Franziska Shaft Headframe

Built in 1893. The shaft depth was about 237m. In 1978 this mine was closed.

One of the last witnesses to the mining tradition in Rösrath-Hoffnungsthal is the winding tower Franziska-Schacht.

The Franziska Shaft, which was sunk in 1892 as the fourth shaft in the Lüderich mine, goes down 237 meters. Much deeper than ever dug by the ancient Romans who left their mark in the area in the 1st century AD in search of lead and silver ores. In the 13th century there was evidence of mining at Lüderich, and in 1518 Duke Johann von Jülich officially gave permission to "find all kinds of ores in a mine in our mountains, called Loederich". Only the Thirty Years' War stopped this search in 1618.

The fragile-looking gray metal construction above the Franziska shaft with its large pulleys is a testament to the mining boom that started again in the 19th century in Lüderich with the mining of lead and zinc and at times kept 3000 miners in wages and bread. However, the history of the Franziska shaft and its winding tower is relatively short compared to the long tradition. Although the very productive "Hangender Sommer" deposit was discovered in 1950, production on the Franziska shaft was discontinued in 1958. Finally, in 1978, mining at Lüderich was stopped altogether.

The winding tower in Hoffnungsthal remained standing and, together with the winding tower on the main shaft on today's Overath-Steinenbrück golf course, is the last visible evidence of mining in the area. A testimonial that rusted away for a long time and was only provisionally provided with corrosion protection in 1981. Thanks to an extensive restoration in 2001, during which floor panels and rivet connections were renewed and a new rust protection was applied, the tower will be preserved for a long time and can be visited at any time. Information boards, which, like the restoration, were co-financed by the NRW Foundation, tell the story of the eventful history of mining in Lüderich next to the tower.

nrw-stiftung.de/projekte/projekt.php?pid=254

The winding tower belonging to the shaft is a single-storey truss structure in a half-timbered construction with a rivet construction and two adjacent sheaves. The headframe is the oldest surviving headframe in the Rhineland and is important in terms of development. The winding tower is entered under no. 9 in the list of monuments in Rösrath.
More info: Wikipedia