Former Herten hard coal colliery preserving three generations of listed headframe architecture — the 1888 Malakowturm over Schacht I, the 1928 steel headframe over Schacht II, and the 1955 Fritz Schupp Doppelstrebengerüst over Schacht VII — as a major anc
Zeche Ewald was a hard coal colliery in the Herten district, founded in 1871 by 21 investors including the Essen entrepreneur Ewald Hilger, after whom the mine was named. The Gewerkschaft began sinking Schacht 1 (named Hilger after the founder) in 1871 at the southern edge of the sparsely populated Emscherbruch north of Herten; the rich Flöz Bismarck was reached on 27 July 1876. Production began in 1877.
Workers' housing was established from 1874. A second shaft (Schacht 2, later called Hagedorn) was begun in 1888, reaching its final depth of 600 m by 1891. The Malakowturm over Schacht 1 was enlarged in 1888 and remains standing.
In 1899 the colliery passed to the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG. The early twentieth century brought extensive development including multiple subsidiary shaft installations at Resse and Westerholt; a coke works opened in 1901. In 1954 a new Zentralförderschacht 7 was equipped with a Fritz Schupp Doppelstrebengerüst (1955) and shaft hall; the steam engines were replaced by electric winders in the 1980s.
The mine was closed on 28 April 2000. The Malakowturm over Schacht I, the steel headframe over Schacht 2 (1928), and the Doppelstrebengerüst over Schacht 7 (1955) are all listed Baudenkmale and remain standing as part of the redeveloped Zukunftsstandort Ewald, with over 1,200 new jobs on the 52-hectare site.
The origins of Zeche Ewald lie in 1871, when 21 shareholders (Gewerken) founded the Gewerkschaft Ewald in the southern Hertener Mark, at the edge of the Emscherbruch — then a thinly populated woodland and wetland landscape far from any significant settlement. The Gewerkschaft was named after one of the founding shareholders, the Essen entrepreneur Ewald Hilger (1833–1887), who had interests in mining, steel, and brewing. Sinking of Schacht 1 (Schacht Hilger) began in 1871.
The early years were plagued by difficulties: Gründerkrise recession after 1873 caused severe Absatzschwierigkeiten, geological disturbances were encountered in the shaft area, and recruiting workers for the remote location proved extremely difficult. To attract and retain workers, ten wooden-clad houses were erected south of Herten at the Sophienstraße as early as 1875. The labour shortage also prompted the Gewerkschaft to conduct organised recruitment campaigns in Silesia, northern Bohemia, and the Erzgebirge.
The rich Flöz Bismarck was not reached until 27 July 1876; it provided the basis for production for the following decade. Production at Schacht 1 commenced in 1877, initially modest due to the continuing geological difficulties and the weak coal market. In 1888, on the order of the Bergbehörde which threatened forced closure without an additional shaft, sinking of Schacht 2 (later named Schacht Hagedorn) began 42 m from Schacht 1, with a diameter of 5 m.
A Ringofen erected in 1888 produced bricks for building the shaft. By 12 November 1891 the sinking and equipping of Schacht 2 to 600 m had been completed, and a Wolff'sche Wasserhaltungsmaschine and a steel headframe were erected at it. After the commissioning of Schacht 2, Schacht Hilger was deepened to 710 m, improved, and thereafter used with its full cross-section as the outgoing ventilation shaft.
The Malakowturm over Schacht 1 was raised by 11 m to accommodate higher rope-sheave positions and higher hoisting speeds; a more powerful winding engine was simultaneously installed. In 1892 Schacht 2 began production. By 1900 the colliery had achieved substantial expansion and was connected to a new installation at Resse with its own shafts and railway connections between the two sites.
In 1899 the colliery passed to the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG (GBAG). In 1901 a coke works was erected. From the turn of the century the colliery's underground workings expanded progressively northwards; a new subsidiary installation at Westerholt was developed with additional shafts.
Further shafts at Ewald proper were sunk: Schacht 3 (Resse), Schacht 4, Schacht 5, and Schacht 6 (Westerholt). In 1908 the colliery passed to the Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG. After the Second World War, under the post-war Allied Entflechtung, the colliery came to a reorganised company.
In 1954 a new central shaft, Schacht 7, was sunk as the new Zentralförderschacht. In 1955 the Fritz Schupp Doppelstrebengerüst and the associated shaft hall and north and south machine houses were erected over Schacht 7. From that point all production was concentrated at Schacht 7.
In the 1980s the steam hoisting machines at Schacht 7 were replaced by electric hoisting machines as part of the conversion from Gestell- to Skipförderung. In 1986 the 40-metre steel headframe over Schacht 2 was rotated for technical reasons; thereafter the rope sheaves were driven from the south. In 1989 a Verbund was concluded with the Zeche Schlägel & Eisen; in 1997 the combined operation was further merged with the Zeche Hugo to form the Bergwerk Ewald/Hugo.
The mine was closed on 28 April 2000, ending approximately 130 years of active coal production. After the closure, large parts of the surface buildings on the Schachtanlage 1/2/7 were demolished. The Malakowturm over Schacht 1, the steel headframe over Schacht 2, and the Doppelstrebengerüst over Schacht 7 were retained as listed Baudenkmale.
The redevelopment plan by the architects Cino Zucchi, Martin Halfmann, and Peter Köster (2002) established the concept of a Historische Schicht — a preserved zone centring on the three headframes as visible Leuchttürme — connected by the new Ewaldpromenade to the wider Landschaftspark Hoheward. From 2010 the Lohn- und Lichthalle was converted into the RVR-Besucherzentrum Hoheward, housing the interactive exhibition 'Neue Horizonte'. The RevuePalast Ruhr opened in 2009 in the former Fördermaschinenhaus Schacht 1 of 1916.
The Heizzentrale was adapted as the RevuePalast performance venue. By 2010 more than 20 new enterprises, including an international logistics sector and the Wasserstoff-Kompetenzzentrum, had established on the site with approximately 1,200 jobs. From 2023 the Doppelstrebengerüst over Schacht 7 is illuminated each evening by LED spotlights that cast the 65-metre structure in red — the company colour of the Motorworld developer who is expanding the site.