Zeche Fürst Leopold

Zeche Fürst Leopold (a pit) documents the city’s economic and social history at the beginning of the 20th century in a very vivid manner, both in urbanistic and in mining terms. It is also important for the development of the mining architecture in the Ruhr area during the 1910s.
Its original buildings developed from 1911 to 1916 in an objective brick architecture that clearly shows neo-Baroque influences. It is thus part of the early extant examples of reform architecture and documents this style, very typical of the mining industry in the Ruhr area, in a very illustrative manner.
The historical monument Zeche Fürst Leopold consists of the two entrance buildings, the admin building and baths, the pit frame over shaft 2, the hoist shed, the ventilation shed and the air supply unit.
The dominating admin building and baths is a complex of buildings. The three-storey wages shed with two continuous galleries and a skylight is noteworthy. On its back and connected with the wages shed by the baths-way is the staff baths, divided into a “black” and “white” (Schwarz- and Weißkaue: shower rooms plus working and private clothes store rooms respectively) bath, built in two different stages (Schwarzkaue 1914/16, Weißkaue 1952).
The frame over shaft 2, a German Promnitz brace frame, is a very illustrative document of the development of cable-supported structures. In conjunction with the hoists built in 1912 and 1915, this is a fully extant example of that period’s hoisting technology.
The hoist shed was built based upon a plan from 1911 and as a two-aisled brick-plaster structure. The building still houses the two twin-tandem steam hoists, which are also listed.
Zeche Fürst Leopold occupies a large uninterrupted industrial area in the district of Hervest. It has surely shaped that district’s history.

Author: Stadt Dorsten
Last changed on 19.09.2022

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