Former coal mine at Kerkrade and the oldest industrial colliery in the Netherlands, with Schacht Nulland surviving as a publicly accessible heritage monument and museum.
The Domaniale Mijn in Kerkrade was the oldest industrial coal mine in the Netherlands, tracing its origins to the abbey mines of Kloosterrade (Abdij Rolduc), for which records of coal digging date to at least 1113. Organised industrial exploitation on a state basis began in 1815 when the mine passed to the Kingdom of the Netherlands after the Congress of Vienna. The mine produced lean (anthracitic) coal and operated under successive arrangements before coming under the Aken-Maastrichtsche Spoorweg-Maatschappij in 1845, which was restructured as the Domaniale Mijn Maatschappij N.V. in 1925.
The mine had six shafts at the time of closure, the deepest of which, Schacht Willem II, reached 802 metres below surface. Total production over the state operational period of 1815 to 1969 was 37,990,000 tonnes of lean coal. In December 1965 the decision to close all Dutch mines was announced, and the last coal was raised on 29 August 1969.
All mine buildings were demolished by 1971 except for the Schacht Nulland tower, which was restored and designated a heritage monument in the mid-1970s. It is now a museum run by former miners of the Domaniale and is the only original mine shaft structure in the Netherlands remaining in its original location.
The coal deposits around Kerkrade have been exploited since at least the early medieval period. The annals of the Abdij Rolduc (Kloosterrade) refer in the year 1113 to a donation near the kalculen, interpreted as coal pits, which represents the oldest written reference to coal mining in Europe according to some local sources. From the fourteenth century as open-cast workings became exhausted, underground extraction developed in the valley of the Worm. From the sixteenth century deeper shafts were sunk, sometimes to 40 metres. By the end of the sixteenth century hundreds of small mines operated in the area. From the early seventeenth century the abbey of Kloosterrade became involved in mining activity, and in 1741–1742 the Abdij Rolduc took direct control of coal extraction. An exploitation privilege was granted by Empress Maria Theresia in 1766. Around 1780 the mines employed approximately 400 workers and extracted coal to depths of 300 metres.
In 1794 the duchy of Limburg was occupied by France and incorporated into the French republic. The mines were nationalised by the French in 1796 under the name Mines Domaniales, the origin of the mine's Dutch name. From 1797 production on the slopes of the Worm valley ceased and a new shaft was sunk on the Plateau of Kerkrade at Holz. Following the defeat of France, the Congress of Vienna in 1815 assigned the mine to the Kingdom of the Netherlands under the name Domaniale Mijn. A border treaty of 26 July 1816 allowed the mine to continue working its 173-hectare concession area lying under Prussian territory, with the coal brought to the surface on Dutch ground. The first steam engine was placed in the state mine in 1823. During the Belgian Uprising of 1830 the mines were briefly occupied by insurgents on 9 October 1830; they were returned to the Netherlands in 1839 after the separation treaty between the Netherlands and Belgium.
In 1845 the concession was transferred for 99 years to the Aken-Maastrichtsche Spoorweg-Maatschappij (Aachen-Mastrichter Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft), which had already ceased railway operation in 1867. The company modernised the mine equipment and the steam pump of 1828 was replaced by a new one in 1868. In 1875 the concession was enlarged by 250 hectares. A rail siding from the Miljoenenlijn to the mine was completed in 1880; prior to this, coal went by horse-drawn cart to Kohlscheid in Germany and thence by rail through Aachen back to the Netherlands. The production restrictions on price and output, in force since 1846, were lifted in 1880 under a new agreement running to 31 December 1952. From 1900 to 1914 annual production grew from 125,000 tonnes to 445,000 tonnes. From 1931 to 1933 production peaked at approximately 1,000,000 tonnes per year before declining. In 1921 the company underwent a loss year leading to wage cuts and a strike.
In 1925 the Aken-Maastrichtsche Spoorweg-Maatschappij was restructured as the Domaniale Mijn Maatschappij N.V., a wholly Dutch company. In 1958 the mine employed 3,000 workers and produced 481,000 tonnes annually. A decision was made to expand by acquiring the Neuprick concession; Schacht Baamstraat was sunk in 1960 for this purpose. In 1966 the Dutch state purchased a majority shareholding.
The mine's six shafts at the time of closure were Schacht Willem I (226 metres), Schacht Willem II (deepened to 802 metres, the deepest shaft), Schacht Beerenbosch I, Schacht Beerenbosch II, Schacht Nulland, and Schacht Baamstraat. Total production between 1815 and 1969 was 37,990,000 tonnes of lean coal.
Schacht Nulland, the most prominent surviving structure, was begun in 1907 to the design of engineer Ir. Th. H. Fr. Wilhelm Husmann. Initial construction was as a ventilation-only shaft, building upwards from the surface and simultaneously from the existing underground workings at the 150-metre level. By 1909 the shaft had reached 150 metres; by 1913 it had been deepened to 200 metres. In 1915 steam boilers were placed on the surface. In 1919 the mine decided to adapt Schacht Nulland for personnel and materials transport; a winding machine was installed and surface facilities including baths, lamp room, and a foreman's building were provided. In 1921 the tower was raised and fitted with buttress arches to bear the traction forces of the winding machine, becoming in effect a production shaft. In 1966 it was deepened further to 370 metres.
In December 1965 the decision to close all Dutch mines was announced. The last coal from the Domaniale Mijn was raised on 29 August 1969 at 15:00. In 1970 the shaft was filled with concrete from the 63-metre level to the surface. In 1971 all buildings around the shaft were demolished with the exception of the shaft tower itself. In 1975–1976 Schacht Nulland was restored, incorporating at that time a ventilator from the Oranje-Nassau I mine in Heerlen. The restored shaft received heritage monument status in the mid-1970s. It is a rijksmonument and is the only mine shaft in the Netherlands remaining in its original location with its original building fabric intact. From 1985 the artist Rob Thalen used the tower as a studio and exhibition space. From 2006 it was associated with the museum Industrion (later Continium / Discovery Center Continium). From 2013 former miners of the Domaniale Mijn, operating as Stichting De Koempels van de Domaniale, have run guided tours of the monument for schools, families, and groups. The building is currently open to visitors on Wednesday mornings and by appointment.
