Former coal mine shaft in Lebach-Falscheid, the last coal-winding shaft of the Saarland, whose 48-metre 1986/87 headframe — the heaviest ever erected in German mining — was demolished after filling of the shaft in 2020.
The Nordschacht of the Bergwerk Saar at Lebach-Falscheid was the most recently sunk coal mine shaft in the Saarland and, at its final depth of 1,751 metres, was until 2012 the deepest operating shaft in Europe. The Spatenstich was given on 22 September 1981; the shaft first entered service as a Frischwetterschacht in 1983, and four years later was expanded into a Seilfahrt- and Materialschacht. The imposing 48-metre steel headframe, completed in 1986 and commissioned with the rest of the surface complex in September 1987, was at the time of its erection the heaviest Fördergerüst in German mining at 800 tonnes.
On 13 January 1997 the shaft was deepened to 1,751 metres and connected to the 24. Sohle at 1,712 metres depth. Coal production at the Bergwerk Saar ended in June 2012; the Nordschacht continued accessible for an auxiliary Seilfahranlage until mid-2020.
It was subsequently filled, and the headframe was demolished.
Coal production in the broader Ensdorf/Schwalbach mining area is recorded from 1730. The Grube Ensdorf, the direct predecessor of the Nordschacht's parent operation, developed from the Gruben Griesborn and Duhamel that had been separated from the Kronprinz Friedrich Wilhelm complex in the early twentieth century. By the 1970s the Grube Ensdorf had become the most productive deep coal mine in western Europe by underground output per man shift, reaching a record of 12,334 kg/MS in August 1977. The extensive Nordfeld of the mine, stretching far north from the Ensdorf surface complex, required a new dedicated surface access point with sufficient depth to connect to the working faces at depth.
The Spatenstich for the Nordschacht was given on 22 September 1981 at the site in Lebach-Falscheid, in the Landkreis Saarlouis. The shaft was sunk in the green landscape west of Lebach, earning it the informal designation Schacht im Grünen. In 1983 the shaft first entered service as a Frischwetterschacht. Four years later, in September 1987, the full surface complex was taken into operation as a Seilfahrt- and Materialschacht, celebrated with a three-day Bergfest. The surface complex was designed with aesthetic and functional ambitions: a Kauengebäude for 2,200 persons, a Kombinationsgebäude housing technical installations, and a car park for approximately 450 vehicles form a stepped terrace arrangement, dominated from above by the 48-metre Fördergerüst. At the time of its erection the headframe was, at approximately 800 tonnes, the heaviest Fördergerüst ever constructed in German mining.
On 13 January 1997 the shaft was deepened from its initial depth to 1,751 metres, and was connected to the 24. Sohle at 1,712 metres depth. The Nordschacht thereby became the deepest operating shaft in Europe, exceeded only by the Schacht 371 of the Wismut with more than 1,800 metres. The Nordschacht served as the primary Seilfahrt- and Materialstandort for the northern Baufeld, allowing the workforce of the Bergwerk Ensdorf (and from 2004 the Bergwerk Saar) to reach the northernmost extraction faces without travelling via the Ensdorf surface complex.
The Bergwerk Saar was constituted on 1 January 2004 from the merger of the Bergwerk Warndt/Luisenthal and the Bergwerk Ensdorf. It was the last active colliery of the RAG Deutsche Steinkohle AG in the Saarland. In 2007 annual output was approximately 3.5 million tonnes of Flammkohle, with daily output averaging around 14,400 tonnes, employing nearly 4,000 persons and generating turnover of approximately 517 million euros. A Gebirgsschlag registering 4.0 on the Richter scale on 23 February 2008 prompted a temporary Abbaustopp ordered by the Saarland state government, and initiated a political debate about the future of Saar mining. Bergwerksbetreiber and politics resolved to end production; coal mining at the Bergwerk Saar was brought to an end in June 2012.
With the end of active production, the Nordschacht had already become technically dispensable, but plans for a Pumpspeicherkraftwerk using the shaft's depth and geographic position were investigated; these came to nothing when no financing could be found. The shaft was maintained accessible via a Hilfsfahranlage until mid-2020. It was then filled. The headframe — which had not been placed under Denkmalschutz — was demolished following the filling of the shaft. The Bergwerk Saar Duhamelschacht site in Ensdorf was converted into the Duhamel Park, now the seat of the RAG Grubenwasserhaltung and of a heritage exhibition.