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Origin and history

The Joseph Else well is a former mining site in Wittelsheim, Upper Rhine, built in the early 20th century for potash extraction. The drilling of the well began in 1911 under the leadership of the German consortium Deutsche Kali Werke, and production began in 1913 after the deposit was reached. After 1918, the site passed under French control of the Mines de Potasse d'Alsace (MPDA), which modernized the installations between 1924 and 1931: boiler room, lamp factory, offices, and reinforced concrete chivalries were added, including that of the Else well (41.57 m high).

Mining ceased in 1966, marking the end of an industrial era for Wittelsheim. In the 1990s, the site was converted into an activity park, while the Saint-Joseph well hosted a metal straddle for underground waste storage (StocaMine). The lampistie-vestiaires-douches, built in 1928 with its brick arches and original equipment (douches, infirmary), was listed as historical monuments in 2005 before being deregistered in 2006 due to its state of degradation. Today, the building houses the KaliVie association, which preserves mining memory through a technical conservatory and a mineralogic collection.

Architecturally, the site is distinguished by its constructions in red brick (administrative buildings, changing rooms) and reinforced concrete (the Else well, chloride hangar). The straddling of the Joseph well, added in 1991, is a metal structure of 31 metres. Although partially disused, the whole shows the Alsatian industrial history, between German heritage and French development, before its contemporary economic conversion.

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