Former Herten-Westerholt hard coal colliery whose listed founding buildings and the 1989 Förderturm over Schacht I survive as the Neue Zeche Westerholt — a mixed residential, commercial, and cultural redevelopment in progress on the Gelsenkirchen–Herten b
Zeche Westerholt was a hard coal colliery straddling the boundary between Gelsenkirchen-Hassel and Herten-Westerholt, established when the Prussian state began acquiring large northern Ruhr coalfields around 1902 to secure independent coal supplies for the Kaiser's navy and state railways. Coal fields in the Gelsenkirchen-Buer and Westerholt area were consolidated in 1902 as the Steinkohlenbergwerk Buer; from 1905 field interests were divided into Berginspektionen and the installation now known as Zeche Westerholt was assigned as Berginspektion 3. In 1907 sinking of Schächte 1 and 2 began exactly on the Buer-Westerholt boundary; the colliery entered service in 1910 with two Deutsches Strebengerüst headframes and a Prussian state-commissioned ensemble of gründerzeitlich red-brick pithead buildings.
A coke works entered service in 1912. Annual output exceeded one million tonnes by 1920. In 1925 the installation was reconstituted as the independent Zeche Westerholt; from 1927 it passed with the entire Bergwerks-AG Recklinghausen holdings to the Hibernia AG.
After war damage, post-war modernisation, and the sinking of Schacht 3 (1956), the colliery achieved peak output of 3.05 million tonnes. Passed to the Ruhrkohle AG in 1968, it merged with Bergwerk Fürst Leopold/Wulfen in 1998 to form the Bergwerk Lippe, the last active colliery in Gelsenkirchen and Herten, which was closed on 19 December 2008. The founding red-brick pithead buildings of Schächte 1 and 2 — multiple Torhaus, Lohnhalle, Kaue, and administration buildings — are listed Baudenkmale and are being integrated into the Neue Zeche Westerholt mixed redevelopment project, alongside the 1989 Förderturm over Schacht 1.
The origins of the Zeche Westerholt lie in a decision by the Prussian state around 1900 to acquire large coalfields in the northern Ruhr and southern Münsterland to supply the rapidly growing needs of the Kaiser's navy and state railways without dependence on private colliery owners. Around 1900–1902 the state assembled large field holdings in the area of Gelsenkirchen-Buer and Westerholt and consolidated them in 1902 as the Steinkohlenbergwerk Buer. The Bergwerks-AG Recklinghausen was founded with state-majority ownership to manage these holdings; from 1905 it was managed in Personalunion with the Hibernia AG.
In 1905 the field holdings were divided into Berginspektionen: the installation later known as Zeche Westerholt was designated Berginspektion 3. In 1907, because the Prussian state's policy required each Berginspektion to have two separate Förderanlagen, sinking of the eigenständige Förderschachtanlage Westerholt 1/2 began on the boundary between Buer and Westerholt. Schacht 1 was positioned exactly on the boundary; Schacht 2 lay in Hassel.
For representational and prestige purposes the Prussian state commissioned lavish Gründerzeitlich buildings in red brick with white-trimmed cornices, reveals, and curved gables — a deliberate display of state power in industrial architecture. A brick kiln was erected on the colliery site in 1909 to supply bricks for the construction; in the same period a garden-city-style workers' housing settlement was laid out in direct view of the colliery. The colliery entered operation in 1910, equipped with two Deutsches Strebengerüste headframes.
A coke works entered service in 1912. The installation developed rapidly: by 1920 the annual output had already exceeded one million tonnes. In 1925 the Berginspektion 3 was dissolved and the installation reconstituted as the independent Zeche Westerholt.
In 1927 the entire holdings of the Bergwerks-AG Recklinghausen — including the Zeche Westerholt — were transferred to the Hibernia AG. During the Second World War the headframe over Schacht 2 was the only one in the entire Ruhr to be completely destroyed. After the war it was replaced by a new closed headframe (geschlossener Förderturm).
Post-war modernisation under Hibernia included the westward relocation of the coke works to the new Zentralkokerei Hassel, erected in 1952 with 160 ovens; the freed site was used for improvements to the surface installation. Schacht 3, begun in 1956 alongside the Schachtanlage 1/2, was equipped with a closed headframe. In 1960 an underground connection (Durchschlag) was made to the neighbouring Zeche Bergmannsglück, and the two were combined into a Verbundgemeinschaft.
The use of 4,500-litre Grubenwagen began at this point, greatly increasing output capacity. The combined colliery achieved peak output of 3.05 million tonnes annually. In 1968 the Zeche Westerholt was incorporated into the Ruhrkohle AG as the Bergwerk Westerholt.
In the late 1980s, between 1987 and 1991, Schacht 1 was deepened to serve as the central Seilfahrt- und Materialschacht of the combined operation. In 1989 it received a new Förderturm over the deepened shaft. In 1998, under the Deutsche Steinkohle AG to which the Bergwerk Westerholt had been transferred, the Westerholt mine was merged with the Bergwerk Fürst Leopold/Wulfen to form the Bergwerk Lippe, combining the Schächte Westerholt 1/3, Polsum 1, Polsum 2, Altendorf, and Fürst Leopold 1 and 2.
Schacht Westerholt 2 was abandoned and backfilled in 1999; its headframe was removed. On 19 December 2008 the last wagon of coal was raised at the Zeche Westerholt (Bergwerk Lippe), ending coal mining in both Gelsenkirchen and Herten. The 1,700 remaining workers were transferred or took early retirement.
Following closure, a Masterplan for the Neue Zeche Westerholt was developed from 2015 by the cities of Gelsenkirchen and Herten jointly with RAG Montan Immobilien. The 39-hectare site is being transformed into a mixed quarter with housing, commercial premises, and cultural uses. The founding red-brick pithead buildings of the Schachtanlage 1/2 — including the west and east Torhaus (formerly Pförtnerhaus, later Lohnbüro/Gesundheitshaus, and Feuerwache with automobile and wagon sheds), the Lohnhalle, the Verwaltungsgebäude, the Kaue, and the Waschkaue — are listed Baudenkmale.
The ensemble was named LWL Denkmal des Monats June 2010. The 1989 Förderturm over Schacht 1 was restored in 2020, with 24 LED spotlights installed; four lasers on the roof of the headframe simulate the former winding ropes. The former winding machines housed in the Maschinenhäuser include twin tandem winding engines with two operating consoles and hand-operated crane tracks.
Germany's first solar road was installed on the colliery site in June 2020. Schacht 3, though a later construction, has been the subject of a heritage campaign; its long-term future remained under discussion as of 2017.