Zwiedzanie Kopalni Guido

Subterranean Folk Museum "Guido"


Useful Information

Location: Zabrze, ul 3 Maja 93.
South of the city center.
(50.289548949585566, 18.791780679916766)
Open: Office: All year Tue-Sun 8-19:30.
Booking: All year daily 8-19:30.
Closed 01-JAN, Easter, 25-DEC, 26-DEC.
Reservations mandatory.
Underground Tours: All year Tue, Wed 9:30-16:30, Thu 9:30-18, Fri 9:30-19, Sat, Sun 9:30-18.
Underground Pub: All year Tue, Wed 11:15-18:15, Thu-Sun 11:15-19:30.
[2021]
Fee: Guido Main Tour: Adults PLN 60, Children (6-16) PLN 45, Students (-26) PLN 45, Seniors PLN 46.
Darkness of the Mine: Adults PLN 60.
Miner's Shift: Adults PLN 99.
Visit Level 170: Adults PLN 60.
Visit Level 320: Adults PLN 60.
Visit in the Pub on level 320: Adults PLN 10.
[2021]
Classification: MineCoal Mine
Light: LightIncandescent
Dimension: T=13-16 °C
Guided tours: Guido Main Tour: D=2 h, L=1,500 m, MinAge=5, Max=22, T=13-16 °C.
Darkness of the Mine: D=2.5 m, MinAge=12, Max=22, T=16-18 °C.
Miner's Shift: D=4 h, MinAge=18, Max=10,
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Muzeum Górnictwa Węglowego (Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze), ul. Georgiusa Agricoli 2, 41-800 Zabrze, Tel: +48-32-271-8831 or +48-32-271-6591.
Mine tours: Tel: +48-32-271-4077. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1855 hard coal mine in Zabrze opened by Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck, a magnate and industrialist.
1856 Barbara shaft excavation stopped due to technical difficulties.
1859 coal mine Concordia established.
1862 Guido shaft reaches the aquifer at a depth of 117 m.
1870 a company was established with the Oberschlesische Eisenbahn Gesellschaft (Upper Silesian Railway Company).
1872 Guido Shaft further excavated to 170 m.
1872 mining at 80 m resumesd.
1885 output of 312,976 tons of coal was reached.
1885-1887 Guido mine bought by Prussian Treasury and incorporated into state-owned "Królowa Luiza" mine as a south field.
1890 Railway shaft reaches 320 m.
1912 Delbrűck mine connected to Guido mine.
1922 as a result of World War I and the division of Silesia Delbrűck and Guido mines became German and part of the Preussag concern.
1928 Guido shaft decommissioned and Kolejowy shaft ceased to be a mining shaft.
1945 mine renamed Makoszowy coal mine and was mostly abandoned.
1967 M-300 Experimental Coal Mine established.
1982 becomes part of the Guido Open-Air Museum of Mining.
end 1990s museum closed to the public.
2000 added to the register of monuments.
2000 mine dismantled and opened to the public.
2007 reopened.
2008 opening of level 320.

Description

This is an opportunity to relive the life of a coal miner. The visitor dons a change of clothing and wears a helmet and cap lamp and carries an absorber. The visitor enters the workings via a breathtaking descent in a mine cage to both the 19th century level at -170 m and the 20th century workings at a depth of 320 m. Here you will see the stables, various mining implements, including the famous Sulzer pumps and compressors. This unique exhibition is presented in a large brick lined underground chamber. The route to the surface takes one through a warren of passages ending with a fast ride back to the surface in a mine cage.

There is a special program on St Barbara's Day. Souvenir shop and a bar serving hot meals.


Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.

This text describes the old show mine which had to close in the end of the 1990s due to financial problems. Founded and financed during the communist era for propaganda, the funding vanished under capitalistic conditions. In those early years after the collapse of the communist system, many people in Poland were rather poor and domestic tourism was quite low. So the show mine also lacked visitors. But joining the European Union made things easier and there are new ways to finance cultural institutions. And both domestic and foreign tourism in Poland increased dramatically.

Kopalnia Guido is a coal mine in Upper Silesia. It was opened in 1855 by Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck, a magnate and industrialist, and named after him. At this time the expansion of railway connections enabled the transport of raw materials and finished products. This contributed to the rapid development of the Upper Silesian industry. Both the industry and the railroad were in great demand for coal for the steam engines. As a result numerous coal mines were opened. The mine was started by digging the Barbara and Concordia shafts. After 30 m in Barbara shaft the miners reached a fault named Saar, and the excavation was stopped in 1856. Concordia shaft was renamed Guido and drilling continued to the 80 m level. But tectonic disturbances, made the coal extraction impossible.

Mining iuntensivied after the merger with the Oberschlesische Eisenbahn Gesellschaft (Upper Silesian Railway Company). They invested the necessary money and Guido shaft was drained and deepened to 170 m, mining at 80 m resumed. The Railway Shaft was drilled, and an output of 312,976 tons of coal was reached in 1885. Between 1885 and 1887 Guido mine was bought by the Prussian Treasury and incorporated into state-owned "Królowa Luiza" mine as a south field. The Delbrűck mine was started nearby and soon vconnected to the existing mine. After World War I in 1922 Silesia was divided, Delbrűck and Guido mines were on the German side and were nationalized in the Preussag concern. After World War II in 1945 the whole area became Poland, the mine was renamed Makoszowy Coal Mine. Guido Mine was not used for some decades but revived in 1967, when the M-300 Experimental Coal Mine was established, New mining equipment and machines were tested, but the mine produced only small amounts of coal, And in 1982 it became the Guido Open-Air Museum of Mining and the surface structures became an above ground show mine. In 2000 the unique underground mine was dismantled and opened to the public with the name Skansen Podziemny "Guido". But its current state of a show mine with tours on the 355 level was established in 2007 and it was renamed Zabytkowej Kopalni „Guido” (Guido Historic Coal Mine).

The show mine is the deepest coal mine open to tourists in the world. The tourist sections are on the mine levels 170 m, 320 m, and 355 m. They are reached with the cage or mine elevator of the Guido mine, operated by the metal headframe.

The regular tour is simply called Zwiedzanie Kopalni Guido (Guido Mine Tour or Guido Main Tour). It starts with a ride down the main shaft to the 320 m level, where the development of mining technology from the end of the 19th century to the present day is explained. The level was once mined for coal and many remaining seams can be seen in the walls, at least four coal seams with a thickness of 2 m can be seen. The tour also includes the ride on a mine train of an exceptional type. It is an electric suspension railway and the only one of this type in the world in a show mine. At the end of the train ride the typical coal mining with where two working shearers are demonstrated, a roadheader and a longwall shearer.

The Mroki Kopalni (Darkness of the Mine) tour is an expedition into the deepest and roughest parts of the Guido Mine. On the 355 m level the last active longwall, exploited during the second half of the 20th century, is visited. This is a contemporary coal mine preserved in the condition in which the miners left it twenty years ago. However, this tour is not equipped with trails and electric light, it requires sturdy walking boots and suitable clothes, and visitors are equipped with a coat, helmet and headlamp. The difficulty is comparable to an Alpine mountain tour and includes walking on uneven ground. Steep inclines, narrow passages, scraper conveyors, explosion-proof dust dams, and backfill pipes can be seen. The tour ends at a narrow 100 m long coal face where the last coal of Guido Mine was mined. From here the tour ascends by foot to the 320 m level, and returns to the shaft with a ride on the electric suspension railway. Due to the higher depth, the temperature on this tour is higher than on the others.

Górnicza Szychta (Miner's Shift) is the simulation of a shift for a miner. Participants get the full gear of a miner, or better foreman's outfit, sturdy jacket and trousers, gum boot, and helmet with miner headlamp. You change in the changing rooms and store your personal belongings in individual lockers, like miners did before the shift. Then you enter the mine with the cage (mine elevator) down to the 355 m level. Then you walk towards Longwall No. 4, which was used for training and research purposes during the second half of the 20th century. The access tunnel is still fully equipped for mining, with machinery and conveyor belts. Here the work starts, moving a heavy pipeline, assemble a conveyor belt, cut a wooden punch, install a ventilation duct, and other infrastructure works. Then you go on the the coal face or longwall, a 100 m long passage where the coal seam is mined. The ceiling is supported by walencioks, densely spaced iron support beams. After the shift, which is fortunately much shorter than it once was, you ascend a steep slope to the 320 m level. Here all miners visit the underground pub for an after work "Guido" beer and specialties of Silesian cuisine. Back on the surface the miners go to the personell showers. You should bring personal hygiene items and underwear to change.

The 320 m level has an underground pub named Hala Pomp (Pump Hall), which is available for functions and also has infrastructure for conferences. Also available are three chambers which are called Warsztat Mechaniczny (Mechanical Workshop), Komora Kompresorów (Compressor Chamber), and Komora Badawcza nr 8 (Research Chamber No. 8). Each one is big enough for 100 to 150 people, and they are equipped with microphones, cameras, projectors and other multimedia equipment. They can be used for videoconferences, film screenings or theater plays. It possible to visit the pub without a tour for a small elevator fee.