Buildings of the Main Area of the Former Rozbark Mine

The Rozbark mine operated in Bytom from 1877 to 2004. A complex of its early 20th-century buildings has been entered in the heritage register: the engine house of the Bończyk shaft from 1907, the lamp room (cechownia) from 1911, the boiler house from 1915 and a brick retaining wall from 1886. The winding towers are no longer there.

The buildings

The engine house is a Neo-Gothic brick hall. The lamp room is Neo-Baroque and symmetrical, with a main hall for about 200 people; Barbórka (St Barbara's Day, the miners' holiday) celebrations were held in it, and scenes from Kazimierz Kutz's films were shot there. Since 2013 it has housed the Rozbark Dance and Movement Theatre. In front of the building stands a sculpture of a miner from 1935 by Walter Tuckermann. The boiler house, with a steel structure inside, suffered in 2019, when a 75-metre chimney fell over during demolition. The brick retaining wall is up to five metres high and has a wrought-iron balustrade.

History

The buildings were commissioned by the firm Georg von Giesches Erben, which bought the mine in 1890; the architects were Emil and Georg Zillmann. After the mine closed, the complex fell into decay, and the city took over the site around 2009. Today it is being adapted, and the administrative building has been turned into a hotel.

Practical information

• Address: ulica Chorzowska, Bytom-Rozbark.
• The complex is viewed from the outside; it is worth checking the rules for entering individual buildings, including the theatre, before a visit.