The manufacturing complex is a valuable relic of the 19th-century industry, featuring a number of surviving buildings as well as period machinery and equipment.

History

The “Ferdynand” mining facility was established in the Mysłowice fee-tail estate (known traditionally as an ordynacja in Polish), owned by Stanisław Mieroszewski. Built at the initiative of the retired rittmeister Ignacy Ferdinand von Beym, the mining facility commenced its operations back in 1823, when the exploitation of the relatively shallow deposits began. The main shaft, sunk in 1834, was originally known as “Beniamin” (its current name being “Bartosz”). The shaft was deepened on a number of occasions in the history of the mining facility. In 1840, the shaft was equipped with the first steam-powered water extraction pump, while in 1883 it was deepened substantially, reaching deposits located 300 metres below ground level. It was at that point that the shaft building was erected, subsequently redesigned in the years 1893-1895. Initially, the structure came equipped with a headframe with a single diagonal support. Further developments included the engine house - still equipped with the original steam engine from 1892 - and the power station (years 1893-1895). Despite the minor alterations introduced in the 1920s and the 1930s, the entire site has changed little throughout the years and can still serve as a perfect example of a 19th-century industrial complex. The mining facility itself changed name and ownership on several occasions; in 1839, Aleksander Mieroszewski sold the mining facility and a number of other properties to Franciszek Winckler. In 1889, Hubert von Thiele-Winckler established the Katowice Mining and Steel Industry Joint-stock Company, subsequently purchased by Fryderyk Flick, an entrepreneur from Rhineland, who merged the company with the “United Royal and Laura Steelworks Enterprise” and the “Batory Steelworks”. In 1945, the name of the facility was changed to “Katowice” - a direct consequence of its merger with the Katowice Coal Industry Union. In the 1980s, the facility formed part of the “Union of Bituminous Coal Mining Facilities in Katowice” and then of the “Katowice Mining Company”; in 1993, it became part of the Katowice Coal Mining Holding Company (KHW). In 1997, KHW adopted the decision on the merger of the “Katowice” and “Kleofas” mining facilities, which continued to operate as the “Katowice-Kleofas” mine until 1999, when the mining operations were discontinued and the liquidation of the enterprise began. Today, the former mining facility serves the needs of the Silesian Museum.

Description

The Bartosz mining shaft complex is situated in the Katowice city centre, on the site of the former Katowice mining facility. The area is bounded by the Dobrowolskiego, Nadgórników, Olimpijska and Roździeńskiego streets, with the structures themselves occupying the central part of the former mining facility which currently serves as the Silesian Museum.

The entire complex is a compact ensemble of structures comprising the oldest part of the entire facility, arranged on a roughly rectangular plan, with the machinery hall projecting towards the east. The individual buildings were designed as brick structures with historicist influences; today, the site is occupied by the following structures:

1. The shaft-top building with headframe - a two-storey structure with exposed brick façades, designed on a roughly rectangular plan, its compact body covered with a gable roof.

The façades are adorned with simple decorations in the form of subtle brick lesenes, with the south-western (gable-end) façade featuring a short avant-corps in the centre, incorporating a simple gateway; the windows are topped with segmental arches and framed with decorative surrounds. The riveted steel headframe with a single diagonal support is situated in the central section of the shaft-top assembly.

2. The machinery hall - a two-storey building with exposed brick façades, designed on a rectangular floor plan, its compact silhouette covered with a gable roof. The façades are partitioned with subtle lesenes and topped with a dentilled cornice. The south-western and north-eastern façades feature the most elaborate decorative scheme in the form of much more pronounced lesenes topped with pinnacles, accompanied by intriguing decorations of the gables, separated from the rest of the structure by a stepped cornice and divided into three distinct sections by elaborate pinnacles. Inside, the building features a segmental ceiling as well as period fixtures and fittings in the form of a steam-powered winding engine and gantry crane.

3. The power station building - a predominantly two-storey building with exposed brick façades, designed on a roughly rectangular plan; its silhouette consists of several clustered sections, with the main body being covered with a low-pitched shed roof. The building is characterised by an intriguing, elaborate decorative scheme of its façades, comprising numerous lesenes, cornices and avant-corps. The gables are crowned with bartisan-like pinnacles, with simple crenellated parapets adorning the tallest, central section of the structure.

The buildings can be viewed from the outside; the site currently serves as the new headquarters of the Silesian Museum.

compiled by Agata Mucha, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Katowice, 10-10-2014.

Bibliography

• Frużyński A., Kopalnie Węgla Kamiennego w Polsce, Łódź 2012, pp. 158-160
• Jaros J., Historia górnictwa węglowego w Zagłębiu Górnośląskim w latach 1914-1945, Katowice 1969
• Wybraniec P., Zabytki architektury przemysłowej w województwie Katowickim, Katowice 1989, pp. 15-16