Former hard coal colliery on the northern edge of the Ruhr at Haltern-Lippramsdorf, closed in 2015, whose distinctive A-shaped headframe over Schacht VIII has been confirmed a Baudenkmal by the NRW Heimatministerium, with demolition of other structures un
Zeche Auguste Victoria Schacht VIII is the northernmost shaft installation of the former Zeche Auguste Victoria, located in Haltern am See-Lippramsdorf at the Feldmarkstraße, on the northern bank of the Lippe. Zeche Auguste Victoria, established in 1899 in Marl by the Gewerkschaft Auguste Victoria, was one of the longest-running privately operated collieries in the Ruhr and was named after the last German Empress Auguste Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. Schacht 8 was sunk from 1963 in the northern field Lippramsdorf approximately three kilometres north of the Schachtanlage 3/7; it entered service in 1967 as a ventilation shaft for the north-eastern coalfield.
From 1978 it was expanded as a Seilfahrt- and materials shaft and deepened to approximately 1,330 m; a ceremony marking the reopening was held in 1982 with Ministerpräsident Johannes Rau. In 2001 the shaft passed to the Verbundbergwerk Auguste Victoria/Blumenthal. The headframe over Schacht 8, designed in the form of a stylised letter A for Auguste Victoria, is a distinctive landmark visible from a considerable distance.
The entire mine closed on 18 December 2015. The LWL-Denkmalpflege assessed the headframe, Schachthalle, and machine house as denkmalpflegerisch wertvoll; after a prolonged dispute involving the city of Haltern, RAG Immobilien, and the NRW Heimatministerium, the Ministry confirmed the listing. Rückbau works on non-protected structures are under way from 2025, while the headframe and Pförtnerhaus are to be retained.
The history of the Schacht 8 installation begins in the broader development of the Auguste Victoria colliery, founded in 1899 when the Düsseldorf businessman August Stein and the engineer Julius Schäfer — who had encountered coal during exploratory drillings in 1897 — established the bergrechtliche Gewerkschaft Auguste Victoria and acquired the consolidated fields Hansi I and Hansi II. Named after the Queen of Prussia and last German Empress Auguste Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, the Gewerkschaft began sinking Schacht 1 at the Victoriastraße in Hüls (Marl). From 1908 the colliery had been acquired by the Interessengemeinschaft chemischer Werke (later IG Farben) and from 1953 it belonged to the BASF, making it uniquely a coalmining subsidiary of a global chemical company; the BASF sold the mine to the RAG in 1991.
As the underground workings of the main installation at Marl expanded northwards over the decades, the need arose for shaft infrastructure on the far northern margin of the concession, in the area of Lippramsdorf on the bank of the Lippe. In 1963 sinking of Schacht 8 began in the Feldmarkstraße, Haltern-Lippramsdorf, approximately three kilometres north of the existing Schachtanlage 3/7 and on the northern bank of the Lippe. The shaft entered service in 1967 as a Wetterschacht (ventilation shaft) for the north-eastern coalfield.
In 1972 an underground connection between the coalfields of Schachtanlagen 3/7 and 8 was established. In 1978 the installation was expanded to serve Seilfahrt (personnel transport) and Materialförderung (materials supply) functions, and the shaft was deepened further to approximately 1,330 m. In 1982 the newly expanded and upgraded Schacht 8 installation was formally opened by the then Ministerpräsident of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Rau.
The A-shaped headframe over Schacht 8, whose distinctive silhouette forms a stylised A for Auguste Victoria, was noted by the LWL-Denkmalpflege in its subsequent technical assessment as having artistic value as well as economic-historical significance, and as a cultural landscape landmark. From the early 1980s Schacht 8 served also as the principal mine-water management shaft for the northernmost workings; at the shaft at Lippramsdorf underground visits by public figures including the singer Peter Maffay were documented, with guests accessing a modern longwall operation at approximately 1,200 m depth. In 2001 the colliery was merged with the Verbundbergwerk Blumenthal/Haard to form the Bergwerk Auguste Victoria/Blumenthal.
Part of the Haltern field and the Schachtanlage Haltern 1/2 were added to Auguste Victoria at this point; the Haltern 1/2 shafts were later backfilled in 2007 and the ventilation rope installation on those shafts decommissioned in the same year. The Verbund was dissolved on 1 January 2007 and the mine reverted to the name Bergwerk Auguste Victoria. The entire mine closed on 18 December 2015, the last shift coinciding with a Bundesliga home match attended by the workers as guests of FC Schalke 04.
In 2016 Schächte 8 and 9 were backfilled. Following the closure, the RAG Immobilien proceeded with preparations for the demolition and clearance of the Haltern-Lippramsdorf site. The LWL-Denkmalpflege/Landschafts- und Baukultur in Westfalen had assessed the headframe, Schachthalle, and machine house as denkmalpflegerisch wertvoll after the 2015 closure, basing this on a detailed Gutachten.
The LWL concluded that the installation documented economic and social history and that the A-shaped headframe had artistic value as a cultural landscape landmark. The city of Haltern's Kulturausschuss voted unanimously against listing on 4 November 2021. The Heimatministerium in Düsseldorf (as the oberste Denkmalbehörde) subsequently confirmed, as a binding decision, that Auguste Victoria Schacht 8 should be listed as a Baudenkmal, overriding the city's objection.
The 6-rope hoisting installation at Schacht 8, which the LWL noted as unique in the consulted sources for the Ruhr coalfield, remains anschaulich ablesbar from the historic Gleichstrom winding machine. The RAG Immobilien stated it viewed restoration as neither possible given the condition of the buildings nor economically reasonable. By 2025 Rückbau (controlled demolition) works were under way: the Kaue and Sozialgebäude were to be demolished, while the headframe and Pförtnerhaus were to be retained.
The headframe and surviving structures are included in the Route der Industriekultur network.