Former coal mine shaft with surviving headframe, now within site occupied by Rudpol-OPA, in Ruda Śląska.
Szyb Klara is a former colliery shaft in Ruda Śląska associated with one of the oldest and largest mines in Upper Silesia. Construction of the shaft began in 1860 on the Klara mining field, on the initiative of the Ballestrem family, who had owned the mining estates since the late eighteenth century. The shaft initially served as a combined winding and materials shaft.
Following the merger of the Walenty and Wawel collieries in 1931, Szyb Klara was reassigned to ventilation and backfill duties. After the Second World War a Mining School was established in adapted buildings adjacent to the shaft, repurposing the former boiler house and sorting building. A fire that destroyed the winding engine brought active use of the shaft to an end.
The 1998 closure of KWK Wawel marked the definitive end of mining activity on the site. The surviving headframe stands on ground now occupied by Rudpol-OPA, and its ownership has remained uncertain. The structure's condition has been reported as poor, though renovation work was reportedly under way.
Szyb Klara stands on land in Ruda Śląska associated with the Brandenburg mining enterprise, one of the oldest collieries on the Upper Silesian coalfield. The Ballestrem family, who had acquired ownership of the territory in the late eighteenth century, initiated construction of the Klara shaft in 1860 on the designated Klara mining field. The shaft took its name from the field on which it was sunk. In its initial configuration Szyb Klara served dual purposes as a winding shaft bringing coal and materials to the surface.
The mine to which it belonged underwent a series of mergers and name changes over the following decades. The Brandeburg colliery became Wawel, while the neighbouring Wolfgang colliery became Walenty. In 1931 the two were combined into a single entity, KWK Walenty-Wawel, which together with an adjacent coke plant and heating station formed a substantial industrial complex. Following this merger, Szyb Klara was relieved of its winding function and instead operated as a ventilation and backfill shaft, supplying material underground and managing mine air.
After the Second World War, major works were carried out across the Walenty-Wawel complex. A new central shaft was sunk, along with a new sorting plant and coal washing facility. At Szyb Klara, the adjacent boiler house and former sorting building were adapted to house a Mining School, giving the shaft area an educational as well as industrial function. A fire that destroyed the winding engine brought this period to a close and the shaft was withdrawn from operational service.
Following the closure of KWK Wawel in 1998, after which Szyb Klara briefly served the neighbouring KWK Pokój before the fire ended its use, the surface area passed into the ownership of Rudpol-OPA, a firm whose roots lay in a measurement and automation centre established in 1966. The surviving single-leg steel headframe remained standing, though the winding engine building fell into severe disrepair. The shaft itself, some 450 metres deep and previously used to ventilate workings in seams 504, 506, and 510, was capped. The ownership of the headframe tower remained unclear at the time of available reporting, and its structural condition was described as poor. Renovation work on the structure was subsequently noted as having begun.