Site overview
Zeche Alte Haase - Schacht I is associated with one of the oldest continuously documented mining sites in the Ruhr, with Stollenbetrieb recorded from the seventeenth century and the formal field grant (Längenfeld Alte Haase) dated 29 February 1716. The mine was operated intermittently as a small Stollenzeche until the railway reached Sprockhövel in 1884 and enabled the transition to Tiefbau. The principal shaft, Schacht I (Julie), was sunk in 1883 to an initial depth of 85 metres; it was deepened over subsequent decades to 536 metres.
In 1897 a masonry Malakowturm was erected over Schacht I — the last such tower to be built in Germany, the youngest, smallest, and southernmost of the surviving examples in the Ruhr. A companion Schacht II was sunk in 1922/24. By 1913 over 2,000 miners were employed and annual output had exceeded 600,000 tonnes.
The Gewerkschaft was liquidated in 1925 and the mine taken over in 1926 by the Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke Westfalen, which operated it until the final closure on 30 April 1969. The Malakowturm was listed on the Denkmalliste of the city of Sprockhövel on 5 July 1983 and restored in 1992/93. The Schacht I/II complex is part of the Route der Industriekultur.
Map
History
The Zeche Alte Haase in Niedersprockhövel is regarded as the oldest continuously documented mine in the southern Ruhr. The earliest attested workings in the Paasbachtal are from 1692; the field grant Längenfeld Alte Haase was formally issued on 29 February 1716, representing a Nachverleihung of an older grant no longer traceable. A supplementary field, the Beilehn named Die kleine Kuh, was added on 4 May 1836. Until the later nineteenth century the operation was conducted as a Stollenzeche with a small workforce of 30 to 40, serving the smithies of the Bergisches Land with anthracite-like Hausbrandkohle. The mine experienced several periods of suspension; in 1837 a water inrush at Schacht Ringeltaube caused the mine to flood, and all shafts were filled in 1839. The Edeltraut-Erbstollen, driven from 1858, reached the colliery's seams in 1866 and deferred the need for Tiefbau for a further period by providing 12 metres of additional head. Coal could from 1883 be loaded at the Bahnhof Sprockhövel on the Strecke Hattingen–Wuppertal.
In 1875 a Dampfmaschine was acquired to pump Grundwasser from the Grube up into the Edeltraud-Erbstollen: this was the beginning of Tiefbau. In 1883 the Hauptförderschacht with the name Julie was sunk to an initial depth of 85 metres; it was named after Julie Dothbruch, the wife of the principal Gewerke and a descendant of Dietrich Krefting zum Doddebruch, who lodged the first Mutung on Alte Haase in 1716. In 1897 a masonry Malakowturm was erected over Schacht Julie. This tower is the last Malakowturm to have been built in Germany, the youngest, the smallest, and the only surviving example south of the Ruhr. The tower was built with an iron Seilscheibengerüst inserted into the masonry from the outset, which means that its proper classification as a pure Malakowturm is disputed among specialists; some regard it as a Hängebankverkleidung.
By 1889 the mine employed 112 Bergleute producing 27,894 tonnes. In 1904 output exceeded 100,000 tonnes with 414 workers. By 1913 the belegschaft had grown to over 2,100 and annual output to some 611,000 tonnes. The mine's field expanded through the acquisition of neighbouring Gewerkschaften; by the twentieth century the Abbaufläche covered 47 km², making it one of the largest Bergwerke in Germany by area, though the coal reserves per square metre of surface (about 3 m³) were far lower than those of the northern Ruhr collieries. The Berechtsame included the Geviertfeld Edeltrauterbstollen, consolidated by Bestätigungsurkunde of 8 May 1862 from the fields Edeltraut, Edeltraut II, and Edeltraut Erbstollen.
A Brikettfabrik was erected in 1891, and by 1922 the mine's coal was being delivered via a Seilbahn to the Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Hattingen of the Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke Westfalen (VEW). Sinking of Schacht II at the same Schacht I/II site began in May 1922; the shaft had a circular cross-section with a diameter of 4.4 metres and a final depth of 344 metres, and came into operation in 1924 along with a new Brikettfabrik and Wäsche. In 1925 the mine was closed by the Gewerkschaft for reasons of Absatzmangel, following the wider wave of closures in the southern Ruhr. The 1,300-strong workforce resisted closure, and for approximately nine months the miners maintained operations in Eigenregie including the unpaid upkeep of the Wasserhaltung to prevent the mine flooding. Although the Gewerkschaft was liquidated on 16 November 1925, the mine itself did not flood. In 1926 the VEW took over the Kuxe and re-opened the mine to supply coal to the Gemeinschaftskraftwerk at Hattingen.
In 1929 peak annual output of approximately 807,500 tonnes with 2,875 miners was recorded. An outside shaft, Im Brahm, was commissioned in 1952 for Seilfahrt and Wetterführung with a depth of 350 metres to the fourth level; a further outside shaft, Niederheide, was sunk in 1963; and the most modern installation, Schachtanlage Buchholz, was commissioned in 1965 with hydraulic coal winning and belt conveyors. Massive Bergschäden in the Buchholz area accelerated the end of the mine. Zeche Alte Haase was a founding member of the Ruhrkohle AG in 1968 with a Beteiligungsziffer of 0.22 per cent. The final closure took effect on 30 April 1969, by which point economically workable reserves were considered exhausted.
The Malakowturm was entered on the Denkmalliste of the city of Sprockhövel by council resolution on 5 July 1983. It was substantially restored in 1992/93, with two reinforced concrete floors inserted for structural stability. The Schacht I/II complex, a 200-metre-long building ensemble with the Malakowturm dividing the two-storey building facade into symmetrical halves, is a designated stop on the Route der Industriekultur. The site is closed to the public for security reasons, but the park beneath it displays outdoor Bergbauexponate. Parts of the former administrative building are used as offices; some sections of the complex have been converted to residential Lofts.
Timeline
First attested workings in the Paasbachtal; Flöz Alte Haase opened
Formal field grant Längenfeld Alte Haase issued
Edeltraut-Erbstollen driven to the colliery seams
First steam pump marks beginning of Tiefbau
Schacht I (Julie) sunk to 85 metres
Schacht I enters production; railway connection enables expanded output
Malakowturm erected over Schacht I — last in Germany
Schacht II sunk alongside Schacht I; new Brikettfabrik and Wäsche commissioned
Gewerkschaft closes the mine; workers maintain operations in Eigenregie
Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke Westfalen acquires the mine and resumes production
Peak output of approximately 807,500 tonnes with 2,875 miners
Final closure of Zeche Alte Haase
Malakowturm entered on Denkmalliste of Sprockhövel
Malakowturm substantially restored
Sources and records
Route der Industriekultur: Zeche Alte Haase
Baukunst-NRW: Zeche Alte Haase, Sprockhövel
Bergbauaktiv.de: Geschichte Zeche Alte Haase (Uwe Peise, 2012/2014)
Bergbau-Dortmund.de: Zeche Alte Haase
Ruhrkohlenrevier.de: Früher Bergbau, Zeche Alte Haase
Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Sprockhövel e.V.: Alte-Haase-Weg Nord
Ruhrzechenaus.de: Zeche Alte Haase, Sprockhövel
Minehunters.de: Zeche Alte Haase
Der Landgraph: Die Zechen im südlichen Ruhrgebiet
Alte-Haase.de: Historie