Paths of Coal
The shaft hall was the link between the working worlds above and below ground. This is where the miners climbed into the cage that took them underground. The materials they needed for their work also found their way into the mine here. But for most of the working day, the mine cars came up here, 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 rock, known as waste material, had to be sorted out.
The work in the shaft hall was considered particularly monotonous and was not very popular. Around 60 miners worked here in noise and dust, unloading the wagons and sorting the waste material. 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 at the authentic location. 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 – especially during the two world wars. Video sequences feature eleven contemporary witnesses who talk about their own work, but also about their experiences with forced laborers during World War II, for example.
In addition, the exhibition offers an insight into the turbulent period after the mine was closed. Before Zollern was declared a monument, numerous buildings such as the colliery power station, the coal washing plant, and even the original winding tower disappeared.