Former hard coal mine shaft at Hohndorf, one of the Ida and Helene Schächte of the Vereinigtfeld and Steinkohlenbauverein Hohndorf operations, abandoned 1932 and filled, with the former Heleneschacht area now part of the settled landscape of Hohndorf.
The Heleneschacht was one of the shafts belonging to the Steinkohlenbauverein Hohndorf and the associated hard coal operations in the Lugau-Oelsnitzer Steinkohlenrevier. The Steinkohlenbauverein Hohndorf was one of the mining companies founded in 1871 in the wave of new enterprises that followed the growth of the Lugau-Oelsnitzer revier. Around 1900 the coal dispatch from the entire revier was concentrated at the Hauptbahnhof Oelsnitz, from which Zechenbahnen led to the Schächte Vereinigtfeld, Ida, and Helene in Hohndorf and to the other mining operations in the area.
In 1920 the Gewerkschaft Deutschland acquired the Gesamtvermögen of the Steinkohlenbauverein Hohndorf, incorporating its field and shafts including the Heleneschacht. The Gewerkschaft Deutschland concentrated coal production on its two Deutschlandschächte, using the other shafts only for Seilfahrt, materials transport, and ventilation. The Heleneschacht was abgeworfen and filled in 1932.
The Steinkohlenbauverein Hohndorf was among the Steinkohlenbauvereine constituted in 1871 in the Lugau-Oelsnitzer Steinkohlenrevier, part of the wave of new enterprises that formed following the expansion of the Oelsnitz-Lugauer coal market driven by the growth of the German rail network and metallurgical industries. The revier around Oelsnitz, Lugau, Hohndorf, and Gersdorf contained multiple coal seams in the Erzgebirgisches Becken, exploitable by shaft sinking to several hundred metres depth.
The Steinkohlenbauverein Hohndorf held Grubenfelder in and around Hohndorf. By around 1900 the Hauptbahnhof Oelsnitz had grown into a substantial coal-despatch node — equipped with 30 tracks, 58 points, and a Rangierberg — serving the entire revier. Zechenbahnen from the station led to the Schächte Vereinigtfeld, Ida, and Helene in Hohndorf, and to the operations at Gersdorf and Oelsnitz itself. The Heleneschacht and the Idaschacht were among the Hohndorf shafts connected to this Zechenbahn network.
In 1920 the Gewerkschaft Deutschland, having already acquired the majority share of the Oelsnitzer Bergbaugewerkschaft in 1919, purchased the Gesamtvermögen of the Steinkohlenbauverein Hohndorf. This gave the Gewerkschaft Deutschland control of the Heleneschacht and the other Hohndorf shafts. In the Umbaumaßnahmen of the early 1920s and 1930s, the Gewerkschaft Deutschland concentrated its coal production entirely on the two Deutschlandschächte, reducing the other shafts including the Heleneschacht to auxiliary functions — Seilfahrt, materials transport, and Wetterführung. In 1932 the Heleneschacht was abgeworfen and verfüllt. The other Hohndorf shafts continued to serve in auxiliary capacity until the final Stilllegung of the broader Deutschland operations.