Zeche-P [De]

In 1943 a start was made to dig the first shaft of this coal mine. In 1945 the work was stopped again and production was taken over from another mine. The mine was put back into service in 1949. In the period between 1950 and 1998, the mine changed hands 3 times. During that period of about 50 years, the mine produced a lot of coal (mainly for the surrounding power plants).  The miners were mainly of foreign origin (as can be seen from all the names on the lockers in the locker rooms).

This mine was closed in 2008 and soon after (in 2009) the mine shaft, which was 880 meters deep at its deepest point, was filled and closed.

In 2010, the shaft trestle (the steel tower construction above the mine shaft that was used to transport the miners and material in and out of the shaft) was also dismantled. This has been rebuilt as a watchtower elsewhere in Germany.

A closed mine shaft… .. a disassembled tower construction… .. what is left are a number of buildings… .. Buildings of the technical services, warehouses, air treatment installations, distribution of goods, not to mention sanitary rooms and… .. the changing rooms of the miners.

The miners tucked their clothes and other belongings here upon arrival and then hoisted these baskets up by a chain. They attached this chain to a padlock with their name on it and they took the key with them. In this way, their belongings hung safely and out of reach of others at a great height in this space. In this way, the chance of pickpocketing by colleagues was minimal and it saved a lot of space because a basket takes up much less space than a clothing locker.