Schacht An der Haard
THE ABANDONED MINE IN GERMANY
‘Schacht An der Haard‘ is an abandoned composite mine in the German Ruhr area, whose pit field was under the cities Recklinghausen, Oer-Erkenschwick, Haltern and Marl. The buildings were eventually demolished in 2020.
The ‘Schacht An der Haard’ as the site was originally named, opened its doors in 1977. It was part of the ‘Zeche Ewald Fortsetzung’. One year later, the name was changed to ‘Zeche Haard’. For a short time, two mine shafts were used for mining coal. But in 1984 Shaft 1 went into operation as a cable car shaft. In 1992 the mine merged with ‘Zeche Blumenthal’. The new company Blumenthal-Haard produced over three million tons of coal every year.
During the year 1997, Shaft 2 of the original ‘Zeche Ewald Fortsetzung’ was closed and filled. Afterward, the other parts were connected to the new mine ‘Zeche Auguste Victoria’. As a result, ‘Schacht An der Haard’ was completely abandoned in 1999.
During the summer of 2011, there was a fire inside the factory building. In July 2015, the Haard shaft was filled, more than 37 thousand cubic meter sand-cement mixture was pumped to a depth of 850 meters. Eventually the terrain will be completely demolished and given back to the forest. The photos of this derelict mine were taken during my visit in 2016. Follow this link for more abandoned coal mines.
