Former coal extraction skip shaft of KWK Pokój in Ruda Śląska, now retained as a pumping station by Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń, with skipowy headframe tower remaining as a local landmark.
Szyb Wanda is a skip shaft situated in the Wirek and Nowy Bytom area of Ruda Śląska, Upper Silesia. It formed part of the coal extraction infrastructure of Kopalnia Wanda-Lech and, from 1968, KWK Pokój. The name Wanda descends from the colliery Kopalnia Wanda, which itself traced its roots through the fields Lithandra and Belowssegen to mining activity that began in the 1830s.
KWK Wanda-Lech was formally constituted on 1 February 1938 and was active until 1968. Following its absorption into KWK Pokój, the Wanda shaft continued to serve as a production and personnel transport shaft, lowering and raising workers to levels 600 m and 790 m and extracting coal by skip. The shaft's headframe tower, bearing the former Kompania Węglowa logo, became a recognisable local landmark.
From 1 January 2025, following the formal closure of the SRK's KWK Pokój division on 31 December 2024, Szyb Wanda entered the Centralny Zakład Odwadniania Kopalń as a permanent pumping station, protecting adjacent mines from flooding.
The origins of Szyb Wanda lie in the coal-bearing concession fields of Nowy Bytom (now a district of Ruda Śląska). The field Lithandra was granted on 14 and 29 September 1830 and was worked from 1853. The field Belowssegen was granted on 5 November 1805 and exploited from 1806 to 1877.
From 1899 the two fields were worked together, and in 1920 they were formally merged with fields Saara II and Eintracht II into the combined colliery Lithandra. In 1922, following the transfer of this part of Upper Silesia to Poland, the Godula company — a subsidiary of the Schaffgotsch concern — took ownership. From 1 October 1936 the colliery was renamed Wanda.
On 1 February 1938 Kopalnia Wanda was formally merged with the adjacent Szyb Lech (formerly Hillebrand, built 1904–1905) to create Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Wanda-Lech. The formal owner at that time was Godula SA in Chebzie. The new combined mine operated under a single name from 1 February 1938.
Output in 1938 stood at 875,198 tonnes. By 1965 annual production had risen to 1,214,563 tonnes. After 1945 ownership passed to Rudzkie Zjednoczenie Przemysłu Węglowego, and later to Bytomskie Zjednoczenie Przemysłu Węglowego.
KWK Wanda-Lech was closed in 1968. On 1 April 1968 it was absorbed into the adjacent Kopalnia Pokój (originally Friedensgrube, founded 1902). Under KWK Pokój, the Wanda shaft continued as a production shaft, with the skip raising coal and the winding installation transporting workers to levels 600 m and 790 m.
The combined mine joined Rudzka Spółka Węglowa S.A. in 1993, then Kompania Węglowa S.A. in 2003. On 1 July 2016 KWK Pokój was merged with KWK Halemba Wirek and KWK Bielszowice to form KWK Ruda, operating within Polska Grupa Górnicza. The headframe tower of Szyb Wanda, bearing the former Kompania Węglowa logo, became a well-known visual feature of the Ruda Śląska skyline.
From 1 January 2017 the SRK took responsibility for part of the former KWK Pokój complex as Oddział Pokój I, and from 3 March 2022 the remaining part as Oddział Pokój II. On 31 December 2024 the Oddział SRK KWK Pokój was formally liquidated. Szyb Wanda was identified as the essential shaft for post-closure water management: it entered the Centralny Zakład Odwadniania Kopalń belonging to SRK as a pumping station from 1 January 2025, securing Ruch Halemba of KWK Ruda against water ingress.
The SRK president confirmed that the Wanda headframe tower would remain standing for as long as pumping operations are required.