Former hard coal colliery site at Bergkamen-Hüls on the Route der Industriekultur, with the 73-metre listed Förderturm over Schacht Grimberg 2 and its pithead buildings under Denkmalschutz since 2011, now accessible as part of the Stiftung Industriedenkma
The Zeche Monopol Schacht Grimberg 1/2, located at the Erich-Ollenhauer-Straße in Bergkamen-Hüls, was the second of three Monopol shaft complexes in Bergkamen and the northern anchor of the expanded Bergwerk Ost combination. Schacht Grimberg 1 was sunk in 1890, reached the Carboniferous at 453 metres in 1891, and began coal hoisting in 1893. Schacht Grimberg 2, sunk in 1893, went to ground at 82 metres in 1894, was restarted from a new position, and entered production in 1896.
The two shafts were connected to a direct conveyor to the Kraftwerk Bergkamen in Bergkamen-Heil from 1981 and subsequently to the broader Haus Aden and Heinrich Robert network. The Grimberg 1/2 site was substantially modernised at the end of the 1970s, at which time the current 73-metre steel Förderturm over Schacht 2 was constructed. In 1993 the combined Verbundbergwerk Haus Aden/Monopol was formed; in 1998 a further merger created the Bergwerk Ost.
Coal hoisting at Grimberg 1/2 was discontinued in 2011. Schacht 2 was used from 2002 for the central water management of the Grubenfeld Monopol; both shafts were subsequently backfilled. The Förderturm over Schacht 2 and the pithead buildings — whose architecture and colour scheme were aligned with the adjacent Bergkamen town centre — were placed under Denkmalschutz in 2011.
Since 2016 the site has been in the portfolio of the Stiftung Industriedenkmalpflege und Geschichtskultur.
The founding of the Zeche Monopol in 1873 by Friedrich Grillo and Heinrich Grimberg led within two decades to the development of three shaft complexes across Kamen and Bergkamen. The Grimberg 1/2 installation at the Erich-Ollenhauer-Straße in Bergkamen-Hüls — named in honour of Heinrich Grimberg — was the second in sequence: Schacht Grimberg 1 was sunk from 1890 and reached the coal-bearing Carboniferous at 453 metres depth in 1891, beginning hoisting in 1893. Schacht Grimberg 2 was begun in 1893; it suffered a Teufe-Bruch (shaft failure) at 82 metres in 1894, was restarted from a new location, and entered service in 1896. The mine was part of the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG grouping from 1890; the Monopol Bergwerk AG was the post-Second World War successor entity.
The Grimberg 1/2 site was substantially modernised in the late 1970s, at which time the current 73-metre steel Förderturm was built over Schacht 2 and the surface layout was reconfigured. A 2.1-kilometre conveyor belt connected the site directly to the new Kraftwerk Bergkamen in Bergkamen-Heil from 1981. In 1993 Grimberg 1/2 became part of the Verbundbergwerk Haus Aden/Monopol; in 1998 the further merger with the Zeche Heinrich Robert in Hamm created the Bergwerk Ost, covering 285 square kilometres, one of the largest mine fields in the Ruhrgebiet. Within the Bergwerk Ost, Grimberg 1/2 served as both a hoisting installation and — from 2002 — as the site of the Zentrale Wasserhaltung for the Grubenfeld Monopol.
Coal hoisting at Grimberg 1/2 ceased in 2011 when production was concentrated elsewhere. Schacht Grimberg 1 had already been backfilled in 1995, and its headframe was demolished in 1997–1998. Schacht Grimberg 2 was backfilled after 2010, with water management provision continuing via surface pumps. The highly visible 73-metre Förderturm over Schacht 2 and the associated pithead buildings — whose architectural design and colour scheme were deliberately aligned with the adjacent Bergkamen Stadtmitte — were formally placed under Denkmalschutz in 2011 as examples of coherent late-period Ruhrgebiet mining architecture. The site is on the Route der Industriekultur; it has been part of the portfolio of the Stiftung Industriedenkmalpflege und Geschichtskultur since 2016. Access is possible only by prior arrangement with the Stiftung.