Mine telephone

About the sound

The mine telephone made by the company Funke & Huster GmbH has been installed in the shaft-hall of the LWL-Industrial Museum Zollern Colliery since 1990.
This device had originally been in use in the Ewald Colliery in Herten (Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia).
In coal mining, mine telephones enable communication between the shaft- operations personnel and the hoisting operator, among other things. In Germany they have been used in shafts and tunnels since the turn of the century. They are explosion proof. Cranking the telephone's lever powers an electric generator, which provides the electric impulses for the bell. As soon as a current flows, the clapper strikes the bell and generates the acoustic signal. A single wind of the crank connects the telephone to the hoisting operator, whereas two winds of the crank connect to the coal mine pit bank. The first level is reached with three winds and the second level with four and so on. Even in a very loud environment the strong bell-apparatus can be heard well.

Sound recordist: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke
Photographer: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke
Video recordist: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke