Preserved steel lattice headframe of Důl Simson at Zbýšov, a listed technical monument and the last surviving mine tower of the Rosicko-oslavanský revír.
Důl Simson was a black coal mine at Zbýšov in the Rosicko-oslavanský uhelný revír, operating from 1853 to 1925. The shaft was sunk in 1848 by Jan and Antonín Müller and production began in 1853. The mine reached a maximum depth of 625 metres across seven levels.
In 1902 the original masonry headframe was replaced by a 24-metre steel lattice structure of the type known as Tomsonův kozlík, making Důl Simson one of only two surviving examples of this headframe type in the Czech Republic. A coking plant was built at the mine between 1906 and 1908. Coal extraction ceased in 1925 and the shaft served as a ventilation working until 1987, when it was backfilled to the second level.
The headframe and shaft building were listed as a technical monument on 29 December 1987. The site was reconstructed between 2004 and 2007. The steel headframe remains standing and is the last surviving historic mine tower of the Rosicko-oslavanský revír.
Důl Simson was established when Jan and Antonín Müller sank the shaft in 1848. Production of black coal began in 1853. The mine's original headframe was a masonry structure housing a single-cylinder steam winding engine in the engine house. In 1862 a railway siding from the Zastávka direction was extended to the mine. In 1884 the engine house was reconstructed and a new double-cylinder steam engine was installed to replace the original.
The most significant transformation of the mine took place in 1902, when a comprehensive reconstruction was carried out. The masonry headframe was lowered and replaced by a new 24-metre steel lattice headframe of the Tomsonův kozlík type, erected above the shaft collar. A new engine house was constructed with a new steam winding engine supplied by the Brno engineering works Breitfeld-Daněk, and the old engine house became part of the shaft building. Between 1906 and 1908 a coke plant was established at the mine; the associated chemical plant processed by-products of coking, and a power station was built to generate electricity for internal use from waste heat. In 1910 a rope aerial tramway connected Důl Simson to Důl Františka at Padochov; some sources date this connection to 1895. In 1913 Zbýšov was connected to the Oslavany power station grid.
Coal extraction at Důl Simson ceased in 1925 and the mine's coalfield was reassigned to Důl Františka and Důl Kukla at Oslavany. Following the closure of coal production, the shaft continued to serve as a ventilation and auxiliary working for the broader Zbýšov mine complex. In the 1950s the reconstructed former engine house was taken over by the Obvodní báňská záchranná stanice Zbýšov u Brna (the district mining rescue station), which was housed there until the end of coal mining in the revír. The coking plant ceased operation in 1955.
In 1987 the shaft was backfilled from the second level (180 metres) to the surface. On 29 December 1987 the headframe and shaft building were listed as a protected technical monument by the district cultural authority of Brno-venkov under reference Kult/887/87, registered under NPU number 8105. In 1992, following the end of all mining in the revír, the remainder of the shaft below the 1987 fill was also sealed, and the shaft was capped with a reinforced concrete slab.
In 2020 the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic ruled that the 1987 listing had been made after the statutory deadline, and formal monument protection ended on 31 December 2020; however, the headframe remained standing and continued to be maintained by the municipality. Between 2004 and 2007 the city of Zbýšov carried out a major reconstruction of the site, which has been developed as a mining heritage attraction. The steel headframe is described in NPU documentation as one of only two surviving examples of the Tomsonův kozlík headframe type in the Czech Republic, and is the last historically significant mine tower standing in the Rosicko-oslavanský revír.