It was, therefore, a rude awakening when Grube Göttelborn closed its doors for good in 2000, just six years after modernization. Two hundred million euros wasted money. Like their colleagues in the Ruhr area, the Saarland miners did not escape mine closures. In 2012, the curtain fell for good when Bergwerk Saar in Ensdorf collapsed. The last German coal mine closed in the Ruhr area in 2018.

Coal mining in Göttelborn originated more than a century earlier. In 1887, the Royal Preußische Bergwerksdirektion Saarbrücken started extracting coal. After the First World War, the mine was expanded considerably. Then, the French mining authorities ruled the German Saar region, a consequence of the Treaty of Versailles that forced Germany to its knees.

Shaft 3

Next to it is the twenty-meter-high headframe 2 from 1920. Headframe 4, built in the 1990s, completes the three preserved headframes of Göttelborn.

Coal preparation plant

Not only have the three headframes and the unloading floor buildings remained untouched, but the coal preparation plant has also remained standing for the time being. The complex has retained all its screening and jigging machines and flotation equipment. Although the equipment was renewed in the 1990s, the condition has deteriorated significantly due to a lack of maintenance. In addition, there is extensive corrosion damage.

School campus

Since 2016, several educational institutions have been established on the former mining estate, including the Saar School of Architecture—the protected collection building from the 1950s houses a practice room and home.