Surviving 1892 pithead building and 1901 steel headframe at Zabytkowa Kopalnia Ignacy, an open heritage site in Rybnik.
Szyb Głowacki is the historic shaft of the former hard coal mine known successively as Kopalnia Hoym, Kopalnia Hoym-Laura, and Kopalnia Ignacy, located at Rybnik (Niewiadom district). The shaft was first sunk in 1892 under the name Oppurg and deepened progressively to 300 metres in 1913, 400 metres in 1945, and 600 metres in 1977. It was renamed Głowacki in 1936 when the mine was renamed Ignacy in honour of President Ignacy Mościcki.
Between 1902 and 1927 it served as the primary extraction shaft; thereafter it functioned for personnel transport and materials until final decommissioning in August 2008. The shaft was backfilled in June 2021. The pithead building and its 1901 steel lattice headframe — manufactured by Wilhelmshütte Eulau bei Sprottau — survive intact as listed heritage structures and are central features of Zabytkowa Kopalnia Ignacy, a heritage mine open to visitors since 1999.
The original steam winding engine of 1900 remains on display in the adjacent machinery hall.
The shaft known as Szyb Głowacki traces its origins to the sinking of the Oppurg shaft in 1892, part of Kopalnia Hoym — one of the oldest coal mines in Upper Silesia, founded in 1792 by the Prussian state in Biertułtowy (present-day Niewiadom district of Rybnik). The mine passed through a series of ownership changes and name transitions during the nineteenth century: it was sold from state ownership in 1834, and through further acquisitions and amalgamations came to incorporate several adjacent workings. In 1890 the majority of shares were acquired by Prince Hugo zu Hohenlohe-Oehringen, and in 1914 the property passed to Czernickie Towarzystwo Węglowe.
During the German period the mine operated variously as Hoym, Hoym-Laura, and Charlotte. The Oppurg shaft was sunk beginning in 1892. A purpose-built machinery hall was erected in the same year, and a steam winding engine manufactured in 1900 by Wilhelmshütte (Wilhelmshütte Eulau bei Sprottau, later the Dolnośląskie Zakłady Odlewnicze) was installed at the shaft.
In 1901 a steel lattice headframe of 37.5 metres height was erected over the shaft opening, manufactured by the same works. The headframe is of riveted steel construction, on a square plan, with a pair of rope wheels arranged vertically and a two-storey brick pithead building beneath it. Between 1902 and 1927 the shaft served as the primary extraction shaft of the mine.
In 1913 it was deepened to 300 metres. In 1936, following Poland's recovery of the region in 1922, the mine was renamed Ignacy in honour of President Ignacy Mościcki and the shaft simultaneously received the name Głowacki. In 1937 a narrow-gauge railway was laid connecting the Głowacki and Kościuszko shafts, and further infrastructure investments followed including a new transformer station, compressor station, cooling tower, mechanical workshop, and lamp room.
In 1940 the mine came under the control of the Hermann Göring concern and from 1945 it belonged to the Rybnickie Zjednoczenie Przemysłu Węglowego. On 1 January 1968, by order of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, Kopalnia Ignacy was merged with Kopalnia Rydułtowy as its Ruch II division, a decision driven by the gradual depletion of accessible reserves beneath the Ignacy workings. From 1991 the division was redesignated Ruch Ignacy.
The shaft was deepened to 400 metres in 1945 and further deepened to 600 metres in 1977, after which it was readied for operation at the new 600-metre level. In August 1995 the last wagon of coal was wound to the surface through the Kościuszko shaft and the separate Ruch Ignacy division of Kopalnia Rydułtowy was formally closed. Szyb Głowacki continued to serve for the transport of personnel and materials.
On 24 August 2008 workers rode up in the shaft for the last time. Five days later the steam winding engine was shut down, hoist ropes were removed, and steam supplies to the machinery hall were cut. In the same year the main fans at the shaft were also decommissioned.
Szyb Głowacki was then converted to a pure ventilation function, serving Kopalnia Rydułtowy. From 2005 the pithead building and headframe had been listed in the Rejestr Zabytków Województwa Śląskiego (the Silesian Regional Heritage Register), which prevented demolition or significant structural alteration. In 2010 the Kompania Węglowa S.A., then owner of the structures, carried out a full restoration of the pithead building: extensions and access locks were removed, the brick facade was cleaned, and the steel headframe structure was cleaned and made good, restoring the appearance of the 1901 complex while retaining its function as a ventilation structure for the active mine.
The shaft was physically backfilled in June 2021 by Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń, acting in accordance with a project developed jointly with the Główny Instytut Górnictwa. The backfill used permeable metallurgical aggregate, designed to preserve the shaft tube as a gravity drainage channel for water from upper levels to the 600-metre horizon, supporting the ongoing operations of Kopalnia Rydułtowy. The surface complex — the pithead building, the 1901 headframe, the 1892 machinery hall containing the 1900 steam winding engine, the adjacent compressor building, and the water tower — forms the core of Zabytkowa Kopalnia Ignacy, a heritage attraction open to visitors since 1999.
The site is located at ul. Ignacego Mościckiego 3, Rybnik, and has been part of the Śląski Szlak Zabytków Techniki since 19 October 2006. The steam winding engine of the Kościuszko shaft is periodically operated for visitors.