Former Duisburg-Hamborn hard coal colliery retaining the sole surviving structure of the former Zeche Friedrich Thyssen — the listed Schacht VI headframe, the first Industriedenkmal in Duisburg, set within a park and residential quarter.
Zeche Friedrich Thyssen was a hard coal colliery in Duisburg-Hamborn, one of the largest in the Ruhr during the early twentieth century. Its origins lie in the coal fields prospected by Daniel Morian between 1859 and 1861, which formed the basis of the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser founded in 1871. Shaft sinking began in the same year; coal production started in 1876 from Schacht 1 (later Friedrich Thyssen 1) in Hamborn.
August Thyssen acquired a controlling interest from 1883 and consolidated the fields in 1889 to create a large combined operation. The colliery was the largest in the Ruhr from 1902 to 1918. Following the fall of the German monarchy, the colliery was renamed Friedrich Thyssen in 1919.
The Schachtanlage 1/6 lay at the centre of Hamborn beside the Rathaus; Schacht 6 was sunk in 1903–08 and fitted with its surviving headframe in 1907. The headframe is described as the last of its construction type still on its original site in Germany. Coal production at Anlage 1/6 was halted in 1927 and the field divided between the neighbouring installations; Schacht 6 served thereafter as incoming ventilation shaft.
It remained in service until the final closure of Friedrich Thyssen 2/5 in 1976, after which Schacht 6 was backfilled in 1977. The headframe was listed as the first Industriedenkmal in Duisburg in 1985. All other structures on the site were demolished; the area was redeveloped in the 1990s with a residential quarter, park, and sports facilities, with the headframe standing in the park centre.
The origins of Zeche Friedrich Thyssen lie in the coal fields prospected by the local landowner Daniel Morian between 1859 and 1861, who held eight fields designated Hamborn I–VIII. Plans for two shaft installations with four shafts were drawn up but delayed by economic conditions and the anticipated high costs of sinking in the difficult near-surface quicksand of the lower Rhine area. The fields were consolidated in 1871 as the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser — a name inspired by the Franco-Prussian War and the founding of the German Empire — and shaft sinking of the first shaft (Hamborn I, later Deutscher Kaiser I, later Friedrich Thyssen I) began in the same year at Hamborn.
The near-surface quicksand complicated the sinking but the Carboniferous was reached on 23 November 1874 at 129.25 m depth. Following two years of development work, coal production began in 1876, initially modest at 3,584 tonnes; by 1877 output had risen to 19,673 tonnes. From 1883 August Thyssen began acquiring Kuxe in the Gewerkschaft, using bank support; by 1887 he held a majority, became chairman of the Grubenvorstand in 1888, and in 1889 consolidated the Deutscher Kaiser fields with the fields Rheinland, Walsum I–III, and Neudüppel to a total concession of 34.03 km².
Thyssen's concurrent construction of ironworks and steelworks at Bruckhausen and Meiderich from 1889 drove rapid expansion of the colliery to supply coke coal to those works. By 1885 August Thyssen had also constructed the Hafen Alsum to facilitate coal exports by Rhine; 1885 was the port's first commercially successful year. On the pressure of the Oberbergamt Dortmund a second shaft was planned from around 1885, and Schacht 2 was sunk at Altenrade between 1888 and 1896; Schacht 3 was sunk at Bruckhausen between 1889 and 1895, directly adjacent to the new ironworks; Schacht 4 was sunk at Wittfeld between 1899 and 1903.
These shafts were configured as Doppelschachtanlagen: 1/6, 2/5, 3/7, and 4/8. Schacht 6 was begun beside Schacht 1 at Hamborn in 1903 to provide a second access and improve ventilation; the headframe over Schacht 6 was erected in 1907 when the shaft entered service in 1908. Upon its commissioning Schacht 1, which had a smaller cross-section, became the outgoing ventilation shaft.
The colliery was the largest in the Ruhr from 1902 to 1918 with peak employment of 13,710 and peak output of 4.46 million tonnes both in 1913. The colliery suffered significant disasters: a firedamp explosion on 28 January 1911 caused 16 deaths; a coal dust explosion through blasting on 8 November 1915 killed 20 workers; a firedamp explosion on 18 May 1918 also killed 20 workers. A cable break killed 7 men in 1923 and a further 7 died in a personnel transport accident in 1924.
In 1919 the colliery was renamed Friedrich Thyssen in response to the abolition of the monarchy. In 1919 the Zeche Friedrich Thyssen was reconstituted as a separate energy-supplying enterprise within the Thyssen conglomerate. The Schachtanlage 1/6 at the centre of Hamborn was restructured after the formation of the Vereinigte Stahlwerke in 1927: coal production at Anlage 1/6 was halted and the field divided between the Schachtanlagen Friedrich Thyssen 2/5 and 4/8.
Schacht 1 was converted to an outgoing ventilation shaft for 2/5; Schacht 6 became the incoming ventilation shaft for both 2/5 and 4/8 and also served Seilfahrt and materials transport for 2/5. An underground connection was made in 1922 with the installations Wehofen and Beeckerwerth. In 1932 the Schachtanlage 3/7 was merged with Beeckerwerth.
In 1944 the Schachtanlage 4/8 was struck by several heavy bombing raids, the 8th main haulage level flooded, and production could not resume until 1947. The Schachtanlage 4/8 was finally closed in 1959. After 1945 the Schächte 1/6 continued in their ventilation and transport role.
Schacht 1 was decommissioned in 1958 and backfilled. Schacht 6 remained in service for 2/5 — which had been rebuilt as a large installation between 1930 and 1932, producing up to 1.5 million tonnes per year — until the final closure of Friedrich Thyssen 2/5 in 1976 due to exhaustion of coking coal reserves; at final closure 1.5 million tonnes had been raised in 1975. Schacht 6 was backfilled in 1977.
The total production of the Anlage 1/6 to its closure in 1927 was 20.5 million tonnes; Anlage 2/5 produced 91.5 million tonnes to its closure in 1976. The headframe over Schacht 6 is the only surviving structure of the entire Friedrich Thyssen operation across all four Schachtanlagen. It was listed as a Baudenkmal — the first Industriedenkmal in Duisburg — in 1985.
In the 1990s the former Anlage 1/6 site was cleared and redeveloped with a residential quarter and park, in the centre of which the headframe now stands. Beside the park is the Rhein-Ruhr-Bad swimming facility, and the administration building of the Thysssengas GmbH is also in the immediate vicinity. Fragments of the old colliery wall and two former colliery buildings also survive in the wider area.
The headframe is a station on the Route der Industriekultur.