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Mining archives – a key source of information

Finding information on former collieries can often prove to be a real challenge. This is hardly surprising, as access to accurate sources of information is vital when researching an industry that has been in operation for several hundred years. Here are some pointers for those engaged in such studies.

Bochum Mining Archives.
Source: http://www.archive.nrw.de/index.asp

Inventory of coal mining companies:

Ewald-Kohle AG, Recklinghausen;

Zollern-Germania colliery, Dortmund;

Concordia Bergbau AG, Oberhausen;

Friedrich der Grosse colliery, Herne;

Rheinpreussen AG Mining and Chemicals, Homberg (Lower Rhine);

Hamborner Bergbau AG, Duisburg-Hamborn;

Fried. Krupp Bergwerke AG, Essen;

Gebr. Stumm GmbH, Neunkirchen (Saar);

Bayerische Berg-, Hütten- und Salzwerke AG, Munich;

Klöckner-Bergbau Victor-Ickern AG, Castrop-Rauxel;

Gottessegen colliery, Dortmund;

Löttringhausen Bergbau AG Neue Hoffnung, Oberhausen;

Graf Bismarck colliery, Gelsenkirchen;

Bergwerksgesellschaft Hibernia AG, Herne;

Emscher-Lippe colliery, Datteln;

Brassert colliery, Marl;

Bergwerksgesellschaft Walsum AG;

Walsum Essener Steinkohlenbergwerke AG, Essen;

Bochumer Bergbau AG, Bochum;

Rheinelbe Bergbau AG, Gelsenkirchen;

Diergardt-Mevissen Bergbau-AG, Rheinhausen;

Minister Stein colliery, Dortmund-Eving;

Harpener Bergbau-AG, Dortmund;

Dortmunder Bergbau AG, Dortmund;

Sachsen colliery, Hamm-Heessen;

Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG, Essen;

Werne colliery, Werne (Lippe);

Erin colliery, Castrop-Rauxel;

Graf Schwerin colliery, Castrop-Rauxel;

Waltrop colliery, Waltrop;

Königsborn colliery, Unna-Bönen;

Prosper colliery, Bottrop;

Hansa hydromine, Dortmund-Huckarde;

Dahlbusch Mining Company, Gelsenkirchen-Rotthausen;

Kaiserstuhl-Ost and Kaiserstuhl-West collieries, Dortmund-Eving;

Ruhrkohlenverkauf, Essen;

Ver. Klosterbusch colliery, Bochum;

Preussische Zechenbahn- und Hafenbetriebsgesellschaft, Gladbeck;

Adolf von Hansemann/Hansa colliery, Dortmund;

Zollverein colliery, Essen-Katernberg;

Mathias Stinnes AG, Essen;

Oberbayerische Aktiengesellschaft für Kohlenbergbau, Munich;

Nordstern colliery, Gelsenkirchen-Horst;

Ruhrkohle AG, Essen.

Royal Mines Inspectorate Deister, Barsinghausen (Lower Saxony);

Mansfeld colliery, Bochum-Langendreer;

Radbod colliery, Hamm-Bockum-Hövel;

Lohberg colliery, Dinslaken;

Flora colliery, Bochum-Weitmar;

Westfalen colliery, Ahlen (Westphalia);

Eschweiler Bergwerks-Verein AG, Kohlscheid (Rhineland);

Rossenray colliery, Kamp-Lintfort;

Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Olefinchemie, Essen;

Aurora colliery, Herbede-Vormholz;

Sophia-Jacoba GmbH, Hückelhoven (Rhineland) - Heinrich Robert colliery, Hamm-Herringen;

RAG Coking and Processing, Essen;

Heinrich Bergbau AG, Essen-Kupferdreh;

Altenessener Bergwerks-Aktiengesellschaft, Essen;

Monopol Bergwerks-Gesellschaft mbH, Kamen;

Saarbergwerke AG, Saarbrücken;

Friedrich Heinrich AG, Kamp-Lintfort;

Präsident colliery, Bochum.

Harpener Bergbau-AG, Dortmund (1850 – 1983 and 1990)
Harpener Bergbau-AG was first set up in Dortmund in 1856 and owes its name to the small town of Harpen near Bochum, which lay in the centre of the colliery take. The company’s history is closely associated with the Müser family of mine owners. Dr med. Friedrich Wilhelm Müser (1812-1874) was the company’s first chairman of the board. Robert Müser colliery was subsequently named after his son, who ran the company until 1914 until replaced by Eugen Kleine. The historical records include a large number of letters from Robert Müser (1849-1927).

Heinrich Gustav colliery.
Heinrich Gustav colliery in Bochum-Werne was constructed between 1856 and 1859 and started producing coke as far back as 1861. After the Bochum-based Vollmund mine merged with Heinrich Gustav in 1926 the large Robert Müser colliery was established in 1929 by the amalgamation of Heinrich Gustav, Caroline, Amalie and Prinz von Preussen mines. Dorstfeld colliery, which was part transferred to Essener Steinkohlenbergwerke AG in 1916 and then taken over completely in 1923, became part of Harpener Bergbau-AG (along with Oespel) during the de-merger phase. By 1937 the company had grown to its maximum size with ten collieries organised into four groups:

- Bochum group: Robert Müser mines (operating collieries Arnold-Jakob, Vollmond, Amalia, Caroline and Prinz von Preussen) and Neu-Iserlohn mines (operating collieries Neu-Iserlohn 1, Neu-Iserlohn 2 and Siebenplaneten)

– Herne group: Julia (operating colliery Heydt), Recklinghausen 2 and Mont-Cenis mines

– Buer group: Hugo 1 (combined with Hugo 3) and Hugo 2 mines

– Dortmund group: Gneisenau (with Scharnhorst colliery) and Victoria mines.

The records, which take-up 12.6 metres of space, were built-up from three transfers of privately-owned documents in 1969, 1976 and 1977; this is only a fraction of the files now held on the former Harpen collieries. The random nature of the transfers and the heterogeneous nature of the contents called for a thorough reorganisation of the body of information. Nevertheless, these fragmented records did yield two relatively well documented subject-matters: the colliery log-books spanning the period 1876 to 1937 (with only a few gaps) and a wealth of information on housing arrangements in the mineworkers’ estates and construction drawings and plans for Robert Müser and Heinrich Gustav collieries.  

Literature:

O. Martens: Curriculum vitae of Robert Müser, in: Yearbook of the Dortmund Mines Inspectorate, 1910, pp. III-XVI.

August Heinrichsbauer: Harpen Mining Company 1856-1936. Eighty years of Ruhr coal mining, Essen 1936.

Franz Mariaux: Commemorating one hundred years of the Harpen Mining Company, Dortmund 1956.

Gerhard Gebhardt: The Ruhr coal industry – history, development and the amalgamation of mining companies and organisations, Essen 1957, pp. 303-319.

Heiner Radzio: In the beginning was coal. 125 years of the Harpen Company, Dortmund [1981].

Minister Stein colliery, Dortmund-Eving (1856 – 1993)
Between 1855 and 1858 the Essen merchant Theodor Sprenger and the Bochum-based landlord Heinrich Grimberg took out claims on the Borussia I-VI coalfields in Eving, near Dortmund. At the end of 1858 these were rented out and as part of the consolidation process a 128-share mining company of the same name was set-up in 1859. With the decline in coal prices in the 1860s many companies divested themselves of their shares, with the result that one Friedrich Grillo and the banker Ludwig von Born, both of Essen, were able to purchase 112.5 shares in the mining company.

On 4 April 1871 a meeting of shareholders, chaired by Grillo, voted to change the name to Minister Stein, to increase the number of shares to 1,000 and to sink a mine shaft in order to gain access to the deposits. By the end of 1875 this shaft had reached a depth of 270 metres and had accessed a total of seven coal seams; coal winning was therefore able to commence once the Malakoff headgear and surface facilities had been constructed. By 1878 the mine was breaking the 100,000-tonne barrier. Coal prices recovered for a brief period in the early 1870s, but by 1873/1874 the business crisis saw profits fall again and many shares were to change hands. The main syndicate to emerge during this period was a group headed by Friedrich Grillo, which subsequently became the principal shareholder with over 70% of the holdings. Grillo, who also owned the majority of shares in Fürst Hardenberg mining company, the neighbouring pit to Minister Stein, was closely involved with the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG (GBAG) and was keen to transfer both companies to the GBAG. On 20 April 1881, at a shareholders’ meeting representing both collieries, he led a vote to amalgamate the two operations, to consolidate the workings and to appoint a new joint board of management. On 28 March 1882 GBAG acquired a majority holding and in 1888 became the sole proprietor of the mining company Stein und Hardenberg, which was thereby dissolved. From 1882 the new company was headed by three directors: Emil Kirdorf, Oskar Hoffmann and Arthur Lindenberg. The years leading to the outbreak of the First World War were one of continuous expansion. In 1891 work began on sinking no. 2 shaft, which became the main winding access in 1898 – thereby relegating no. 1 shaft to role of a ventilation shaft. The reorganisation and extension of the surface facilities included the construction of the first coking plant in 1899; this installation, which had 120 Brunck ovens, was subsequently closed down in 1919. As production from Minister Stein colliery had practically doubled between 1890 and 1900 it was found that by the turn of the century underground ventilation conditions had deteriorated to such a degree that a third shaft was considered necessary.

The outbreak of the Great War, which was followed by inflation and the occupation of the Ruhr, hit the coal industry hard and production was in stagnation until the mid-1920s, when Minister Stein was again developed in the years 1923 to 1926 to become a major coal producer. During this period a fourth surface shaft was also sunk. Named after Emil Kirdorf this new shaft became the main winding route in 1926. The new shaft was topped by a ‘hammer-head’ winding tower. Capable of carrying-out two parallel winds, this steel headframe was the first of its kind to be constructed in Germany.

On 1 April 1926 Minister Stein colliery was transferred to Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (VSt), along with GBAG’s other mining and metallurgical assets, and was assigned to the Dortmund group headed by Ernst Brandi. A boom period was to follow. The million tonne-barrier was broken in 1926 and in 1929 the colliery set a new production record of more than 1.6 million tonnes. The dismantled coke-works was replaced in 1928 by a new large-scale plant equipped with 105 Collin ovens. In spite of the deepening economic crisis work continued on no. 5 shaft, which had been begun in 1929, and this subsequently went into service in 1932 – although the 1928 production record was not achieved again until 1936.

On 1 January 1934 the colliery was transferred to the new GBAG, one of the VSt operating companies to be formed at that time, and the mine’s entire take was henceforth administered under this new ownership. When the new no. 6 shaft went into operation in 1940 Minister Stein was producing 3.7 million tonnes a year and was the largest colliery in the entire Ruhr coalfield. The heavy bombing of Dortmund inflicted so much damage on Minister Stein and Fürst Hardenberg collieries in February 1945 that production was abandoned and did not resume until the autumn of 1946.

Repairs to the surface facilities were completed in 1951 and by the following year the colliery had recruited sufficient manpower to begin producing coal again. After the winding-up of GBAG, and as part of the de-merger process, Minister Stein colliery was transferred to the newly-formed Dortmunder Bergbau AG in 1953. Coal-industry rationalisation subsequently led to the closure of Fürst Hardenberg colliery on 19 August 1960 and the mine’s assets were transferred to Minister Stein. In order to amalgamate the operations of both pits a new no. 7 central shaft at Minister Stein was commissioned in 1959 and this was followed in 1966 by a new materials handling facility.

When Ruhrkohle AG (RAG) was set up in 1968 Minister Stein colliery was incorporated into Bergbau AG Dortmund, one of RAG’s management companies. Vereinte Stein und Hardenberg colliery, the last of the Dortmund pits, closed in 1987.

The company records take up 48 metres of space. The documents were transferred to archives immediately after the mine closed in 1988. In addition to management files the information includes employee records of wages and tariffs, health/safety and training, as well as details of mine planning and mine monitoring operations. A second large body of records covers surface and underground operations, including mine supports, transport and conveying and mine ventilation. There is also a collection of colliery statistics, scientific work and expert reports, plus an extensive collection of photographs.

Literature:

The collieries of Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG. Minister Stein colliery in Dortmund-Eving, Essen 1936.

Tilo Cramm: Minister Stein - Fürst Hardenberg. The history of Dortmund’ last pit. 2 vols, Essen 1990/1993.

Diergardt-Mevissen Bergbau-AG, Rheinhausen (1887 – 1967)
The corporate development of the Diergardt I-IV and Mevissen mining companies, and with it the administration of both collieries, has been marked by a series of reorganisations and transfers of assets and liabilities. The Diergardt mining company was founded in 1909, to be followed two years later by Diergardt II, with Carl Theodor Deichmann as managing director of both operations. In 1925 the two firms became private limited companies and after having been joined by the Wilhelmine Mevissen mining company, which had been founded in 1903, were renamed the Diergardt-Mevissen mining company limited in 1927. This new company controlled the entire assets of the mining undertakings along with the two collieries. The following corporate reorganisations and name-changes also took place at this time:

• Diergardt mining company became Diergardt-Mevissen I
• Diergardt II mining company became Diergardt-Mevissen II
• Wilhelmine Mevissen mining company became Diergardt-Mevissen III and
• Fritz mining company became Diergardt-Mevissen IV.
• The Diergardt-Mevissen V mining company, which was formed from the Niederrheinische Kohlenhandelsgesellschaft mbH, Rheinhausen, and the Westdeutschen Schiffahrts-AG, Cologne, followed in 1932.

Another company reorganisation, which had been planned before the war, was completed in 1952 when the Diergardt-Mevissen III mining company took over the assets of Diergardt-Mevissen I and Diergardt-Mevissen II to become Diergardt-Mevissen Bergbau-AG. This company now managed the two collieries Diergardt I-III and Wilhelmine Mevissen. The close proprietary connection with Stinnes – a joint venture agreement between the Diergardt-Mevissen I-III mining company and the Stinnes-owned Mathias Stinnes and Mülheimer Bergwerks-Verein companies had already existed since 1938 – finally came to an end in 1956 when Diergardt-Mevissen Bergbau-AG became the Mathias Stinnes AG colliery company. Mathias Stinnes subsequently transferred its assets to Hibernia AG in 1968. The transfer of the mining of assets of Hibernia AG to Ruhrkohle AG (RAG) the following year was the final chapter in the chequered corporate history of Diergardt-Mevissen and Mathias Stinnes as independent mining companies. The associated records were transferred from RAG to the Mining Archives in 1974 after the closure of Mevissen colliery in July 1973, while Diergardt mine ceased production some years before in 1967. The files take up some 2.3 metres of space and include an extensive stock of ledgers and accounts along with miscellaneous management records. Of special interest are those files documenting the development of coal mining beneath the river Rhine and the drainage measures to be applied on the left bank of the Lower Rhine. Between 1912 and 1937 the colliery and its property was administered and managed by the Diergardt limited mining company whose shareholders were the Diergardt-Mevissen I-IV mining companies. In this respect the most important correspondence was that between the management of the limited company and the chairman of the executive board. From 1938 to 1952, when the joint-stock company was set up, central administration was in the hands of the Diergardt-Mevissen III mining company.

Literature:

Joseph Hansen: Gustav von Mevissen. A Rhineland biography 1815-1899, 2 vol., Berlin 1906.

The activities of the Diergardt-Mevissen I-V mining companies. To commemorate twenty-five years of Diergardt colliery in Rheinhausen (Ndrh.), Rheinhausen 1935.

40 years of Diergardt-Mevissen, Rheinhausen 1949.

Gerhard Gebhardt: the Ruhr coal industry. History, development and de-merger of companies and organisations, Essen 1957, pp. 431-437.

Friedrich Albert Meyer: From the Ruhr to the Rhine. The heavy industry of Rheinhausen, Rheinhausen 1966.

Heinz-Theo Niephaus: The workforce of the former Diergardt, Diergardt II and Wilhelmine Mevissen mining companies, in: Heimatkalendar Kreis Moers no. 25, 1968, pp. 35-42.    

Rheinelbe Bergbau AG, Gelsenkirchen (1836 – 1975)
Prior to their merger into VSt (Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG) in 1926 the Rheinelbe-Alma, Pluto and Bonifacius collieries were part of the old Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG (GBAG) in Gelsenkirchen. The formation of GBAG can be traced back to the acquisition of Rheinelbe and Alma 3 collieries on 3 January 1873. The oldest claim on the Rheinelbe mine dates back to 23 March 1848. The Rheinelbe und Alma pits, which originally comprised eight individual takes, were gradually merged and owing to investment problems and political turmoil were sold by the owners to the French entrepreneur Louis Henry Obert and the Englishman John Brown; they in turn sold their shares on in 1854 to the French company ‘Société des mines et fonderies du Rhin Détillieux et. Cie’. Because of financial difficulties the French company was then forced to sell the combined Rheinelbe workings, along with its holdings in Alma – later to become the Alma coalfield – to the Phoenix AG mining and metallurgical company. However, lack of capital combined with serious flooding in the new mine shaft, which was begun in 1855, meant that Phoenix was also unable to put the Rheinelbe mine into operation. In 1856 the mining rights were transferred to the Gelsenkirchen Coal Company, which sold them on to the aforementioned Charles Détillieux in 1857. The Rheinelbe no. 1 shaft did not start winding coal until 1860.

On 27 January 1870 the Alma no. 1 shaft was sunk and this began producing coal in 1872. The following year Friedrich Grillo proposed buying-up all the pits in the Essen coalfield (at that time known as the Gelsenkirchen coalfield), which were being operated with foreign capital, in order to create a single German mining company. The Rheinelbe and Alma mines formed the centrepiece of the Gelsenkirchen-based GBAG company that was set up for this purpose, and which was later to become the largest coal and steel company in the whole of Europe. In 1877 the two mining concessions were merged under the name Ver. Rheinelbe & Alma.

As part of GBAG’s efforts to consolidate the fragmented Rhine-Westphalian coalfield under its management the decision was taken in 1899 to purchase Ver. Bonifacius colliery in Essen-Kray. Ver. Bonifacius mining company had started-up in 1857 when no. 1 shaft was sunk to access the deposits that had been consolidated in 1851. The adjoining Helmuth and Caspar Alexander takes were then bought-up in 1897. No. 3 shaft at Caspar Alexander colliery was completed in 1989, but a series of underground accidents combined with a shortage of capital subsequently forced the owners to sell the mine to GBAG.

The Ueckendorf (Westphalia)-based company Elsässische Bergwerke GmbH, which was founded on 15 July 1899 with GBAG as the majority shareholder, was set-up to exploit the coal deposits around Thann (Alsace). GBAG had a 212,000-mark share of the total company capital of 420,000 marks.

In 1907 GBAG merged with the Schalker Gruben- und Hüttenverein, the latter having been founded on 15 October 1872 by Friedrich Grillo, Friedrich Funke, Gustav Poensgen and others with the aim of setting-up and selling coal and iron-ore mines. In 1899 it acquired Pluto mine in Wanne-Eickel along with Pluto-Thies and Pluto-Wilhelm collieries. The origins of Pluto mine date back to the mining company Pluto Bergbau-AG, which was established in Essen on 10 July 1865. The first company directors were Mining Assessor Heinrich Thies and Dr jur. Friedrich Hammacher, both of Essen, the business advisor Julius Scheidt of Kettwig, banker Simon Coppel of Hanover and the banker Gustav Runde from Braunschweig. In April 1857 the company began work on its first shaft sinking (the Thies shaft) and production commenced three years later in 1860. A coking plant was added in 1863 and a second shaft (Wilhelm) sunk in 1873. Both shafts were subsequently extended to operate as twin shaft systems. In 1899 the collieries were acquired by Schalker Gruben- und Hüttenverein as part of a merger programme.

Zollverein, (Essen-Katernberg), Nordstern (Gelsenkirchen-Horst), Holland (Wattenscheid) and Graf Moltke (Gladbeck) collieries were owned by the former Phoenix mining and metallurgical company, which was taken over by the VSt in 1926. Phoenix AG was originally established on 16 September 1852 by Cologne and Aachen-based bankers – and with mainly French investors – under the name Phoenix Anonyme Gesellschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb. The company head offices were at Eschweiler-Aue near Aachen. The original aim of the company was to maintain the puddling and rolling works of Th. Michiels & Cie. in Eschweiler-Aue along with the ironstone mines in Nassau. The core business was mining and iron smelting, as well as the processing of pig iron. In 1854 and 1856 work began on the construction of smelting works at Essen-Kupferdreh and Duisburg-Ruhrort.

In 1855 the company bought the Société des mines et fonderies du Rhin Détillieux et Cie., along with a blast-furnace at Essen-Borbeck and the Rheinelbe and Alma coal workings. As it proved too expensive to develop the Ver. Rheinelbe & Alma panels Phoenix AG was compelled to sell the coalfield in 1856 to the Gelsenkirchen Coal Mining Company. The company’s coal needs could still be met by production from the Graf Beust and Carolus Magnus collieries in Essen, which had a 30-year lease, so that the proceeds from the sale of the coalfields could be used as investment capital for the development of the blast-furnace and smelting works.

These plants were supplied by a large number of ore mines in and around Nassau and along the Rhine and Moselle rivers. However, when the leasing agreement with the collieries expired in 1883 Phoenix AG was obliged to buy-in coal from other companies until it acquired the Westende mine and the Rhine and Ruhr collieries (Duisburg-Meiderich) in 1896.

Further expansion followed on 11 February 1898 with the affiliation of the Westfälische Union AG für Bergbau, Eisen- und Drahtindustrie (mining, iron making and wire manufacturing). The company grew further in 1906/1907 when it merged with the Hörder Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein in Dortmund-Hörde on 1 July 1906 and then with the Essen-based Nordstern AG colliery on 1 January 1907. By acquiring the Hörder Bergwerks- und Hüttenvereins Phoenix AG obtained possession not only of the iron works but also of the Ver. Hörder coalfield with its collieries of Schleswig and Holstein. The acquisition of Nordstern AG also gave Phoenix AG three more collieries - Nordstern in Gelsenkirchen-Horst, Graf Moltke in Gladbeck and Holland in Wattenscheid – with the result that the company now had the capacity to become self-sufficient in supplying coal and ore to its smelting works and rolling mills. The Phoenix AG holdings also included the Helene-Nachtigall coalfield at Witten and the Eversael field on the left bank of the Rhine.

On 12 January 1860 the Essen-Arenberger joint-stock mining company was set up to sink the Nordstern shaft for the first mine to be sited north of the Emscher. This subsequently led to the setting-up of Nordstern AG colliery on an initiative from the agent Friedrich Grillo on 7 April 187, which involved a tie-up with the failing French company Société anonyme des Charbonnages du Nord in Paris. After the economic crisis of the 1880s Nordstern AG colliery underwent a major revival and was able to purchase the Helene und Nachtigall colliery at Witten in 1896. However this mine soon closed again and its holdings at the Rhine-Westphalian coal syndicate were taken over by Nordstern colliery. In 1925 Nordstern colliery itself was shut down because of the outdated condition of its surface facilities.

In 1897 Nordstern merged with the Holland joint-stock mining company which had been set up mainly by Dutch investors in 1855. After the first shaft was sunk in 1856 coal production was able to commence in 1860.

The Graf Moltke mining company was established in Gladbeck in 1873. No. 1 shaft was sunk in 1875 and the company merged with Nordstern AG colliery in 1899. Work on the mine, which had been converted to a twin-shaft system in 1884, had to be suspended because of serious flooding and the colliery only effectively began producing coal when it was acquired by Nordstern on 1 January 1899. Phoenix AG took over the operation along with Nordstern AG colliery on 1 January 1907 and developed the mine to become one of its best-equipped production sites.

With the assimilation of the Hörder Mining and Metallurgical Association and Nordstern AG colliery, along with the acquisition of several other mining companies, Phoenix AG had by 1905 become one of the largest and most important coal and steel undertakings in the whole Ruhr region. And the company was to expand further when it assimilated the pipe and steel manufacturers Düsseldorfer Röhren- und Eisenwerke, formerly Poensgen, on 29 October 1910.

As Phoenix did not have an adequate supply of coking coal for long-term production the company made an attempt to buy the Zollverein company in Essen-Katernberg from the Haniel family.

The industrialist Franz Haniel started out by sinking the first shaft for Zollverein mine in 1845. In 1858 Haniel then founded the Zollverein mining company to run the colliery. The Zollverein take was exploited by four shafts until 1920, when Phoenix AG took over the management and operation of the mine. Phoenix also acquired holdings in the Rhine-Westphalia Mining Company in Mülheim (Ruhr) and then bought the Emscher-Lippe mining company in 1925. Phoenix AG subsequently joined up with VSt in 1926.

Essen-based GBAG was originally formed from the mining division of VSt, which was founded in 1926. The main shareholder was the old GBAG company in Gelsenkirchen, which had a 46% holding. Those mines that were not transferred from the old GBAG to VSt were merged with the Essener Steinkohlenbergwerke AG in 1930. As part of the decentralisation of VSt the new GBAG became an independent operating company and then took over the old VSt mining department with its four mining groups: Dortmund, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Hamborn.

Rheinelbe Bergbau AG, Gelsenkirchen, was formed in 1953 from the de-merger of GBAG. The Dortmund, Bochum and Gelsenkirchen mining groups were combined to form a GBAG holding company on 18 June 1953, while the remaining affiliates became independent companies. The three mining companies of Dortmunder Bergbau AG, Bochumer Bergbau AG and Rheinelbe Bergbau AG, with the collieries of Nordstern, Holland, Rheinelbe & Alma, Pluto, Zollverein and Bonifacius, were established as wholly-owned subsidiaries. Each of these three undertakings also obtained a 50% share, respectively, in Hansa Bergbau AG, Carolinenglück Bergbau AG with its Carolinenglück colliery and Graf Moltke Bergbau AG with its Graf Moltke colliery.

After the dissolution of Bochumer Bergbau AG in 1962 Carolinenglück Bergbau AG merged with Graf Moltke Bergbau AG. The Carolinenglück mine was part of the GBAG’s Bochum group prior to the latter’s reorganisation. The first shaft for the colliery had been sunk in 1850 by the Ver. Carolinenglück mining company. In 1900 the company’s assets were purchased and transferred to the Bochumer Verein. This led to an expansion of the coke-making facilities.

In July 1967 Dortmunder Bergbau AG merged with Rheinelbe Bergbau AG and the following year was transferred to Ruhrkohle AG along with GBAG.

The company records take up 70.3 metres of space and include a wealth of photographs and technical documents.  

Literature:

The Gelsenkirchen Joint-stock Mining Company and the operating conditions of the Rheinelbe shafts in Gelsenkirchen, n.p. n.d.

Ludwig Achepohl: The mining industry of Lower Rhine and Westphalia, Berlin 1894.

The Gelsenkirchen Mining Company 1873-1898, n.p. [1898].

History and current development of the Phoenix Mining and Metallurgical Company in Hoerde. Memorandum on the 60-year anniversary of the company in 1912,, Dortmund 1912.

F. A. Freundt: Capital and work. The Gelsenkirchen Mining Company 1873-1927, n.p. [1927].

GBAG. Ten years of a steel-making company 1926-1936, n.p. [1936].

25 years of Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG and the Gelsenkirchen Mining Company 1926-1951, n. p. [1951].

Gerhard Gebhardt: The Ruhr mining industry - history, development and the amalgamation of companies and organisations, Essen 1957, pp. 194-199, pp. 278 f.

Cäcilie Schmitz: Mining and urbanisation in the Ruhr. The role of the mining companies in industrialisation and the Gelsenkirchen example, Bochum 1987 (= section. Appendix 5).

Bochumer Bergbau AG, Bochum (1790 – 1970)
The mining company Bochumer Bergbau AG was created in 1953 as part of the post-War reorganisation of the coal and steel industries. The former Bochum group of Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (VSt), and later the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG (GBAG), became the Bochumer Bergbau AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary under the direction of GBAG as the financial holding company. The new company was assigned five operating collieries, namely Bruchstrasse, Dannenbaum, Prinz Regent, Engelsburg and Friedlicher Nachbar, along with the Prinz Regent, Friedlicher Nachbar and Engelsglück briquette-works, the Carolinenglück tar distillation plant and the Gustav Knepper power station at Dortmund-Mengede, plus the inactive coal workings at Witten. Bochumer Bergbau AG also had a 50% stake in the newly formed Carolinenglück Bergbau AG.

When the VSt was formed on 14 January 1926 the collieries of the newly created Bochumer Bergbau AG in Bochum and in the south of Dortmund were invested by the (old) GBAG, the Deutsch-Luxemburgische Bergwerks- und Hütten-AG (Deutsch-Lux) and the mining and cast-steel association Bochumer Verein.

Deutsch-Lux (founded 1901), whose predecessor in title was the Société anonyme des Hauts-Fourneaux, Forges et Charbonnages Differdange-Dannenbaum, invested the collieries Dannenbaum, Prinz Regent (merged with the Carl Friedrich Drift Mine in 1924), Friedlicher Nachbar, Bruchstrasse, Adolf von Hansemann and Tremonia in the new company. Deutsch-Lux and its predecessor had been acquiring mining property since 1899 in order to meet the coke demands of its privately-owned blast furnaces. Deutsch-Lux was owned by Hugo Stinnes.

The Bochumer Verein, one of the founding companies of the VSt Bochum group, had acquired the Ver. Maria Anna and Steinbank collieries in 1868 in order to meet its coal needs. When the Bochum Steel-Industry Company merged with the Bochumer Verein in 1889 a total of eighty-one shares in Ver. Engelsburg mine were also transferred to Bochumer Verein. By 1900 the latter had also acquired the remaining shares along with the Ver. Carolinenglück mining company in Bochum-Hamme. In 1926, along with its blast-furnace and smelting operations, plus a number of ore mines, the Bochumer Verein invested three coal mines in VSt: these were the Ver. Engelsburg and Vereinte Carolinenglück collieries and the Teutoburgia mine that it had acquired in 1907.

The VSt mining division was divided into four groups: Hamborn, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund and Bochum. The Bochum group comprised the collieries of Carolinenglück, Engelsburg, Friedlicher Nachbar, Prinz Regent, Dannenbaum and Bruchstrasse and the inactive mines of Ver. Hamburg and Franziska and Helene-Nachtigall, which GBAG had contributed to the company. In 1933 the VSt was broken-up into a number of independent operating companies, with VSt acting as the holding company and controlling the share capital. The newly formed GBAG was again divided up into four mining groups – Hamborn, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum and Dortmund – each with its own management set-up.

Dannenbaum colliery
Dannenbaum colliery can trace its history back to the former independent Dannenbaum and Friederika mines. In fact the Friederika site existed as a drift mine even before 1749 and only switched to deep mining when the first deep shaft was sunk in 1867. In 1889 the colliery was taken over by the Dannenbaum joint-stock mine and then acquired by the Differdingen-Dannenbaum iron and coal industry company in 1899, before passing to its successor Deutsch-Lux in 1901. Once the ‘fat coal’ (medium volatile coal) had been worked out the Friederika mine closed down in 1907. The main winding shaft then became an upcast ventilation shaft for Prinz Regent and Dannenbaum collieries.

Dannenbaum, which started-up before 1780, was also originally a drift mine. Work began on the first shaft sinking in 1859 and coal winding commenced the following year. In 1873 the Dannenbaum mining undertaking was converted into a joint-stock company.

Like the Friederika pit Dannenbaum colliery was also taken over by the Differdingen-Dannenbaum iron and coal industry company in 1899 and subsequently transferred by the latter to Deutsch-Lux in 1901, which then had possession of the Prinz Regent, Friederika and Dannenbaum collieries. In 1926 these mines were taken over by VSt. After VSt was divested of its colliery operations GBAG was set-up with its four mining groups: Hamborn, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum and Dortmund. Because of difficult and highly faulted geological conditions, and the steep gradient of the coal bearing seams, the collieries of the Bochum group – which also included Dannenbaum mine – were destined to remain as small to medium-sized production units. Dannenbaum mine was transferred to the newly formed Bochumer Bergbau AG in 1953 and was then amalgamated with Prinz Regent central colliery in 1956. Prinz Regent/Dannenbaum mine subsequently closed on 27 February 1960.

Prinz Regent colliery
The area worked by Prinz Regent colliery had previously been the site of three drift mines – Alte Mann, Bonifacius und Backwinkeler Erbstolln – which had been in operation since about 1750 and subsequently closed during the period 1788 to 1845. The Prinz Regent mining company began sinking Prinz Regent 1 shaft in 1870 and this started winding coal in 1873. In 1890 the pit was acquired by the Dannenbaum mine joint-stock company. In 1899, along with the rest of the mining assets, Prinz Regent colliery was also transferred to the Differdingen-Dannenbaum iron and coal industry company and from there to Deutsch-Lux in 1901. In 1905, as an extension to Prinz Regent, the company then acquired Julius Philipp mine from the Essen-based coal and steel company Arenberg'schen Actien-Gesellschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenindustrie. From 1926 on Prinz Regent was part of the VSt Bochum group. After the divestment of the collieries GBAG took over Prinz Regent mine. Like the other pits in the Bochum group Prinz Regent was also transferred to Bochumer Bergbau AG at the end of the Second World War. In 1956 it merged with Dannenbaum but the coal industry crisis eventually forced its closure on 27 February 1960.

Friedlicher Nachbar colliery
The most westerly of the three mines in the Bochum basin, which Deutsch-Lux transferred to the ownership of VSt in 1926, Friedlicher Nachbar colliery was created from the two adjacent and formerly independent pits of Friedlicher Nachbar and Baaker Mulde. The latter can be traced back to the former drift mines of Johann Friedrich, St. Mathias Erbstollen und Ver. Dickebaeckerbank und Anna Catharina, which had been working the local coal seams as far back as the mid-eighteenth century. In 1868/1870 these three drift workings were combined under the name Baaker Mulde. The adjoining Friedlicher Nachbar mining company took over the Baaker Mulde mine in 1899. The Friedlicher Nachbar mining concession was first claimed in 1831 and by 1854 the lease covered an area of 1.1 million square metres. The coal was originally hauled to the surface by horse-drawn capstan, while a steam-powered winch was subsequently introduced in 1857. No. 1 shaft was sunk in 1868 and vertical winding commenced in 1870. In 1904 the Friedlicher Nachbar mining company was taken over by Deutsch-Lux: the surface facilities were extended and a coke-works with a byproducts-recovery plant was constructed, though this was closed down and subsequently demolished in 1919 due to an insufficiency of coal. In 1926 the mine was acquired by VSt and was temporarily closed in 1932 before being put back into production on 1 September 1933. When GBAG was re-formed in 1933 Friedlicher Nachbar colliery became part of the Bochum group. The reorganisation of GBAG was finally completed in 1953 and Friedlicher Nachbar colliery was assigned to the newly created Bochumer Bergbau AG. The mine was finally closed on 30 March 1961; its surface buildings were demolished and the shafts were filled-in.

Bruchstrasse colliery
Bruchstrasse mine was originally owned by the Prussian Government, the Bruchstrasse mining concession having been reserved as far back as 1769. However, the strip mining claims of Bruchstrasse 1, Bruchstrasse 2 and Bruchstrasse 3 were not finally reserved until 1839 and these were then converted into square claims in 1845. The glass-maker Gustav Müllensiefen then acquired the concession by public auction on 28 September 1852 and he went on to found the Bruchstrasse mining company in 1867. The first shaft sinking commenced in 1872, but this had to be filled in again because of geological faulting. A new shaft was started the same year and this went into operation in 1874. In 1887 the Bruchstrasse mining company acquired all the shares in the Dortmund coal mining company Louise Tiefbau AG and was then dissolved. No. 2 ventilation shaft was completed in 1907 and no. ventilation shaft was sunk in 1914, after Louise Tiefbau AG had merged with Deutsch-Lux. Under VSt management Bruchstrasse colliery was extended and a coking plant constructed in order to supply coke to the Siegerländer blast-furnace works. After the divestment of the VSt mines Bruchstrasse colliery was transferred to the GBAG Bochum group, where it remained until the coal and steel industries were reorganised after the Second World War. From 1953 Bruchstrasse was one of the five collieries that made up Bochumer Bergbau AG. The mine finally closed on 31 March 1962.

Carolinenglück colliery
Carolinenglück mine was founded in the 1840s by the Glückauf mining company and coal winding commenced in no. 1 shaft in 1850. A second shaft was finally sunk after repeated attempts and this went into operation as the main winding shaft in 1891, with no. 1 shaft being used for water pumping and ventilation. On 9 May 1900 the mining assets of Carolinenglück colliery were transferred to the ownership of the Bochumer Verein, which needed the production from Carolinenglück colliery to supplement the supplies of ‘fat coal’ to its factories, as the deposits at its existing mines were not sufficient for the purpose. The Bochumer Verein began sinking no. 3 shaft in 1910 and this went into service in 1912. In 1926 Bochumer Verein invested the Ver. Engelsburg and Carolinenglück mines in VSt and the VSt Bochum group (later GBAG) was created with the addition of Bruchstrasse, Dannenbaum, Friedlicher Nachbar and Prinz Regent collieries.

The Carolinenglück Bergbau AG mining company was set up in 1953 and was then transferred on a 50/50 basis to Bochumer Verein and Bochumer Bergbau AG. Carolinenglück colliery reached its peak production of 476,640 tonnes in 1956 and was finally closed on 31 May 1964.

Engelsburg colliery
The Engelsburg workings were established around 1735 and originally operated as a drift mine for a hundred years. The mine then converted to deep mining in 1833/1834 and the first vertical shaft went into operation in 1835. Work on Engelsburg no. 1 shaft began in 1873 and this began winding coal two years later. However production did not really expand until the Bochumer Verein acquired the colliery in 1889 and began to develop it on a large scale. VSt then took over the Ver. Engelsburg mine in 1926. After the divestment of the VST mines GBAG became the principal shareholder. After 1953 Ver. Engelsburg colliery was operated by Bochumer Bergbau AG. The mine finally closed on 29 September 1961 and the shafts were filled-in during 1962/1963.

History and classification of the records
Part of the archives of the former GBAG Bochum group were found at Bruchstrasse colliery in Bochum-Langendreer, which closed in 1962. During the War the records had been removed from the offices of the Bochum group in Friederikastrasse, Bochum, and stored at Bruchstrasse colliery, where they suffered severe damage due to bombing and general looting after the War’s end. The remainder of the files had been saved and held at the main GBAG offices in Gelsenkirchen, before being transferred to the Mining Archives in 1970. The records comprised colliery and company files that had come into GBAG’s possession over the years. The files were extremely miscellaneous and the documents handed over were generally fragmentary in content.

The written records from the Ver. Hamburg und Franziska mine in Witten, one of the oldest in the entire Ruhr coalfield, date back to 1821 and confirm the traditional nature of the drift mining operations. Along with a number of files from Deutsch-Lux these individual records constitute the bulk of the archived information. Some sections dating back to 1841, plus a few title deeds, still remain from the Ver. Wallfisch colliery in Witten-Düren, which was acquired by Ver. Hamburg und Franziska in 1894.