Zeche Teutoburgia — Schacht I Herne · Nordrhein-Westfalen · Germany

The history of Zeche Teutoburgia begins with the prospecting of coal in the area of Herne-Börnig (then Holthausen) in the mid-nineteenth century. On 10 September 1855 the merchant Carl Wilhelm Rüping submitted the first Mutung at Holthausen and was successful, naming the seam he had located 'Laura'. On 6 August 1856 Rüping made a second Mutung at the Gut Schlingenberg, between the Haus Callenberg, the community of Holthausen, and Obercastrop.

The grant of the Teutoburgia fields was effected in 1858. In 1866 both Mutungen were purchased by the Irishman William Thomas Mulvany, who had already been responsible for sinking several Ruhr collieries. Mulvany sank initial shafts but quickly recognised that the field was too small for profitable working and sold the installation.

The next significant phase began when the Bochumer Verein für Bergbau und Gussstahlfabrikation acquired a Grubenfeld from the Gewerkschaft Teutoburgia and proceeded to resink Schächte I and II between 1905 and 1909. The Deutsches Strebengerüst that survives today over Schacht I (the canonical Schacht II in the site's TSV designation, as Schacht I is the Förderschacht and Schacht II the Wetterschacht — though German sources consistently refer to the surviving headframe as that over Schacht I) was erected in 1907–08. Production was taken up on 1 April 1911.

Eight months later, in late 1911, a serious firedamp explosion killed six workers on the colliery. The coal from the upper levels proved non-coking in quality, geological disturbances repeatedly interrupted extraction, and the field proved consistently too small to generate the volumes needed for profitability. In 1925 the Bochumer Verein closed the Zeche Teutoburgia as uneconomic; approximately 1,500 workers found new employment at the neighbouring Zechen Constantin and Mont Cenis.

After the formation of the Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG, the Teutoburgia facilities were combined with those of the Zeche Erin in Castrop-Rauxel, to exploit the residual coal reserves from the Erin side. In 1929 the Durchschlag between Zechen Erin and Teutoburgia was effected. Initially the Teutoburgia shafts served only as Wetterschächte for Erin; later Seilfahrt was also undertaken here for the Erin workforce.

In 1941 Erin resumed coal production through the Teutoburgia shafts, continuing until the final closure in 1983 — a closure that rendered 3,800 miners unemployed at one stroke. By that date the Teutoburgia installation had been in some form of active use continuously, if intermittently, for over 70 years. Following the closure the Betriebsgelände was progressively cleared.

The headframe over Schacht I and the Fördermaschinenhalle were recognised as important monuments and entered into the Denkmalliste in 1984 as Baudenkmale. The rest of the surface buildings, apart from part of the surrounding wall, were demolished in connection with the preparation of the Abschlussbetriebsplan. The threatened headframe and Maschinenhalle were saved through the initiative of the Klangbildhauer (sound sculptor) Christof Schläger, who had been developing artistic and acoustic work in the Ruhr industrial landscape.

In 1987 Schläger founded the Förderverein Teutoburgia e.V. to advocate for the preservation of the historic colliery structures and to develop arts projects on the former Betriebsgelände. The Kommunalverband Ruhrgebiet and the Land NRW then invested 700,000 Mark in the conversion of the 5.5-hectare colliery site into a themed woodland park, and a further 2.4 million Mark in the restoration of the headframe and Maschinenhalle. By 1991 both structures had been fully restored and the KunstWald Teutoburgia was created on the former colliery site: a park designed by ten artists under Schläger's direction, integrating sound installations, scent gardens, sculptures (including a 12-metre steel 'Fußgänger' figure by Monika Günther and Manfred Walz), and nature plantings (6,000 new trees and shrubs, including oak, ash, hornbeam, and cherry).

At the centre of the park the Protegohaube over former Schacht II has been incorporated as a landscape element. The restored Maschinenhalle has since 1991 served as a regular venue for art and music events managed by the Förderverein. The headframe is illuminated at night and is visible from a considerable distance including from the A42 motorway.

The colliery is part of the Route der Industriekultur. At the western edge of the former site, the Herner Stadtwerke operate an installation that captures underground methane from the former coal workings and uses it in a combined heat and power plant for district heating of the adjacent Siedlung Teutoburgia and for electricity generation. The Förderturm is currently undergoing structural restoration works that are expected to be completed by summer 2026.