Former Essen-Altenessen hard coal colliery now a well-preserved listed industrial heritage site and active socio-cultural centre, housing one of the oldest surviving Malakowtürme in the Ruhr.
Zeche Carl was a hard coal colliery in the Essen district of Altenessen, established in 1855 as the Gewerkschaft Hercules by the Kölner Bergwerks-Verein under Friedrich Grillo. The Gewerkschaft sank a shaft fitted with a large Malakowturm with two flanking two-storey machine house wings; it entered production in 1861 and was renamed Zeche Carl in the same year. The colliery was one of the first collieries in the Ruhr to be founded as a joint-stock enterprise.
The Malakowturm of 1856–57 is regarded as one of the oldest surviving headframes of its type in the Ruhr. A coke works followed in 1883 and, under the long directorship of Emil Krabler (1868–1907), several additional shafts were sunk including the Emscherschächte from 1873. In 1912 the Kölner Bergwerks-Verein merged with the Bergbau-Gesellschaft Neu-Essen to form the Köln-Neuessener Bergwerksverein.
Following the colliery's merger with the Hoesch AG in 1930, coal winding at Schacht Carl was halted in 1929 and the shaft was thereafter used as a ventilation shaft for the Zeche Emil-Emscher until 1955; all functions ended in 1970. The city of Essen purchased the 11-hectare site, and in 1977 a citizens' initiative founded the Zentrum Zeche Carl e.V., converting the ensemble into one of the oldest socio-cultural centres in Germany. The entire building ensemble — including the Malakowturm, the machine houses, the Casino with Kaue and administration of 1890, the machine house of 1900, and the boiler plant of 1924 — is listed under Denkmalschutz.
The origins of Zeche Carl lie in the coal fields of the Böhmer Heide north of Altenessen, which were being prospected in parallel with the development of the nearby Zechen Zollverein and Helene & Amalie. Around 1840 systematic prospecting of the fields north of the Altenessener Marktes began. In 1855 the Kölner Bergwerks-Verein under Friedrich Grillo founded the Gewerkschaft Hercules in Altenessen, one of the first Ruhr collieries to be organised as an Aktiengesellschaft or joint-stock enterprise.
Shaft sinking began in 1855; the shaft was fitted from the outset with a large Malakowturm of 1856 with flanking two-storey machine house wings, a distinctive feature marking the transition from earlier timber headframe forms. The shaft entered production in 1861, and in the same year the Gewerkschaft Hercules was acquired by the Kölner Bergwerks-Verein and renamed Zeche Carl, the name being derived from the concession name. The colliery was one of the first in the Ruhr to use two steam winding machines simultaneously: the first was installed in 1857, the second in 1863 — the second could be introduced after the mining authority approved Seilfahrt (cage personnel transport) in 1863, freeing the previously planned Fahrkunst trum.
A 300 PS water pumping machine was installed in 1861. By 1860 coal was transported from the pit via a branch line to the Bahnhof Altenessen of the Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn. In 1867 the Rheinische Eisenbahn added a connection to Altenessen with its own station (Bahnhof Rheinisch) in front of the Malakowturm.
In 1871 the Bergisch-Märkische-Eisenbahn completed the Emschertalbahn tangentially north of the colliery site. The gassing of Schacht Carl with the Zeche Fritz in 1862 established an early underground connection between the two installations. During the economically difficult years of the Gründerkrise and subsequent decade, Emil Krabler took over as Grubendirektor in 1868 and led the colliery until 1907.
Under his direction the Emscherschächte were sunk from 1873 (Schacht 1) to 1876, coal preparation and coke works were developed, and workers' housing settlements were established. Schacht 1 of the Emscherschächte (1873–76) was fitted with one of the first Promnitz-type steel headframes in the Ruhr. From 1883 a coke works operated beside Schacht Carl.
The colliery's maximum annual output in this era reached approximately 150,000–200,000 tonnes. In 1912 the Kölner Bergwerks-Verein merged with the Bergbau-Gesellschaft Neu-Essen to form the Köln-Neuessener Bergwerksverein, bringing the Schacht Carl, Anna, Emscher I/II, and Emil installations — as well as the more distant Zechen Baldur in Dorsten and Radbod in Hamm-Hövel — into a single enterprise. Anna was already closed in 1913.
In 1920 an Interessenvertrag was signed with the Hoesch AG. In 1924 the final consolidation of the two merging companies formed the Köln-Neuessener Bergwerksverein in its final form. Following the purchase of the Köln-Neuessener Bergwerksverein by the Hoesch AG in 1930, Hoesch rationalised the northern Essen operations.
Coal winding at Schacht Carl was halted in 1929 and the colliery was incorporated into the combined Zeche Emil-Emscher. The headframe at Schacht Carl was dismantled at this time. The shaft was retained as a ventilation shaft allocated to the Zeche Emil-Emscher.
The ventilation function was abandoned in 1955 and all remaining functions of the site ended in 1970. The Malakowturm, now lacking its inserted steel headframe, continued to stand over the unfilled shaft. The city of Essen subsequently purchased the 11-hectare former colliery site.
A citizens' initiative comprising local residents, young people, and the local evangelical Kirchengemeinde founded the Zentrum Zeche Carl e.V. in 1977 and converted the ensemble into a socio-cultural centre, which is today one of the oldest centres of this type in Germany. After the first operating association became insolvent in 2008, a new operating entity continued the centre. The preserved buildings include: the Malakowturm of 1856–57 with its flanking machine house wings; the former Bergwerkscasino with Kaue and administration building of 1890; a winding machine house of 1900; a boiler plant with chimney of 1924; and parts of the old coke works wall.
The entire building ensemble is listed under Denkmalschutz and is part of the Route der Industriekultur.