Former Essen-Heisingen hard coal colliery at the Baldeneysee shoreline whose listed 1921 two-storey headframe over Schacht I and 1920 Pförtnerhaus survive as monuments on the Route der Industriekultur, with the headframe privately owned since 2012.
Zeche Carl Funke was a hard coal colliery in Essen-Heisingen at the northern bank of the Baldeneysee, tracing its roots to the drift mine Zeche Hundsnocken, whose coal concession was granted in 1773. Four drift mines on the western slope above the Ruhr — Hundsnocken, Zwergmutter, Abgunst, and Rauensiepen — were consolidated in 1870–71 as the Gewerkschaft Zeche Heisinger Tiefbau. Under the management of Carl Funke from 1880 the colliery was transformed: the near-bankrupt enterprise was restructured as the Rheinische Anthracitkohlenwerke AG, and between 1897 and 1899 the first true vertical shaft, named Friedrich Wilhelm (later Schacht Carl Funke 1), was sunk.
After incorporation into the Essener Steinkohlenbergwerke AG in 1906 the colliery was renamed Zeche Carl Funke. The two-storey steel headframe erected over Schacht 1 around 1921 — after the shaft had been deepened in 1912–15 — represents a rare surviving example of its construction type. The colliery entered the Verbundbergwerk Pörtingssiepen/Carl Funke in 1967 and closed in April 1973.
From 1985 all surface structures were demolished except the 1921 headframe, the machine house of about 1881, and the 1920 Pförtnerhaus. In 2012 the headframe was purchased by the private owner Mike Schuh. The headframe, the 1900–01 Siedlung Carl Funke, and the surviving colliery buildings are listed monuments and stations on the Route der Industriekultur.
The history of what would become Zeche Carl Funke begins in the late eighteenth century, when the western slope above the Ruhr at Heisingen was worked by several small drift mines. The coal concession of the Stollenzeche Hundsnocken was granted in 1773; the mine had its Berechtsame on the later colliery site north of what is now the Baldeneysee. The Zwergmutter concession dates to 1781, Abgunst to 1799, and Rauensiepen to 1773.
The four drift mines ended their stollen at a stretch of about 250 metres of Ruhr bank and loaded their coal over short transport routes for shipment on the river. From 1804 the Stollen Hundsnocken was in regular production, with interruptions caused by the Napoleonic occupation of the area north of the Ruhr. From 1825 the opening of the Flöz Mausegatt allowed production to rise to around 30,000 tonnes annually.
From 1841 deepening works began through the sinking of a tonnlägiger (inclined) shaft to access deeper coal reserves. In 1870–71 the Zeche Hundsnocken was consolidated with the neighbouring Zechen Steinknapp-Bruchkamp, Christian, Flaßhoff, and others to form the Gewerkschaft Zeche Heisinger Tiefbau. In its first year of consolidated operation the combined mine employed 148 workers and produced 24,102 tonnes.
From 1880 the firm Funke & Schürenberg held a majority of the Anteile; between 1881 and 1886 the installation was substantially extended. Carl Funke, who had entered as Grubenvorstand of the neighbouring Zeche Vereinigte Pörtingssiepen, took a decisive role in the rescue of the Heisinger Tiefbau, which was close to bankruptcy. Under his management the bergrechtliche Gewerkschaft was converted into a new company, the Rheinische Anthracitkohlenwerke AG.
The company began systematically developing the colliery to avert liquidation. An auxiliary shaft was first sunk to replace the deteriorated inclined shaft. From 1897 to 1899 the first true vertical (seigerer) shaft named Friedrich Wilhelm was sunk beside the Ruhrtalbahn, taking over the entire production of the colliery from the third level at approximately 310 m depth.
An Anschlussbahn was laid to the Bahnhof Kupferdreh for coal transport. The machine house of about 1881, which predates the vertical shaft, is one of the three surviving structures of the site and documents the earlier phase of expansion under Funke's direction. The Zechen from the Funke'sche Bergwerksbesitz — together with Zeche Vereinigte Dahlhauser Tiefbau and Zeche Hercules — entered the newly founded Essener Steinkohlenbergwerke AG, of which Carl Funke became Vorstandsvorsitzender.
In 1906 the Zeche Heisinger Tiefbau was renamed Zeche Carl Funke. The new shaft installation included an Aufbereitung (coal preparation plant), a Brikettfabrik, a Schachthalle with winding machine house, and workshops on a L-shaped ground plan, with the preparation plant and briquette factory arranged parallel to the Ruhrtalbahn embankment. In 1906 with 724 workers, 233,267 tonnes of coal were produced.
Schacht 1 was deepened in 1912–15. Around 1921 the winding installation at Schacht 1 was renewed: a new headframe — a two-storey type, rotated 90° relative to the earlier frame — was erected in connection with a new machine house. The 1921 headframe is described as a seldom-preserved type of construction and is the surviving headframe at the site.
In 1920 the surviving Pförtnerhaus was built. Between 1900 and 1901 the workers' housing colony Siedlung Carl Funke was laid out along the access road to the colliery on the north bank of the Ruhr, comprising twenty houses for 92 families. In 1925–26 Schacht 2 was sunk and fitted with a Tomsonbock headframe transferred from the Zeche Victoria/Kupferdreh; it was connected to the Hängebank of Schacht 1 by a Stollenquerschlag with a keystone dated 1926 (now preserved in the Ruhrlandmuseum Essen).
In 1925 annual output reached the maximum recorded for the traditional operation: 112,292 tonnes. The Essener Steinkohlenbergwerke AG passed to the Mannesmann AG in 1955. Post-war expansion was directed by the architect Fritz Schupp: a new Brikettfabrik was built in 1955 and in 1963–64 Schacht 2 was given a new Förderturm in Stahlskelettbauweise with a long Schachthalle, allowing Schacht 2 to become the main winding shaft with a workforce that had grown to 2,617.
Annual output in 1964 stood at 543,703 tonnes. Between 1962 and 1968 large-scale trials of hydromechanical coal winning were conducted at the colliery. In 1965 the Zeche Vereinigte Dahlhauser Tiefbau was connected, with its Schächte Altendorf 2 and Dahlhauser Tiefbau 2 renamed Carl Funke 5 and 6.
In 1957–59 Schacht Carl Funke 4 was sunk in the Duschenhofener Wald as a Seilfahrt shaft. In 1967 the colliery was merged with the Zeche Vereinigte Pörtingssiepen to form the Verbundbergwerk Pörtingssiepen/Carl Funke, which entered the Ruhrkohle AG. Production at Pörtingssiepen ceased at end 1972, and production at Carl Funke ended in April 1973.
The Brikettfabrik continued in operation until end March 1975. After a decade in which the site lay largely unoccupied, from 1985 almost all surface buildings were demolished. As Industriedenkmale there survived only: the 1921 headframe over Schacht 1; the machine house of about 1881 (described as the Fördermaschinengebäude der Zeche Hundsnocken, in a decayed condition on the hill above the shaft); and the Pförtnerhaus of 1920.
The colliery site was renaturated, with the Kleingartenverein Carl-Funke Heisingen e.V. using the Pförtnerhaus as its Gemeinschaftshaus. The former railway connection to Kupferdreh was converted to a heavily used cycle path, with the bridge over the Ruhr preserved. In 2012 the headframe was purchased by the private owner and industrial climber Mike Schuh, who committed to protecting the Denkmal from deterioration; the city of Essen approved a change-of-use application allowing the headframe to be opened for climbing and visits.
The headframe, the Siedlung Carl Funke (1900–01), and the surviving colliery buildings are listed Baudenkmale and are part of the Route der Industriekultur.