Shaft of the Zufriedenheit mine

This is the location of the so-called Felix shaft. Three levels were mined here at a comparatively shallow depth (up to approx. 80 m). In addition to the main shaft, there was also a test shaft and the Felix Shaft (new), of which no remains can be seen above ground.

At the Felix shaft, the so-called pit bank is clearly visible, with a slight depression in the middle indicating the actual shaft. There are no known records of the Felixschacht, so that it can only be concluded indirectly from the pit image that this area must date from the early days of the mine, because the depth is still given in Lachter instead of meters.

A leachter (equivalent to 2.09 m) is an old mining measurement that was replaced by the metric system in Prussia in 1872. Furthermore, it can be concluded from the mine layout that the Felix shaft (new) did not encounter any mineable deposits, as no veins branch off here. The Felix shaft belonged to the original "Zufriedenheit" concession, which merged with the Albertsgrube in 1862.

Hängebank: The name refers to the installation at the opening of a shaft where the transition between shaft hoisting and onward transportation above ground takes place.

The word originates from pre-industrial mining and refers to the place where the hoisting vessel is suspended in the shaft. According to the "German Dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm", a pit bank is described as "... the two long timbers of the uppermost quarter of a drift shaft, over which the buckets are suspended and unhooked; ... hence also more generally the mouth of a shaft."

In the early days of mining, when a shaft was constructed, as here at Felixschacht, the tailings were often tipped directly around the shaft opening. This created a circular heap around the shaft opening.

It was not until steam engines were installed that it became possible to bring the tailings to the surface together with the mine cars and then transport them away more easily.

(Text: Jens Mieckley)