transported underground to Schacht IV as the central winding shaft. On 30 June 1966 the Betriebsabteilung II/V was closed and its coalfield added to Betriebsabteilung III/IV.
Schacht I was closed, and Schacht V was converted to ventilation use. In 1967 Schacht I was backfilled. In 1968 the Ruhrkohle AG was founded and Zeche Königsborn was incorporated into it, becoming part of Bergbau AG Westfalen.
In 1969 Schacht II was abandoned and backfilled. The maximum annual output across the whole Königsborn operation was 2,153,280 tonnes, achieved with a workforce of up to 7,629. Production at Schachtanlage III/IV was halted on 15 May 1981.
After closure, the Ruhrkohle AG began immediately demolishing all surface structures at the Bönen installation, with the sole exception of the headframe over Schacht IV, which was retained because the shaft was still needed for mine-water pumping to support the active Zeche Heinrich-Robert in Hamm whose pump capacity was insufficient to handle the combined water burden. On 27 February 1990 the headframe was designated a protected monument (Baudenkmal), averting the planned demolition. In February 1997 the Ruhrkohle committed savings from abandoned demolition costs towards the tower's preservation.
The Förderverein Zeche Königsborn III/IV was founded in November 1999. On 7 August 1999 the artist Mischa Kuball presented the light art installation Yellow Marker, in which two opposite corners of the tower are illuminated at night with vertical yellow fluorescent strips; the installation was originally designed as a two-site work linking the Bönen tower as the Ruhr's 'Ostpol' (east pole) with the headframe of Zeche Rossenray in Kamp-Lintfort as the 'Westpol'. The Rossenray headframe was demolished in 2019, leaving the Bönen installation as the sole survivor of the pair.
In 2000 the Landesentwicklungsgesellschaft NRW became owner of the tower. The Bürgerstiftung Förderturm was founded in 2003. Cultural events, small museum exhibits, and guided tours have been hosted in the tower since then.
The tower is accessible by foot to a height of 55 metres via internal stairs, with multiple intermediate floors each offering a distinct environment. Ongoing maintenance and public tours are carried out by the Förderverein. The headframe is listed as part of the Route der Industriekultur.