Disused hard coal mine shaft in central Wałbrzych with a standing steel headframe, the eastern winding tower of the Bolesław Chrobry complex at ul. Beethovena.
Chrobry II (Wschód) is the eastern winding tower and shaft of the double-shaft Bolesław Chrobry II complex at ul. Ludwiga van Beethovena 25, Wałbrzych Śródmieście, forming part of the former Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego "Bolesław Chrobry" — later KWK "Wałbrzych". The mine has origins around 1780 as the Bahnschacht, operated by the Hochberg family as the largest mine in Wałbrzych.
In 1876 several fields were merged to create a single enterprise. The double shaft Bahnschacht II — comprising an eastern and a western compartment with their respective winding engines — was sunk in 1900 and deepened in 1938. The distinctive steel headframe spanning both compartments was erected in 1939 and modernised in the 1970s.
The shaft served for ore hoisting, materials transport, and personnel descent. A catastrophic methane explosion on 22 December 1985 killed 18 miners. The mine closed in 1998–99.
The twin winding towers survive as the largest steel shaft headframes in Wałbrzych. Attempts to scrap them were blocked by the heritage conservator. Both towers are listed heritage monuments and remain privately owned.
The mine at ul. Beethovena in Wałbrzych originated around 1780 under the German name "Bahnschacht", later expanded to "Fürstenstein-gruben-Balinschachtanlange". It was a private mine of the Hochberg family, owners of the nearby Książ castle.
In 1876 several mining fields and concessions were merged into a single enterprise, making it the largest mine in Wałbrzych. Until 1945 the mine bore the German designation "Fürstensteiner Gruben"; from 1945 its Polish name was "Wałbrzych" and from 1 January 1946 "Bolesław Chrobry". In 1945, at the end of the war, the mine possessed five active shafts including one double production shaft; its extraction levels lay at depths of 365 metres and 470 metres.
Much of the surface infrastructure was looted and transported to the Soviet Union in the immediate post-war period. In 1964 Kopalnia "Bolesław Chrobry" was merged with the adjacent Kopalnia "Mieszko" to form a combined enterprise under the name "Wałbrzych", the largest mine in the region. The double shaft designated Chrobry II — Bahnschacht II in the German period — was sunk between 1 July 1899 and 1 December 1900.
The shaft was deepened in 1938. The distinctive steel headframe spanning the two compartments of the shaft was erected in 1939 and was subsequently modernised in the 1970s. The shaft complex was notable for its unusual double configuration: a single headframe structure served two independent winding compartments, Wschód (East) and Zachód (West), each with its own winding engine house.
The winding engine house of the Wschód compartment stands to the right of the tower when viewed from the front; that of the Zachód compartment to the left, behind the distribution building. The shaft served for the hoisting of coal to the surface, the transport of materials underground, and the descent and ascent of personnel. From 1964 onwards, shaft Chrobry I was capable of transporting up to 7.5 tonnes of coal per winding.
The most serious mining disaster in the post-war history of the Wałbrzych coalfield occurred on 22 December 1985, when a methane explosion in a working field near ul. Beethovena killed 18 miners; the youngest victim was 18 years old and the oldest 42. A commemorative tablet was unveiled at the twenty-fifth anniversary in 2010.
On 15 June 1994 the mine was reorganised as a hard anthracite extraction unit, Zakład Wydobywczo-Przeróbczy Antracytu, working the deposit at depths of 700–850 metres. Extraction under this arrangement was concluded on 29 June 1998, when the last wagon of coal left the mine. The plant was definitively closed in 1999, the last active colliery in Wałbrzych.
Following closure, attempts were made by a private owner of the site to cut up and remove the two steel winding towers. The heritage conservator intervened and prevented their demolition. The towers — the largest steel headframe structures in Wałbrzych — were subsequently listed as heritage monuments.
They remain on privately owned land and are not accessible to the public, though they are visible as landmarks from the surrounding streets.