History
The Zeche Sterkrade arose from the expansion strategy of the Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH) in the 1890s, a period of sustained industrial boom that had pushed the Hüttenbetriebe of the GHH to full capacity. In the northern part of the Grubenfeld Oberhausen the company planned two new mines: the shaft begun in 1895 that would become Zeche Hugo, and a new shaft to serve as a Wetterschacht for Zeche Osterfeld and a second fahrbarer Ausgang for Zeche Hugo. This second shaft, Schacht I, was commenced in 1897 near the station at Sterkrade under the initial designation Constanzia. Before sinking began, a Kesselhaus and Maschinenhaus were erected on the site, the latter initially also housing workers' changing rooms and offices. An electrically driven Förderhaspel was installed in early 1898.
The sinking of Schacht I proved difficult. Unusually high water inflows in the upper section required the use of Luftschleusen for the first metres, and the work thereafter proceeded by the Senkschachtverfahren with a cast-iron Tübbings lining. The shaft had a diameter of 5.1 metres in its original Constanzia form, though this was enlarged to 6.72 metres as the shaft's purpose changed. In August 1898 the first Schacht Hugo collapsed through quicksand at 175 metres depth. The GHH board resolved to transfer the headframe already completed in the GHH workshops for the Hugo shaft to Schacht I, and this was done in 1899. This was the Deutsches Strebengerüst of Bauart Zschetzsche (also described as Promnitz 3), a three-legged steel lattice construction designed by the Austrian engineer Anton Friedrich Zschetzsche (1856–1922). The Carboniferous was reached at a depth of 278 metres in 1901, and the 1. Sohle (300-Metersohle) was established at 296 metres depth (−135 m NN) in 1902. The 2. Sohle was set at 362 metres, and the 3. Sohle at 463 metres. Also in 1902, Schacht 2 was commenced 85 metres from Schacht I; a blasting accident during the Schacht 2 sinking on 26 November 1902 killed three miners. At the end of 1902 a breakthrough (Durchschlag) was made in Schacht I to a roadway driven in advance by Zeche Osterfeld.
Regular coal production commenced in May 1903 with an initial workforce of 550. In 1903 the permanent headframe with shaft hall (Schachthalle), wash plant, office building, and boiler house were completed, and output was taken to the surface through these new facilities. In 1904 approximately 70,000 tonnes were available for the market, rising to around 225,000 tonnes in 1905 with 870 employees. By 1903 to 1905 the coal preparation facility and a first power station had been completed. In 1907/08 a coke plant with 120 ovens and a by-products facility were completed; the Schachthalle over Schacht I dates from 1913, in massive three-storey brick construction in the Historismus style with round-arched Blendarkaden on the lower-floor facades. The underground breakthrough with Bergwerk Hugo Haniel was completed in 1909. Output grew rapidly, reaching 663,000 tonnes with a workforce of 2,325 in 1929, the highest recorded in the mine's history.
During the Weltwirtschaftskrise the GHH carried out Rationalisierungsmaßnahmen across its Oberhausener mines. On 10 June 1931 the coke plant at Sterkrade was closed. The Grubenfeld of the already-closed Zeche Hugo Haniel was absorbed by Zeche Sterkrade on 1 April 1931, with Schacht Hugo thereafter used as a Wetterschacht. On 1 February 1933 coal winding was formally ended and the mine became an Außenschacht of Zeche Osterfeld, which took over the Grubenfeld. From that point, Schacht I served solely for ventilation, Seilfahrt, and materials transport. Processing plant and most of the coke plant were demolished. The 1937 Schalthaus on the site testifies to the continued importance of power supply for the operation. After wartime bomb damage, the Fördermaschinenhaus of Schacht I was rebuilt; its Historismus facades were simplified in the style of the 1950s at that point. The power plant on the site was demolished in the 1980s. In 1971 Schächte I and 2 were redesignated Osterfeld 5 and Osterfeld 6 as part of the administrative reorganisation of the Verbundbergwerk with Zeche Lohberg. In 1984 Schacht 2 received a new headframe. The Verbundbergwerk Lohberg-Osterfeld was finally closed in 1991.
Following closure all buildings except the 1903 headframe and the 1913 shaft hall were demolished by the end of March 1995, and both shafts were filled in 1995. Schacht I passed to the Stiftung Industriedenkmalpflege und Geschichtskultur in 1995, which prevented the demolition of the headframe and shaft hall. Eight years after the transfer, in approximately 2003, the structures were entered on the Denkmalliste of the city of Oberhausen. Conservation and restoration work carried out by the Stiftung between 2012 and 2015 included investigation of the original paint colour (confirmed as red) and reinstatement of the headframe in this colour. Schacht 2 has a methane extraction installation directing mine gas to an adjacent combined heat and power plant. The former site has been converted into a landscape park, crossed by the HOAG-Güterbahnstraße cycle and pedestrian route. Regular guided visits to the headframe and shaft hall are offered by the Stiftung Industriedenkmalpflege und Geschichtskultur. The Geschichtswerkstatt Oberhausen e.V. also organises events and youth activities at the site. Plans for a mixed residential and commercial development on the surrounding parkland have been discussed by the city of Oberhausen.