Path of Coal
The shaft hall was the link between the working environments above and below ground. This is where miners climbed into the cage that took them underground. The materials they needed for their work also found their way into the mine from here. But for most of the working day, mine cars came up filled to the brim with coal. Numerous steps were necessary to turn the raw coal into a product ready for sale: weighing, unloading, sorting, cleaning and transporting. Above all, the rocks, known as colliery spoil , had to be sorted out.
The work in the shaft hall was considered especially monotonous and was not very popular. Around 60 miners worked here in the noise and dust, unloading the wagons and sorting out the colliery spoil. It was loud and stuffy at the sorting belt, unbearably hot in summer and freezing cold in winter – an unpopular place to work.
The permanent exhibition in the shaft hall shows how coal was processed in an authentic venue. The focus is on the people who worked here. The shaft hall was one of the few places at the colliery where women also worked –particularly during the two world wars. Video sequences feature eleven contemporary witnesses who talk about their own work, as well as their experiences with forced labourers during World War II.
In addition, the exhibition offers a look inside the turbulent period after the mine was closed. Before Zollern was declared a historic landmark, numerous buildings such as the colliery power station, the coal washing plant, and even the original winding tower disappeared.