Zeche Lohberg Dinslaken · Nordrhein-Westfalen · Germany

The founding impetus for the Zeche Lohberg came from the Thyssen steel enterprise's need for coking coal to supply the Dinslakener Bandeisenwalzwerk (strip iron rolling mill). Reconnaissance drilling from 1902 identified coal-bearing strata in the Dinslaken area at relatively shallow depth, without the obstructive Schwimmsand layers found further south. The concession fields were granted in 1903 and 1904. On 30 December 1905 the Gewerkschaft Lohberg was formed, with August, Joseph and Fritz Thyssen on the board together with Bergassessor Arthur Jacob, who served as the responsible director of Thyssen mining from 1904 to 1918. The 1906 Betriebsplan envisaged a double shaft installation with ore preparation, a coking plant and a ring-kiln brickworks; the brickworks was built and operated from 1907 to supply bricks for the mine's own construction.

Preliminary works for sinking the shafts in the Gefrierverfahren began in 1906. The actual sinking of Schächte Lohberg 1 and 2 began in 1909, at the road between Dinslaken and Hünxe. Shaft 1 (diameter 6.3 metres) reached coal at 475 metres and Shaft 2 at 481 metres in 1910. Sinking was complete for Shaft 1 at 771 metres and Shaft 2 at 666 metres by 1913. The site layout followed the standard pattern of the era: the two shafts aligned in a row, adjacent railway sidings, and surface buildings arranged along a mine street. The surface buildings of the founding phase, dating from 1906 to 1915, were designed under the direction of Arthur Jacob and the building supervisor Hesse. Notable among the surviving structures is the Zechenwerkstatt, a c. 120-metre long brick building erected before 1911, which served as repair workshop, lock smithy and turning shop. The Schachthalle of Shaft 1 carries an impressive arched-truss construction spanning the hall with the adjacent screening installation, a rare surviving example of its type. First coal was produced in 1912 for the mine's own use; planned full production for the Thyssen steelworks began in 1914. By 1915 annual output was 475,501 tonnes.

In 1921 sinking of a new Schacht Lohberg 3 in Dinslaken-Hiesfeld began as part of a planned third shaft installation, but the work was halted in 1922 for lack of funds and the completed surface structures were demolished in 1929. In 1926 the Gewerkschaft Lohberg was absorbed through the GBAG Hamborn group into the Bergbauabteilung of the newly formed Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG on 1 April 1926. By 1925 the mine had grown to nearly 3,000 workers and a daily output of 3,500 tonnes. Following the Allied-mandated break-up of the Vereinigte Stahlwerke, Lohberg passed to the Hamborner Bergbau AG on 3 July 1953.

In the 1950s the surface installations were substantially rebuilt with the involvement of the industrial architect Fritz Schupp. In 1955–1956 a new headframe for Schacht Lohberg 2 was built, at 70.5 metres the tallest headframe in the Ruhr at the time. Between 1960 and 1967, a new Schacht Lohberg 3 was sunk to the northeast of the main mine grounds and brought into service as a ventilation-intake shaft. In 1958 peak employment of 5,234 was reached. In 1979 a record annual output of 3,135,415 tonnes was achieved from Lohberg alone.

In 1983 a further shaft, Schacht Hünxe, was sunk between Dinslaken and Hünxe to serve as a combined ventilation and transport shaft. In 1988 the Ruhrkohle AG resolved to merge the mines Osterfeld and Lohberg, a process completed in 1989 as the Verbundbergwerk Lohberg-Osterfeld, operated by Deutsche Steinkohle AG (DSK). In the combined operation the peak employment was 7,262 in 1989 and peak output 5,017,202 tonnes in 1990. Schacht Lohberg 3 was abandoned in 1998 and later filled after the Osterfeld residual reserves were exhausted. The Verbundbergwerk Lohberg-Osterfeld comprised the shaft installations Lohberg 1/2 and 4 and a field of 149 square kilometres, with fully mechanised extraction and belt haulage at 1,270 metres depth. The deepest shaft reached over 1,300 metres. Lifetime output from Lohberg reached approximately 165.9 million tonnes.

The mine was closed on 31 December 2005. Approximately 1,400 workers were transferred to other mines or entered early retirement. Demolition of the surface installations began in June 2007, with a significant portion cleared. The historic gateway, pithead buildings, winding engine houses and the Zechenwerkstatt were retained. In 2007 the Dortmund architecture practice stegepartner won the competition for the Zechenareal Dinslaken-Lohberg, envisaging the Lohberg district extending shell-like over the mine site. In 2008 the owner applied to demolish the listed headframes over Schächte 1 and 2; in response the Förderverein Fördertürme Bergwerk Lohberg e.V. was founded at the end of 2008. The headframe over Schacht 1 was demolished in 2014. The headframe over Schacht 2, the 1955/1956 Schupp structure at 70.5 metres, survives. Schächte 1 and 2 remain open for long-term mine water management, fitted with firedamp-proof covers. A Bergpark was opened on the site in 2014. The Kreativ.Quartier Lohberg, using the former Waschkaue, has operated from 1990 as a studio and meeting space for artists, gallery owners and musicians. The Zechenwerkstatt was transferred to the city of Dinslaken and has been used for events by the Freilicht AG since 2016.