Arthurstollen

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Arthurstollen
use Formerly prehistoric and contemporary copper mine, water pipe tunnel, today a show mine
place St. Johann im Pongau - Mühlbach am Hochkönig ( Palfnerkogel )
length 5022 m
construction
Client Achenrain brass factory
start of building 1907
business
operator Mitterberger Kupfer AG / GmbH
closure 1957
location
Arthurstollen (State of Salzburg)
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Coordinates
Mühlbach mouth hole 47 ° 22 ′ 35 ″  N , 13 ° 8 ′ 18 ″  E
Mouth hole deserted (new, moated castle) 47 ° 22 ′ 41 ″  N , 13 ° 12 ′ 16 ″  E

The Arthurstollen is an old tunnel near St. Johann im Pongau in the province of Salzburg . The copper mining since the Bronze Age is the oldest in the Eastern Alps and prehistorically deepest in the world, the established show mine is currently not in operation.

location

The Arthurstollen has three mouth holes : the western one is in Mühlbach am Hochkönig at 808  m above sea level. A. to find. The two eastern ones are in the cadastral municipality of Einöden above the town of St. Johann in the Salzach Valley , the southern one belonging to the old Arthur tunnel, while the northern one was only found in a more recent operating period. The latter are about 210 meters above the valley floor of the Salzach Valley at around 760  m . This included two window tunnels , Margarethen-  ( 790  m ) and Bliemstollen  ( 802  m ).

The tunnel has a length of 5022 m from the mouth hole in Mühlbach to Einöden. It crosses under the Palfnerkogel of the Dientner Mountains .

history

Prehistoric excavation Palfnerkogel (2nd millennium BC)

When driving the “old” Arthur tunnel, which was struck in a pinge , the old man , i.e. earlier conveyor tunnels (also incorrectly called the Celtic tunnel ), was opened up several times . The ore body was approx. 50–70 cm wide and was completely mined by the old man . Mining was originally thought to be early modern because of its great depth. The finds made there indicate the first ore mining since the Bronze Age around 2000 BC. By examining the wooden pit fixtures in the Arthurstollen using the radiocarbon method , an age of around 3000 to 3700 years was determined. Due to the conserving effect of the copper connections, the wooden fixtures ( stamps , stages) from this time have been preserved very well. Tools from this time (stone axes and hammers, called grooved mallets ) were also found. The prehistoric tunnels have been driven forward from two sides and are only 30 cm away from each other. There are also gaps for air routing . The vertical depth of over 200 meters is a worldwide unique finding for the Bronze Age. The Götschenberg near Bischofshofen as a processing site is even older and dates back to the Neolithic Age, although it could not be determined whether Mühlbacher, Einödener or Buchberger ore was processed there - there are around 200 smelting sites in the region around the Mitterberg. At the Sinnhubschlössl and above the Arthur tunnel in Mühlbach, traces of settlement are up to 5,400 years old. With the beginning of the Iron Age, copper lost its importance, whether mining continued in the Celtic or Roman times - the Romans were quite interested in the natural resources of the Inner Mountains - is unknown.

Bürgstein Copper Union (1855–1879)

The Bronze Age copper mining was long forgotten when the copper deposits in the area of ​​the Hochkönig were rediscovered by chance in 1827 ( Mitterberg copper mining ) . At first, deposits in the area of ​​the Hochkeil in Mühlbach were exploited ( Mühlbach copper mine ), then mining also began south of the Mühlbach valley in the municipality of St. Johann. In 1855 the copper union Bürgstein zu St. Johann im Pongau was founded. The treatment of the copper-bearing ore was first used in a copper smelter in Oberarl place because water here enough by the Liechtenstein Klamm was present. This union went bankrupt again in 1879 , with the Abbey of St. Peter bearing the main losses.

Mining Mitterberg Südrevier (1907–27, 1952–58)

In 1905 the Tyrolean brass factory in Kramsach acquired freelance mining in the area of ​​the Einödberg. In January 1910 , Mitterberger Kupfer  AG , founded in 1907 by the industrialist Arthur Krupp , also took over the exploitation of this area, which still extends to the other side of the Salzach valley as far as the Buchberg , which was also used prehistorically . One of the high tunnels posted in 1907 was then given the name Arthur- Tollen in honor of the president . The Arthurstollen was led from the Salzach Valley to Mühlbach. At that time it was primarily used for ore mining. The mined minerals were copper pyrites and pyrite , also gold-containing tetrahedrite and cobalt-containing gersdorffite . Quartz and carbonates were the main rocks ( gait ) . The Hunte transported the ore through the tunnel to Einödberg and Mitterberg, from there it was brought to Mitterberghütten for smelting on a suspension railway . So you could save yourself the laborious transport by horse and cart through avalanche and mudslide prone roads.

The tunnel also ensured the supply of the village Mühlbach in winter, the road in the Mühlbachtal, today's Hochkönigstraße  (B164), was very unsafe.

However, the global economic crisis ended the dismantling, the company was liquidated in 1931/32. Although in 1952 - then by the Kupferbergbau Mitterberg  Ges.mbH - a new mining operation was started (fire mineralization) , the production was due to the low expected reserves, the unfavorable deposit conditions, but especially the lack of workers and their unfavorable location to the main production site finally stopped again in 1957/58. Most recently, around 20 t of stone was extracted daily from the civil engineering below the Arthur tunnel; the metal content was around 1.4–1.8% Cu.

Arthurwerk water tunnel (1927–1988)

From 1927 to 1988, a concrete channel built into the tunnel served as a water supply for the Arthurwerk in the Salzach Valley (near the St. Johann power station ). Because of this water flow, the Arthur tunnel was preserved even after the dismantling in the Arthur tunnel in 1957 and in the entire Mitterberg district in 1977. In 1988 a new pressure tunnel was built and the Arthur tunnel, because it had no function, was to be closed with a concrete stubble.

Arthurstollen show mine (from 1992/95)

As traces of prehistoric mining activity were repeatedly encountered during the work on the Arthurstollen, the Montandenkmal Arthurstollen association was founded , which, against the resistance of official bodies, has set itself the goal of maintaining the historical mining facilities. Under the guidance of the mining archaeologist Clemens Eibner and the state archaeologist Fritz Moosleitner and the help of many volunteers, the prehistoric mining monument was preserved. After extensive renovation and safety work between 1992 and 1995, a section of tunnel around one kilometer in length was made accessible to visitors and was even used as a show mine for a while.

With intensive help from the Association for Mining Tradition Linker Niederrhein eV between 2010 and 2012, renovation work was carried out at the tunnel entrance. This made it possible to secure the forest road above the tunnel entrance, which is of existential importance for forestry. A total of around 12 meters of ailing wooden construction had to be replaced by a stable steel construction. The new extension was paved and secured. In this way, the ailing timber construction was gradually replaced. The steel structures were then backfilled with precast concrete via standpipes, so that the forest road running above the tunnel entrance can still be used with heavy machines and vehicles without endangering access to the Arthur tunnel. The organization of these measures was done by Robert Pils from the Museum am Kastenturm in Bischofshofen .

In the gallery, insights into mining technology and mining methods at the beginning of the 20th century as well as prehistoric ore extraction are given. The former moated castle of the Arthurwerk at the tunnel entrance is a listed industrial building (like the Arthur tunnel itself) from the 1920s, the building serves as an information and gathering room for groups of visitors. In the former transformer station there is a Barbara chapel in honor of the patron saint of miners.

A visit to the moated castle is possible in summer by appointment. The tunnel itself is currently closed, but plans are being made to reopen.

The Arthurstollen is presented as Geosite 51: Prehistoric Arthurstollen as part of the Geopark Erz der Alpen .

Further finds can be found as a special exhibition in the Museum am Kastenturm in Bischofshofen as well as in the Salzburg Museum (ex Carolino Augusteum) and the House of Nature in Salzburg.

See also

literature

  • Josef Bernhard: The Mitterberg copper gravel deposit. Ore management and tectonics. In: Yearbook of the Federal Geological Institute. 109, 1965, pp. 3-90.
  • Peter Gstrein: New start of prehistoric mining in the Arthur tunnel (Mitterberg mining). In: Communications from the Society for Regional Studies in Salzburg. Volume 128, 1988, pp. 425–438 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  • Wilhelm Günther, Clemens Eibner, Andreas Lippert, Werner H. Paar: Five thousand years of copper mining in Mühlbach am Höchkonig - Bischofshofen. Montan monograph on modern copper mining, 1829–1977; with articles on prehistoric copper mining, geology and mineralogy, Verlag Gemeinde Mühlbach am Hochkönig 1993.
  • Hans Ransmayr: The Arthurstollen - a Mecca of science. In: Gerhard Moser (ed.): The city book St. Johann im Pongau. City of St. Johann, Salzburger Druckerei 2005, ISBN 3-200-00481-9 , pp. 19-21.
  • Thomas Stöllner, Clemens Eibner, Jan Cierny: Prehistoric copper mining Arthurstollen. A new project in the southern district of the Mitterberg area (Salzburg). In: Gerd Weisgerber, Gert Goldenberg (ed.): Alpenkupfer - Rame delle Alpi (= section. Supplement 17), Bochum 2004, pp. 95-106.
  • Kurt Schömig: Austria's non-ferrous metal industry. (= Viennese geographical writings. Volume 17). Publisher F. Berger, Horn 1963.
  • Thomas Stöllner among others: The Bronze Age mining in the southern district of the Mitterberg area. Report on the research from 2002 to 2006. In: Archaeologia Austriaca. 90/2006, pp. 87-137.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Gerhard Feitzinger, Wilhelm Günther, Angelika Brunner: Old mining and smelter sites in the state of Salzburg . State of Salzburg - Department 16 Environmental Protection, Salzburg 1998, Mühlbach / Hochkönig; Nordrevier-Mitterberg, Südrevier-Bischofshofen-St. Johann , S. 22 ( online [PDF; accessed on May 21, 2015] Overview from p. 19). online ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.salzburg.gv.at
  2. ↑ a b c Weblink Geosite 51 , geopark-erzderalpen.at.
  3. ^ Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum , Research Center for Archeology and Materials Science: Large-scale production of copper in the Mühlbach-Bischofshofen area during the Bronze Age (so-called Mitterberg project). ( Memento from May 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  4. ↑ a b The copper ore as a lifeline: From the first settlements on the “Red Rock” to smelting in Ausserfelden. In: Bischofshofen informed. Stadtzeitung, Volume 20, Issue No. 1, March 2015, pp. 2–3 ( pdf , bischofshofen.at).
  5. ^ Mining archeology - the new focus in the museum at the Kastenturm. ( Memento from May 29, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ) museumamkastenturm.at (undated, accessed May 29, 2015).
  6. ^ Karl B. Matz: The Mitterberg copper ore deposit (Mühlbach am Hochkönig, Salzburg). In: Communications from the Department of Mineralogy at the Landesmuseum Joanneum. 1953, pp. 7-19 ( Article pdf ( Memento of the original dated December 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. , museum-joanneum.at). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.museum-joanneum.at
  7. ^ Mitterberger Kupferbergbau (company) . In: Salzburger Nachrichten: Salzburgwiki .
  8. ↑ The copper mining wasteland also included the Upper Höchstollen  (1112 m), the Höchstollen  (946 m) and the Untere Höchstollen  (838 m); Ref.Feitzinger, Günther, Brunner, 1998.
  9. ↑ K. Schömig: Austria's non-ferrous metal industry. 1963, p. 27 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  10. ^ W. Günther: From the Mitterberg copper union to the copper mining Mitterberg Ges.mbH in Mühlbach am Hochkönig. In: Günther, Eibner, Lippert, Paar: Five thousand years… .
  11. ↑ a b c L. Weber, Ch. Reichl: Representation of Austrian mining . (Chapter 5). In: Leopold Weber (Ed.): The Austrian Raw Material Plan . Archive for deposit research (AfL). tape 26 . Federal Geological Institute, Vienna 2012, 5.3.2. The ore mining. Non-ferrous metals. Copper. Section Mitterberger Südrevier ("Wilderness") , p. 66 ( online [PDF]).
  12. ^ Arthurwerk power station . In: Salzburger Nachrichten: Salzburgwiki .
  13. ↑ Geosite51: Prehistoric Arthur tunnel (PDF) Geopark ore of the Alps. Retrieved August 12, 2019.