Surviving headframe, shaft hall, pithead baths, and machine house of the former Deutsche Kaliwerke Bernterode Schacht Preußen, with the site now under consideration for reuse as part of a new potash project.
The Kaliwerk Bernterode was a potash mine operated by the Aktiengesellschaft Deutsche Kaliwerke, founded in 1904, in the village of Bernterode-Schacht in the Eichsfeld. Its first shaft, Schacht Preußen (Bernterode I), entered production in 1905–06 and a second shaft, Schacht Sachsen (Bernterode II), followed in 1912. A Chlorkaliumfabrik was commissioned in 1907 and a rail connection upgraded to a full station in 1911.
Both shafts were closed in 1931 during the Great Depression. The site was subsequently converted into a Heeresmunitionsanstalt, which began producing munitions in 1938. In March 1945 the mine was used to conceal significant cultural and historical treasures evacuated from Berlin, including the coffins of Prussian kings and military standards, which were recovered by US forces before they withdrew on 2 July 1945.
On 4 July 1945 a munitions train exploded on the site, destroying large parts of the above-ground plant. The shaft complex at Bernterode I preserves its headframe, shaft hall, pithead baths, and machine house. In the 2020s South Harz Potash Limited and its German subsidiary Südharz Kali GmbH have proposed using the Bernterode shaft as one element of a new potash mining project.
The Kaliwerk Bernterode was established following preparations begun in 1904 with the founding of the Aktiengesellschaft Deutsche Kaliwerke for the Bernterode site. This company later also acquired the Kaliwerk Ludwigshall in 1913 and became a significant operator in the Südharz–Eichsfeld region.
Schacht Bernterode I, also known as Schacht Preußen (the formal name Bernterode I being used in the TSV canonical name), is the founding shaft of the mine. Production in Schacht Preußen began in 1905–06. A Chlorkaliumfabrik was commissioned at the site in 1907, enabling the processing of raw potash salt into refined potassium chloride fertiliser on site. In 1911 the existing halt on the Bahnstrecke Halle–Hann. Münden at Bernterode was upgraded to a full station (Bahnhof) with a dedicated rail connection to the shaft. Schacht Sachsen (Bernterode II) entered production in 1912, and with the transfer of the company administration to Bernterode the site became the corporate headquarters of the Deutsche Kaliwerke concern.
Both shafts and the Chlorkaliumfabrik were closed in 1931 during the Weltwirtschaftskrise when the economic conditions for potash production collapsed. From 1936 the mine buildings and underground workings were converted into a Heeresmunitionsanstalt (military munitions factory), which began producing munitions in 1938.
In March 1945, as the Allied forces approached Berlin, significant cultural and historical objects were evacuated to the Bernterode workings for safekeeping. These included the coffins of Paul von Hindenburg and his wife, and of the Prussian kings Friedrich Wilhelm I and Friedrich II; the flags and standards of the German army from 1914–1918; archive records of the Auswärtiges Amt and the Katasteramt Kassel; paintings from Prussian state museums; the library of Sanssouci; the Prussian crown jewels; valuable porcelain; and 271 paintings in total. US forces that occupied Bernterode in the war's final phase transferred most of this material to the Marburg Central Collecting Point in the US occupation zone before withdrawing from the area on 2 July 1945. Two days later, on 4 July 1945, a munitions train on the works railway exploded, destroying most of the above-ground plant and facilities.
In 1953 the mine came under the administration of the Kaliwerk Sollstedt, and parts of the underground workings were retained and used in connection with the broader Südharz potash operation.
The surface complex at Bernterode I (Schacht Preußen) retains its headframe, shaft hall (Schachthalle), pithead baths (Waschkaue), and machine house. According to the Zechensuche documentation, the site lies east of Breitenworbis on the B80 and is accessible. The headframe is of the lattice-frame (Gerüst) type.
In the 2020s the Australian-listed company South Harz Potash Limited, through its German subsidiary Südharz Kali GmbH, has proposed a new potash mining project centred on the Ohmgebirge deposit, one of the largest undeveloped potash deposits in western Europe. The project plans include use of the Bernterode shaft complex as a key surface infrastructure point for shaft access and underground development, with the processing and loading installation planned at the Bernterode Bahnhof site nearby.