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The beginnings of the actual Wolf mine can probably be dated back to 1834, when a licence was granted and a first tunnel was subsequently driven through which the ore was extracted. In 1890, mechanised underground mining began relatively late compared to other mines, which significantly increased production. The raw ore was processed and roasted on site.After the owner ran into financial difficulties, the mine was sold to the Krupp company in 1916, which already owned numerous other mines in the Siegerland region at the time. The mine was extensively modernised and made more efficient with a new steam boiler system and new roasting furnaces. Whereas the roasting material had previously been transported by horse-drawn carts, from 1916 it was transported via a braking hill to the railway line in the valley.As the economic situation continued to deteriorate in the years following the First World War, sales difficulties arose, which ultimately led to the mine being closed on 31 January 1925. During this phase of operation, the shaft had reached a depth of 300 metres. With a workforce of 200 people at the end, a total output of just under 750,000 tonnes had been achieved by then. With the emerging armaments plans of the National Socialists before the Second World War, Siegerland ores were once again in demand. In 1936, Krupp decided to resume mining operations at the Wolf mine. A 38 m high headframe was erected by Freiengrunder Eisenwerke, hoisting and pumping technology was modernised, a new mine house was built and the shaft was lined with 50 cm thick brickwork over the entire depth. However, processing and roasting were no longer carried out on site, but were moved to the newly established central processing and roasting plant in Füsseberg.At this time, Krupp had already owned the Füsseberg and Glaskopf and Friedrich Wilhelm and Einigkeit mines for several decades. For economic reasons, these mines had already been combined into one operating unit in 1934 and connected underground. However, the plan to combine all the mines on the Florz-Füsseberg vein into one unit failed due to opposition from Friedrichshütte AG, which owned the San Fernando mine. In order to transport the ore from the Wolf mine to the central processing plant at the Füsseberg mine, a 3 km long cable railway was built in 1936/37. It was designed for an hourly capacity of 40 tonnes, each wagon held approx. 1 tonne and took around 25 minutes to cover the one-way journey.
The mine, which was now state-of-the-art, was commissioned in June 1937 in the presence of the Krupp family. However, the new operating phase only lasted eight years. At the end of the war in 1945, the mine was shut down again. By then, it had reached the 550 metre level and extracted around another 500,000 tonnes of ore. When the mine was shut down, dewatering was also stopped so that the deep levels were flooded. However, the expected complete flooding of the mine workings did not materialise. The water reached the neighbouring San Fernando mine via fissures and crevices, where mining had been resumed in 1946 after an interruption due to the war. There, the water inflow on the lower levels increased so much that the mining work was considerably impaired. Friedrichshütte AG reached an agreement with Krupp to take over the dewatering of the Wolf mine, so that the inflows at San Fernando decreased significantly again.
As early as 1950, when a reorganisation and merger of the Siegerland ore mining industry under the influence of the Allied victorious powers became apparent, Krupp and Friedrichshütte agreed to mine the ore reserves of the Wolf mine via the San Fernando field.The 600 metre San Fernando level was connected to the Wolf shaft; further connections were also made later on other levels. When Erzbergbau Siegerland AG was founded in March 1953, it took ownership of all the mines in Siegerland. San Fernando and Wolf were now run as a joint operation. While mining was already carried out via the San Fernando shaft, the miners continued to work in the Wolf pit until 1958, after which the pit was shut down.As ore mining at the San Fernando pit had already progressed to the 830 m level, further operations there were postponed and the focus of extraction was shifted to the old Wolf pit, which had only been mined to the 550 m level. Due to the ever-increasing competition with foreign ores, the San Fernando-Wolf composite pit was only able to maintain operations until 14 April 1962. Even after that, mining in the Wolf pit field continued for a short time via the Füsseberg - Friedrich Wihelm group until Siegerland ore mining finally ceased on 31 March 1965.
After the mine was closed, an association of mining enthusiasts endeavoured to preserve the winding tower. Unfortunately, it was unable to raise the necessary funds for maintenance, so the winding tower was demolished in 1975. The site is now used for commercial purposes. The only reminder of the mining past is a pulley from the winding tower that was erected later in a car park.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
The Wolf mine is one of the oldest in the region. Iron ore was mined here as early as the 18th century in open-cast mining, which switched to drift mining after 1834. After extensive renovation in the 1930s by the Krupp company, the mine was given the highest winding tower in the region at 38 metres. Nevertheless, the mine was shut down as early as 1945. The underground facilities continued to be used by the Füsseberg mine. However, the disuse of the mine finally led to its complete demolition in 1975. Today, only the pulley and a lorry with stones are reminders of the past.
Contact and directions
Bahnhofstr. 457567 Daaden
Contact
touristik@daaden-herdorf.de
