The von Velsen I shaft complex at Bleicherode East, a listed ensemble and the only surviving Prussian state potash surface complex with largely original interior fittings, now used for underground waste disposal.
Schacht von Velsen I, the founding shaft of the Kalibergwerk Bleicherode, is a Prussian fiscal potash mine whose surface buildings were begun in 1899 between Bleicherode and Kehmstedt. Named after the royal Prussian Oberberghauptmann Gustav Julius von Velsen (1847–1923), the shaft entered production in April 1902 and potash winding continued from its 4.85-metre-diameter tube until 1990. A second shaft, von Velsen II, was added 30 metres away and completed in June 1903, serving as the intake ventilation shaft.
The concession area of 64 consolidated Grubenfelder extended across twenty Gemarkungen and was divided into seven individual fields in 1909. A Chlorkaliumfabrik was erected at the Stammwerk in 1903–04 and progressively enlarged before the First World War. The surface building ensemble, constructed by the Prussian state to a high architectural standard, is the only surviving example of a Prussian state potash complex with largely original interior fittings and stands under Denkmalschutz.
After closure in 1990 the mine was acquired by NDH-Entsorgungsbetreibergesellschaft mbH (NDH-E) for underground waste disposal.
The Kalibergwerk Bleicherode operated as a fiscal undertaking of the Prussian state on a concession area of 64 Grubenfelder in the Gemarkungen Jützenbach, Wernrode, Neustadt, Trebra, Lipprechterode, Craja, Bliedengen, Frondrode, Kehmstedt, Bleicherode, Sollstedt, Niedergebra, Elende, Mörbach, Hainrode, Wollersleben, Rüxleben, Klein-Furra, Hain, and Uthleben. These fields were consolidated in 1899 and divided into seven individual fields in 1909. They bordered in the east on the fields of the Nordhäuser Kaliwerke (Deutschland III and IV) at Hain near Nordhausen; to the south on the Gewerkschaft Glückauf-Sondershausen; to the southwest on the fields of the Aktiengesellschaft Kaliwerk Ludwigshall in the Gemarkungen Klein-Furra, Rüxleben, Wernrode, and Hainrode; and to the west on the Kaliwerk Sollstedt, Deutsche Kaliwerke, and Neubleicherode.
On 2 May 1899 sinking of Schacht I, designated von Velsen I, began between Bleicherode and Kehmstedt. Both von Velsen I and von Velsen II were fitted with the relatively small shaft diameter of 4.85 metres. One year after sinking began, Schacht von Velsen II was started only 30 metres away; it was provisionally completed and entered service in June 1903 as the intake ventilation shaft. The shafts were named after the royal Prussian Oberberghauptmann Gustav Julius von Velsen (1847–1923).
The winding installation of Schacht von Velsen I entered service in April 1902 and syndikat production of milled hard salt began on 1 October 1902. To process the carnallite salts present in the deposit, the Berginspektion erected a Chlorkaliumfabrik at the Bleicherode Stammwerk in 1903–04; this factory received several extensions before the outbreak of the First World War. Both the von Velsen shafts and the Althans shafts at Kleinbodungen were equipped with a mill, a raw salt warehouse, and a rail connection. At the von Velsen site there was additionally an electrical generating centre (elektrische Kraftzentrale) and the Chlorkaliumfabrik.
To exploit richer ore sections more extensively, the Bleicherode operation was expanded by two shaft installations at Kleinbodungen. Sinking of Schacht Althans I began on 1 July 1911 and of Schacht Althans II on 1 December of the same year; the shafts were completed in 1912 and 1913 respectively.
The surface building ensemble at von Velsen I, erected by the Prussian state to a deliberately high architectural standard, is today the only surviving complex of a Prussian state potash mine with largely original interior fittings. It stands under Denkmalschutz. The salt heap (Kalihalde) that dominates the landscape south of the town began accumulating in 1940.
During the Second World War the underground workings at Bleicherode served as a relocated centre for rocket research following the RAF bombing of the Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde on 17–18 August 1943. In the first months of 1945 most of the scientists formerly stationed at Peenemünde, led by Dr. Wernher von Braun, were based at Bleicherode. American forces occupied the area first, then handed it to the Soviet forces. While von Braun went to the United States, the Soviet forces assembled numerous German rocket specialists at Bleicherode. In 1947 the rocket research centre was transferred deep into the USSR, where the programme culminated in the launch of the satellite Sputnik in 1957.
Potash extraction was discontinued in 1990. In August 1991 planned backfilling measures were begun by introducing bulk materials into the underground voids. On 16 October 1990 a serious accident (Havarie) caused severe damage to the Fördermaschinen-Gebäude of Schacht I. Reconstruction of this building was the central task of the Entwicklungsgesellschaft des Landkreises Nordhausen (EGN), which established a Bergbau-Museum branch office at the shaft complex with 34 workers from 1 June 1991. Repair and conservation work was carried out on the shaft hall with its grinding mill and on the shaft perimeter wall. An ambitious plan to create a permanent Bergbaumuseum at the site failed to secure the necessary funding and institutional sponsorship from the state, county, city, and potash industry.
In October 1995 the mine was sold to NDH-Entsorgungsbetreibergesellschaft mbH (NDH-E), definitively redirecting the site to underground waste disposal purposes. From 1996 backfilling (Versatz) has been introduced to stabilise the underground voids. The Bergmannsverein Glückauf Bleicherode was refounded on 18 June 1996. The complete surface complex at Bleicherode East — including the winding house, the machine house with a surviving steam winding engine, the pithead baths (Kaue), workshops, and the Schachtmauer — remains largely intact and is partly accessible. The site is listed in the ERIH (European Route of Industrial Heritage).