The monument "Reminder"

In August 1910, Brunssum was designated as the third mining seat in the Netherlands. The Hendrik Mine was commissioned in 1915. The mine produced fat coal that was processed into coke for industrial use. During the mine's nearly 50 years of operation, over 61 million tons of fat coal was mined.
Hendrik knew the deepest mine shaft in the Netherlands - the shaft reached 1,058 meters.

Just before the closure, in 1963, the Hendrik was merged with the nearby state mine Emma (located in what was then Hoensbroek). Both mines were previously connected underground.

After the mine closed, the Hendrik was given another destination: in 1967, NATO took over the site as the headquarters of the central armed forces in Europe, the AFCENT. The site is now called the Van Nassau-Oudekerken camp and is known as JFC Headquarters (Joint Force Command). The site hosts mainly administrative services.

The JFC communication tower is built in almost the same place where the shaft of the Hendrik used to be. The shaft wheel was placed as a monument in the park in front of the former entrance. This shaft wheel was placed as a reminder of the Staatsmijn Hendrik, 1900-1970. The initiative was taken by the then alderman Smeets, former chief supervisor at this mine. The object is 5 meters high.

Source: Beeldend Brunssum