Bensberg ore district

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Lore at the traffic circle in Overath-Steinenbrück with the inscription "Grube Lüderich from 1852–1978"

The Bensberger Erzrevier or Erzrevier Bensberg is a mountain district in the Bergisches Land , in which various ores and, in some places, lignite were extracted, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries . The expansion of the district extends mainly over the cities of Bergisch Gladbach , Engelskirchen , Overath and Rösrath . The area is named after the town of Bensberg in the center of the area.

The term Bensberger Erzrevier comes from the scientific discussion of geology . Among other things, the investigation and evaluation of zinc - lead = ore deposits in the Bensberg ore district is known as a mining geological and mining basis for the resumption of mining by Berghauptmann a. D. Friedrich Wernicke from November 1957. The former geologist of the Lüderich mine , Heinz Lehmann, also mentions the term Bensberg ore district in an expert report. It is always about the question of how many and which mineral resources still lie in the earth. Occasionally one also hears the terms Bensberger Revier and Bensberger Erzdistrikt .

History and formal assignment

Formal (as mining law jurisdiction and the District of mountain official administration) the Bensberger Erzrevier was initially under the term Bensberger area in 1853 as a jury -Revier from parts of Niederbergisches established mining area. A year later, parts of it were added to the newly founded Solingen district. After only twelve years, on July 10, 1865, the Bensberg Revier merged with the Solingen Revier in the Deutz Revier and thus formally ended.

The Düsseldorf area was added to the Deutz area in 1872 and the Ründeroth area in 1894 . The Bensberg pits now formally belonged to the Deutz-Ründeroth district. In 1931, this area was merged with the Bergrevier Wied (based in Neuwied ) to form Bergrevier Siegburg . Above it stood the Bonn Mining Authority . The parts of the Bonn and Dortmund mining offices that belonged to North Rhine-Westphalia after the Second World War were merged to form the Dortmund regional mining office in 1970 . This was dissolved in 2000. The tasks of the Landesoberbergamt were transferred to the Arnsberg district government . Today, as all mines in the Bensberg ore district have ceased operations, Department 6 Mining and Energy in North Rhine-Westphalia of the Arnsberg district government is responsible for all questions relating to the former mining industry.

The pits on the Gangerz deposits

Dump from the 13th century on the summer storage site of the Lüderich mine
Tough, 13th century shovel from the Bliesenbach mine
Lead seal as a connecting piece in a tracery window in Altenberg Cathedral

history

Even the Romans in Bensberger Erzrevier mining operation. Between lead field and the Franziska shaft has on the summer deposit detected between 2000 and 2005 Roman excavations mining from the second and third decades of the first century. Medieval mining is first documented occupied for the year 1122, when Emperor Henry V of Abbey Siegburg awarded the right to mine on their possessions metal ores. Further details are not known. However, there exist west of the excavation site of the Roman mining on the Lüderich Halden from the 13th century. These can also be related to mining "around the year 1250", which Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden is said to have operated in order to gain funds for the construction of Cologne Cathedral . You have to know that one ton of galena contained around 300 to 700 grams of silver . From this it can be concluded that the financing of the cathedral was supported with the silver won for coins, while the lead was used directly for the construction of the cathedral, namely for the connection of components and the roof covering. Most of the mines in the Bensberg ore district can still be found today in the area of pingen and dumps from mining in the High Middle Ages. In the mining books one reads everywhere that one has come across traces of old mining in an old man and that one has found old tack .

The earliest written evidence of mining specifically for pits in the Bensberg ore district goes back to a document dated August 23, 1512. In it, Johann III., Duke of Jülich-Berg and Count of Ravensberg renews for Hans Unger and Rütger Osthoff the permission of his predecessor Wilhelm IV to mine ore "on the rooster" in the parish of Bensberg . The Lüderich is mentioned for the first time on July 5, 1518. This is a "consensus" of the same Duke Johann III. von Jülich-Berg, who authorized the "Brother Johann up dem Strych" and his co-workers to operate an ore mine on the Lüderich in the Steinbach district . With the outbreak of the Thirty Years War , mining came to a complete standstill for a long time.

There was no evidence of new activities until the 18th century. On October 8, 1738, Hofrat Gumpertz received a general loan “for the yield of every two hours in the vicinity of Bensberg” found in iron stone, copper, lead and silver mines. On September 3, 1740, the loan was confirmed to him . Upon closer inspection of this information, Gumpertz was in control of all the mines in the Bensberg ore district. At the beginning of the 19th century, tentative efforts had been made at the Julien mine since 1826 . start mining for the extraction of lead ores. Around 1830 the "Chaussee from Bensberg to Altenbrück" was under construction. When they wanted to mine gravel for the expansion in a quarry in Altenbrück for this purpose, lead ores were found near what would later become the old Lüderich tunnel. It is reported that this gradually led to the development of mining on the Lüderich, which initially had a modest scope. When zinc smelting was brought to industrial maturity in the middle of the 19th century , a real zinc rush broke out in the Bensberg ore district. Mine operations were founded everywhere, which gave many people bread and work for a long time.

The pits

The pits in the Gangerz deposits in the Bensberg ore district are listed in the following table.

Surname City / municipality District / district awarded on
Achenbach mine Overath Steinenbrück Lead, copper, iron
Anacker pit Rösrath Rösrath Zinc, lead, copper, iron
Pit of Antonius Much Markelsbach Siderite, lead, zinc
Pit apple Bergisch Gladbach Moitzfeld Zinc, lead
Arago pit Overath Steinenbrück Zinc, lead, copper, iron
Pit Aurora Lohmar Jexmühle Zinc, lead, copper
Bavaria pit Overath Steinenbrück Lead, copper, siderite
Bergsegen mine Rösrath Hope valley Zinc, lead
Berzelius Pit Bergisch Gladbach Moitzfeld Zinc, lead
Bliesenbach mine Engelskirchen Loop Zinc, lead
Blücher pit Bergisch Gladbach Herkenrath Zinc, lead
Bruno II pit Engelskirchen Niederhof Copper, zinc, iron, pyrite
Castor Pit Engelskirchen Loop Lead, zinc, copper, iron, pyrite
Copernicus pit Cologne Cologne-Rath / Heumar Lead, zinc
Elberfeld mine Bergisch Gladbach Kaule Zinc, lead, copper
Pit Emanuel Much Markelsbach Zinc, lead
Elisa pit Bergisch Gladbach Bärbroich Zinc, lead
Erasmus pit Lindlar Vellingen Zinc, lead, copper, iron
Felix pit Bergisch Gladbach Moitzfeld copper
Fortuna pit Bergisch Gladbach Bensberg and Lückerath Zinc, lead
Franziska mine (Rösrath) Rösrath Hope valley Zinc, lead
Fresenius mine Overath Heiligenhaus Lead, copper
Fresenius I pit Overath Heiligenhaus zinc
Pit spring Rösrath Lead field Lead, zinc
Pit of Galileo Bergisch Gladbach Frankenforst Calamine, zinc, lead
Georg Forster pit Bergisch Gladbach Herkenrath Zinc, lead
Gertrudensegen Pit Much Markelsbach Zinc, lead, copper, siderite
Gotthardt mine Overath Vilkerath Zinc, lead
Grünewald mine Overath Untereschbach lead
Pit Gustav Bishop Rösrath Hope valley Zinc, lead, copper, siderite
Heiligenthal mine Overath Heiligenhaus Lead, copper
Pit Henricus Rösrath Hope valley Zinc, lead, copper
Hermann pit Overath Steinenbrück Lead, copper, siderite
Hermannsfreude mine Rösrath Rösrath Zinc, lead, copper
Hermannsfreude I mine Rösrath Rösrath Zinc, lead
Idria mine Bergisch Gladbach Bensberg mercury
Pit Julien Bergisch Gladbach Kaule Zinc, lead
Pit virgin Bergisch Gladbach Moitzfeld Zinc, lead
Klaproth pit Bergisch Gladbach Bockenberg Lead, copper, zinc
Leibnitz mine Rösrath Hope valley copper
Leopold von Buch mine Bergisch Gladbach Moitzfeld Zinc, lead
Loisel pit Bergisch Gladbach Bärbroich Zinc, lead
Lüderich mine Overath and Rösrath Untereschbach, Steinenbrück and Hope Valley Zinc, lead
Mirabeau mine Rösrath Rösrath copper
Napoleon's pit Overath Untereschbach lead
Nestor and Peter pits Rösrath Hope valley Zinc, lead, copper, iron
Nicholas pit Overath Fisherman's mill Zinc, lead
Nikolaus-Phoenix pit Much Markelsbach Zinc, lead
Pit penny Seelscheid Mohlscheid Zinc, lead, iron
Petersberg mine Overath Heiligenhaus Zinc, lead
Phoenix pit Overath Niedergrützenbach Lead, copper, iron zinc
Rosalinde pit Overath Vilkerath Zinc, lead
Rudolphus' pit Rösrath Rösrath Lead, copper
Rupertus pit Overath Vilkerath Zinc, lead, copper, siderite
Schnepfenthal mine Rösrath Hope valley Zinc, lead, copper, siderite
Pit blessings of god Rösrath Muddle lead
Silberkaule pit Engelskirchen Loop Lead, zinc, copper, siderite
Pit Theodore Rösrath Rösrath Zinc, lead
Pit United Glückauf Rösrath Forsbach Lead, zinc, copper
Pit victor Rösrath Hope valley Lead, copper, zinc
Volta pit Lohmar Dahlhaus Zinc, lead
Wallenstein mine Rösrath Hope valley Zinc, lead, copper
Wallenstein II mine Rösrath Hope valley Zinc, lead
Washington Pit Bergisch Gladbach Asselborn Zinc, lead
Pit white Bergisch Gladbach Moitzfeld Zinc, lead
Aachen colliery Much Aachen colliery lead

The iron mines in the Paffrath Kalkmulde

history

The beginnings of mining in the Paffrath Kalkmulde cannot yet be precisely determined. The first indications of the smelting of lawn iron stone can be found in reports of excavations in the Wahner Heide , the Königsforst and in the vicinity of Katterbach , where kilns and slag from the Latène period around 500 BC were found. Has found. Corresponding evidence is so far lacking about Roman mining. A kiln and ceramics from the 8th to 9th centuries have been excavated west of Unterbörsch in the municipality of Kürten . It is also documented that in 1930 a "racing hut" and several slag heaps from the 8th to 9th centuries were excavated in Seelsheide . Pieces of stoves, blow nozzles and ceramics from the Carolingian era were found every time . There is no further clear evidence of medieval and late medieval mining.

On October 8, 1738, Hofrat Gumpertz received a general loan “for the yield of every two hours in the vicinity of Bensberg ” found in iron stone, copper, lead and silver mines. This mining law also applied to the pits in the Paffrath Kalkmulde. On October 17, 1772 , Wilhelm Helwig suspected an iron stone mine "Auf der Kaule" near Bensberg, but had the courtesy rewritten to Johann Christian Welter, who on December 23, 1772 also suspected the iron stone mine "Am hart Knippen". There were further suspicions about Eisenstein on May 1, 1773 on all pits "on the road from Bensberg to Herkenrath " and on January 1, 1775 on the pits "at the coal quarry and Steinmacher Busch".

The importance of the pits in the Paffrath Kalkmulde

When people were looking for natural resources everywhere in the middle of the 19th century, some interested circles might have the euphoric idea that one could get rich this way. In any case, when studying the more than one hundred legitimate files, one has to get the impression that when looking for minerals in today's Bergisch Gladbach urban area, almost not a square meter went unnoticed. The results, however, were probably sobering for most of the mine fields in the Paffrath Kalkmulde. Compared with the relatively high-yield pits in the Gangerz deposits, the importance of mining in the Paffrath Kalkmulde was rather modest, even on the largest Luther mine. The mining of the minerals was mainly done in open pit mining . If you no longer had to deal with near-surface outcrops because the ironstone deposits went down with the limestone layers, you had to do civil engineering . Overall, the miners had to do very hard work, because almost all of the tasks were manual labor. Animals that were used in the transports, for example, also had a difficult life. In the smaller pits, mining, which barely went beyond minor digging, was often carried out by one-man operation. Most of the time it was small farmers who, in addition to farming, earned extra income with their own ox cart. They also had to wash the mined ore in the nearby stream to free it from clay etc. This mining was carried out particularly intensively in the period after 1879, when the German Reich imposed import duties on raw materials from abroad in order to make them more expensive than domestic products. The time for profitable mining was soon exceeded, so that today only minor traces can be found.

The pits

The following table lists the iron mines in the Paffrath Kalkmulde.

Surname City / municipality District / district awarded on
Albert Pit Bergisch Gladbach Men's rounds iron
Alemannia pit Bergisch Gladbach Refrath iron
Pit of Antonius Bergisch Gladbach hand iron
Bertha pit Bergisch Gladbach Heidkamp iron
Blondel Pit Rösrath Forsbach iron
Britannia Pit Bergisch Gladbach sand iron
Pit Carl Bergisch Gladbach Walnut Iron, calamine
Carlsglück pit Rösrath Forsbach iron
Pit Consolidated Catharina II Bergisch Gladbach Lustheide Iron, lead, zinc, pyrites, lignite
German Michel mine Rösrath Muddle Iron, manganese
Eduard & Amalia pit Bergisch Gladbach Walnut iron
Eisenkrämer mine Bergisch Gladbach Asselborn iron
Pit Emma Bergisch Gladbach and Cologne Gronau and Cologne-Dellbrück iron
Eykamp I mine Odenthal Eikamp iron
Fahn pit Bergisch Gladbach Schildgen iron
Frankenforst mine Bergisch Gladbach Kippekausen iron
Franconia mine Cologne Cologne-Dellbrück Lawn iron stone
Franziska mine (Bergisch Gladbach) Bergisch Gladbach Lückerath Pebbles
Pit friendship Bergisch Gladbach Katterbach iron
Gladbach mine Bergisch Gladbach City center iron
Pit Glückzu Bergisch Gladbach Lückerath Clay iron stone
Great Siefen mine Bergisch Gladbach Katterbach iron
Habsburg mine Bergisch Gladbach Gronau iron
Heidkamp I mine Bergisch Gladbach Heidkamp iron
Heidkamp II pit Bergisch Gladbach Heidkamp iron
Heidkamp III pit Bergisch Gladbach Gronau iron
Herkenrath mine Bergisch Gladbach Herkenrath Pebbles
Pit obstacle Bergisch Gladbach Asselborn iron
Hohenzollern mine Bergisch Gladbach and Cologne Gronau and Cologne-Dellbrück iron
Hombach mine Bergisch Gladbach Men's rounds iron
Hubertus pit Bergisch Gladbach Hebborn iron
Pit Jacob Bergisch Gladbach Hebborn iron
Königsforst pit Cologne Cologne-Rath / Heumar iron
Pit Lionheart Rösrath Forsbach iron
Luther pit Kürten Dürscheid iron
Paulinenhütte pit Bergisch Gladbach Gronau iron
Prince Wilhelm pit Bergisch Gladbach Hebborn iron
Quirin Pit Cologne Cologne-Rath / Heumar iron
Pit Romeo Bergisch Gladbach Katterbach iron
Scharrenberg mine Bergisch Gladbach Schildgen iron
Selma pit Bergisch Gladbach sand iron
Teutonia mine Bergisch Gladbach Alt Refrath iron
Pit of Titus I Bergisch Gladbach Schildgen Pebbles
Pit delay Odenthal Schwarzbroich iron
Volbach mine Bergisch Gladbach hand iron
Pit carpenter Bergisch Gladbach sand iron

The iron mines with Jewish names and property

This is where the pit of Joshua was. Due to the agricultural recultivation, the traces are only indistinctly visible.

history

An almost complete network of individual mine fields can be spanned across the urban area of ​​Bergisch Gladbach. In the extensive area between Herkenrath and Romaney, however, there is a gap in the authorization files of the Arnsberg District Government, Mining and Energy Department (formerly Dortmund Regional Mining Authority ). The files of five mine fields with Old Testament names were deleted by a resolution of the Bonn Higher Mining Office on September 18, 1937. This means that they were destroyed in accordance with the zeitgeist of the Nazi regime in order to permanently eradicate the existence of the pits and the memory of these pit names. In Mountain Land Registry "of the mining property Because abolition closed on 10 November 1937." the mountain land registry files to the pits David, Gilead, Joshua and Nebo is only through the addition of drag, which, contrary to expectations when: If the following indication itself with every aforementioned pit District Court found Bergisch Gladbach it was possible to shed a little light on the darkness. According to the entry in the Mutungs overview map , these pits, like the Smyrna mine on Eisenstein, had been lent. A sales contract dated July 12, 1882, shows the owner of the property is a merchant and a banker with a Jewish background. Their heirs were later expropriated by Nazi rule.

In this context, the following background is also generally known from other mine files: At the so-called Reich Party Congress of Honor in Nuremberg on September 9, 1936, the four-year plan was drawn up, which came into force on October 18, 1936. He pursued u. a. the goal of tapping raw material sources in one's own country for arming the armed forces . Every prospective mine was immediately examined. If Jewish property was found during these sightings, it was confiscated.

The pits

The following table lists the pits with Old Testament names.

Surname City / municipality District / district awarded on
Pit David Bergisch Gladbach Romaney iron
Gilead Pit Bergisch Gladbach Herkenrath iron
Pit Joshua Bergisch Gladbach Men's rounds iron
Nebo Pit Bergisch Gladbach Romaney iron
Smyrna Pit Bergisch Gladbach Herkenrath iron

The calamine and lead ore pits in the Pafftrath Kalkmulde

history

Calamine , which has recently been called smithsonite in specialist circles , is known as a chemical compound called zinc carbonate . The galme pits only became important when zinc smelting was brought to industrial maturity in the middle of the 19th century .

The pits

In the following table the individual calamine and lead ore pits are listed with the exception of the so-called "Zanders pits", which will be mentioned later:

Surname City / municipality District / district awarded on
Mine freedom of the miners Bergisch Gladbach City center Calamine
Hövel pit Bergisch Gladbach sand lead
Humboldt mine Bergisch Gladbach Paffrath Calamine, lead, blende, pebbles, iron, brown coal
Pit Mayflower Bergisch Gladbach Gronau Calamine, lead, iron
Margaretha Josepha Pit Bergisch Gladbach Gronau Calamine
Maria Meerstern pit Bergisch Gladbach hand Calamine, iron
Pit New Hope Bergisch Gladbach sand Calamine
Schmitzheide mine Bergisch Gladbach sand Calamine

The pits of the Zanders paper mill

Pump house for the water pipe of the Zanders paper factory as a replica of the Rochus Chapel in Sand ; it is in the entrance area to the Alte Dombach paper museum in Bergisch Gladbach

Apart from the conclusions that can be drawn from the relics of the mines listed here, no information is available about operational activities and productivity. After all, a network of tunnels totaling more than 150 m in length has been excavated at the Carolinenzeche mine , as can be seen from a drawing that was made at a time when the tunnels were still accessible. The very large ping field on the Idazeche mine also allows conclusions to be drawn about extensive operational activities. Incidentally, if the steam boiler from the Wilhelminenzeche mine was brought to Witten in 1897 and put back into operation there at the Westig shaft, it can be assumed with a high degree of probability that it was in operation shortly before, i.e. that it had not rotted away from being left standing for a long time . From this it can be assumed that at least the Carolinenzeche, Josephinenzeche and Wilhelminenzeche mines were still operating towards the end of the 19th century.

In 1904, the Zanders paper mill from Bergisch Gladbach acquired the mining rights to the Carolinenzeche, Idazeche, Josephinenzeche and Wilhelminenzeche mines in order to secure the water required for paper production. These rights existed until the end of 2000. They were only given up in the course of the sale of Zanders Feinpapiere AG by International Paper to Metsä-Serla Corporation .

The pits

The pits mentioned above are listed in the table below:

Surname City / municipality District / district awarded on
Carolinenzeche mine Bergisch Gladbach Men's rounds Calamine, lead, iron
Idazeche pit Bergisch Gladbach Men's rounds Calamine, iron
Josephinenzeche mine Bergisch Gladbach Men's rounds Calamine, lead
Wilhelminenzeche mine Bergisch Gladbach Men's rounds Calamine

The brown coal mines

Backgrounds for misunderstandings

Until Prussia took over the Rhineland in 1815, the prospecting for lignite was not subject to mining law . If, in spite of this, very early and in some cases extensive sources are available that provide information about lignite mines, this is mainly due to the fact that the terms hard coal and coal were used incorrectly from time to time. Then it was a matter of property that was subject to mining law. The so-called mountain tithe , a tax, was levied on coal mines . Official supervision was necessary for this. Obviously, the difficulty of finding an appropriate name arose when the lignite was particularly hard. If it was not so firm and rather crumbly, one spoke of trass and in rare cases even of peat .

Ambiguity of the term trass

The word Trass is initially understood to mean the yellowish-gray, earthy volcanic tuff ( ignimbrite ) with pieces of trachyte, basalt and slate from the Brohl and Nettetal up to the Laacher See, Andernach and Neuwied basins.

In what is now Bergisch Gladbach, the local lignite was referred to quite unusually by trass . Besides, there were a lot of other expressions. They range from Taraß, Tyraß, Turf to Turftraß. You can also find the words fire matter or simply matter. The words hard coal or coal were also used incorrectly now and then. After 1800 the word brown coal gradually came into use here and there. A distinction was made between coarse coals and small coals. The former opencast mining of the Heidkampsmaaßen, Heidkampsfundgrube, Cedernwald and Johann Wilhelm mines, which was located south of the Zanders paper mill as a lake for decades, is still remembered by old Gladbachers as the “Zanders Traßkuhl”. The black lake with its black-brown, muddy bank border served as a dump for the ashes of the steam engine lighting and waste from paper production. In the district of Alt Refrath , as a reminder of the dismantling of Trass at the Saaler Mühle, two streets were named with the names Alter Traßweg and Neuer Traßweg.

history

The oldest document dates from June 29, 1439. In it, Johann Schürgen was given permission to look for coal in the “Kirspell von Gladbach”. Then it is mentioned in the will of Kaspar von Zweiffel from 1622 that the lime kiln "zum Sahl" was operated with "Kollen" from the area. A certificate dated February 26, 1717 grants authorization to extract lignite in the "Gucher Busch". However, the word brown coal does not appear anywhere in the text. Rather, there is talk of fire matter several times; the word coal was used twice. This provided the basis for the application of mining law. The certificate shows u. a. that the "tenth Reichstaler or Pfennig" had to be paid to the electoral cellar in Bensberg. The oldest document on the dismantling of the line is available for the Cederwald, dated September 3, 1765. Since 1815 the extraction of lignite was subject to the Prussian mining law. The operators of the trass pits did not want to accept that at first. The Siegen heirs were able to obtain an official decision of July 22, 1820 through the notarized copy of the document dated April 29, 1723, which allowed the dismantling of fire material at the Saaler Mühle, which granted them the right to dismantle without further "award warnings" . Open-cast lignite mining was officially legitimized here. For the remaining lignite mines, the Siegen Mining Authority began to gradually initiate the necessary approval procedures from 1818.

Problems of degradation

The mining of brown coal took place in open pit with the method of Strossenbaus . There had always been problems with draining water in the so-called “Gohrischen reasons” and in the Cederwald. Since the middle of the 17th century, attempts have been made to drain the pit water into the Strunde via drainage channels. With every groundbreaking ceremony, however, one came closer and closer to the water table. If you wanted to dig deeper, you stood in the water. So you had to make sure that the drainage trenches were kept deeper and deeper as long as there was still a downward gradient to the Strunderbach.

In the general traffic report of May 3, 1850, it was again pointed out that the mining of the mighty Gladbach lignite deposit would always be incomplete and uneconomical if one continued in the previous manner. Economic support cannot be achieved because the current possibilities simply cannot go deep enough. First of all, a manhole must be sunk at a favorable point for drainage, to which all of the groundwater from the open pit is fed. From this the water must then be pumped out with the help of a steam engine. The following considerations were then made:

  • The location for the steam engine should be chosen so that it can be used for several years and left there. It should have six horsepower if possible.
  • For the steam boiler, clean drinking water had to be brought in from a nearby source, because the acid pit water could not be used for the boiler.
  • The hanging bank of the shaft should be placed as low as possible over the lignite seam in order to avoid sinking into the loose overburden above .
  • The raised water must be able to be easily drained through a rose .
  • The machine shaft should be expanded with seven- to eight-inch wood.
  • In order to secure the machine shaft, the opencast mine had to remain at a distance of at least five laughs from all sides , so that it stood in a safety pillar with a total of ten laughs .

The necessary initiatives were taken on the basis of the following pencil drawing, which was attached to the general inspection report.

and display information about the image
Dismantling of the brown coal with the method of Strossenbaus ; the pit water is pumped out through a shaft that is connected to a track .

The drawing shows the profile of the lignite mine. The upper empty line should represent the already cleared overburden of the brown coal deposit. The hatched areas show the remaining lignite. In the lower area, a section has been driven that leads the water to the machine shaft, which can be seen on the left. From this it is pumped out with the steam engine pump. The stair-shaped steps are the stopes , where the dismantling is done from top to bottom. Each bench has a height of about one laugh. The horizontal surfaces are called berms , which are two to three laughs wide; the sloping surfaces are each the joint . In the middle of the picture you can see that parts of the overburden were deposited on the right side of the shaft pillar in order to save long distances. On November 22, 1850, the implementation of the planning began.

The big brown coal mines

The following table lists the individual lignite mines.

Surname City / municipality District / district awarded on
Cedernwald pit Bergisch Gladbach City center Brown coal
Pit Consolidation Alfred Bergisch Gladbach Kippekausen Brown coal
Heidkamps mine Bergisch Gladbach Heidkamp Brown coal
Heidkampsmaassen mine Bergisch Gladbach Heidkamp Brown coal
Johann Wilhelm mine Bergisch Gladbach City center Brown coal
Schönhäuschen & Guch pit Bergisch Gladbach Heidkamp Brown coal
Pit of Dechen Bergisch Gladbach Gronau Brown coal

The less significant brown coal mines

When in the middle of the 19th century further lignite fields were suspected , one could not yet assume that they would no longer acquire any greater economic importance. It was the time when the lime kiln fires were gradually going out. It was particularly hoped in the paper industry that steam engines could be operated with brown coal in the future. The zinc smelter also needed fuel. Then, in 1868, the railway line from Cologne to Bensberg was suddenly ready, through which the much more energy-rich hard coal could now be obtained. That was the temporary end of the use of domestic brown coal reserves. They were largely only useful for speculative purposes. Nobody could realistically estimate the further development.

Surname City / municipality District / district awarded on
Antonia pit Bergisch Gladbach City center Brown coal
Johann I pit Bergisch Gladbach Paffrath Brown coal
Käthchen pit Bergisch Gladbach City center Brown coal
Ludwig Hope Pit Bergisch Gladbach Gronau Brown coal
Neeb pit Bergisch Gladbach Gronau Brown coal
Pit Undisputed Find Bergisch Gladbach Heidkamp Brown coal
Urbanus pit Bergisch Gladbach Heidkamp Brown coal
Slag from a racing fire furnace in the Katterbach area

Ironworks in the Bensberg ore district

The oldest known smelting process for iron ore is based on the construction and operation of racing fire furnaces . Such furnaces and their slag have been found in many places in the Bensberg ore district. The following huts are known from later times:

Fachwerkkotten Oberdreispringen 2016

Home of the miners

Most of the time the miners lived in poor conditions. Often they were the owners of a small one and a half- story dump with a living room that also served as a kitchen. From here, a narrow wooden staircase led to the bedroom in the attic. In many places in the ore district of Bensberg one increasingly found such houses of simple workers and miners when industrialization began in the second half of the 19th century .

See also

museum

The Bergisches Museum for Mining, Crafts and Trades in Bensberg has a mining department with a small show mine. In some showcases, thorns from the Lüderich mine from the 13th century are shown, which were found there at the beginning of the 20th century in an old man at a depth of 60 m . The exhibits come mainly from the Berzelius, Lüderich and Weiß pits.

References and notes

  1. ↑ Carl-Heinz Kalthoff and Heinz Lehmann, Report on the mining fields of the Vieille Montagne , Altenberg and Silberkaule in the Federal Republic of Germany , May 1983, p. 9
  2. ↑ Holdings 80 Aktiengesellschaft des Altenbergs for mining and zinc smelting operations, Overath-Untereschbach (Rhineland). Archives in North Rhine-Westphalia: Finding aid mining archive Bochum. North Rhine-Westphalia State Archives; Ministry for Family, Children, Youth, Culture and Sport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, accessed on January 9, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Brigitte Kikillus, Gudrun Neumann, Brigitte Sturm-Rodeck: The mining archive and its holdings . (= Volume 10 of publications from the mining archive ; Volume 94 of publications from the German Mining Museum in Bochum ). Ed .: Evelyn Kroker . German Mining Museum, 2001.
  4. ^ Homepage of the Arnsberg District Government, Mining and Energy Department, accessed on January 10, 2012
  5. ^ Herbert Stahl (editor), Gerhard Geurts , Hans-Dieter Hilden, Herbert Ommer , Siegfried Raimann: Das Erbe des Erzes , Volume 4, Der Lüderich , Bergisch Gladbach 2008, ISBN 3-932326-52-0 , p. 14ff.
  6. ^ Walter Lung, "Medieval pottery ovens and iron smelting in Katterbach" in: Kölner Jahrbuch für Vor und Frühgeschichte, Volume 3, Cologne 1958
  7. ↑ Thomas Kreft, The Medieval Iron Industry in the Duchy of Berg and in the southern County of Mark, Herzogenrath 2002
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Herbert Stahl (editor), Gerhard Geurts, Hans-Dieter Hilden, Herbert Ommer: Das Erbe des Erzes , Volume 3, The pits in the Paffrather Kalkmulde . Bergisch Gladbach 2006, ISBN 3-932326-49-0

literature

  • A. Baldsiefen: Alte Bergwerke im Bergisches , published in Bergischer Calendar 1952, pages 109-110
  • Emil Buff: Description of the Deutz mining district , Bonn 1882, unaltered reprint of the original edition, Bergisch Gladbach 1982
  • Willy Esser: Bergische Bergbau in the 18th century , published in the journal of the Bergisches Geschichtsverein, year 1925/1926, volume 55
  • Gert von Klass : Stolberger Zink, The History of a Metal , Archive for Economics, Darmstadt o. J.
  • Otto R. Redlich : Documentary contributions to the history of mining on the Lower Rhine , in: Contributions to the history of the Lower Rhine; Yearbook of the Düsseldorfer Geschichtsverein, Volume 15, 1900, pp. 118–164, digital edition
  • Heinz David, That was the Bensberger Erzrevier , in: Rheinisch-Bergischer Calendar 1980, Bergisch Gladbach o. J., p. 42 ff.
  • Hans Leonhard Brenner , The history of the lime distillery in Bergisch Gladbach , Gummersbach 1992, ISBN 3-88265-171-7 (on the subject of lignite)
  • Günter Benz, Gabriele Emrich, Michael Gechter, Gabriele Körlin, Wilhelm Mangold, Herbert Ommer, Anne Scherer, Robert Wagner: Mining in the Bergisches Land, examples of mining traces between Sülz and Wahnbach , series of the history association Rösrath e. V., Volume 32, Rösrath 2002
  • Herbert Ommer, mining relics in the Königsforst, in: Mining in the Bergisches Land, examples of mining traces between Sülz and Wahnbach, series of publications by the history association Rösrath e. V., Volume 32, Rösrath 2002, pp. 189ff., ISBN 3-922413-52-8
  • Herbert Stahl (editor), Gerhard Geurts, Herbert Ommer: The legacy of ore - The white mine . Bergisch Gladbach 2003, ISBN 3-00-011243-X
  • Herbert Stahl (editor), Gerhard Geurts, Herbert Ommer: The legacy of ore , Volume 2, The pits on the Gangerz deposits in the ore district Bensberg . Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-00-014668-7
  • Herbert Stahl (editor), Gerhard Geurts, Hans-Dieter Hilden, Herbert Ommer: The legacy of ore , Volume 3, The pits in the Paffrath Kalkmulde . Bergisch Gladbach 2006, ISBN 3-932326-49-0
  • Herbert Stahl (editor), Gerhard Geurts, Hans-Dieter Hilden, Herbert Ommer, Siegfried Raimann: Das Erbe des Erzes , Volume 4, Der Lüderich , Bergisch Gladbach 2008, ISBN 3-932326-52-0
  • Herbert Stahl (editor), Das Erbe des Erzes , Volume 5, New news and stories about the Bensberg ore district , Bergisch Gladbach 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-044826-3
  • Gerhard Geurts, Herbert Ommer, Herbert Stahl: Mining in the Hardt and the area around Herkenrath , in: Festschrift "50 Years of Cologne's NaturFreundehaus Hardt", Bergisch Gladbach-Herkenrath, 2010
  • Herbert Stahl: Mining industry in the Bensberger Erzrevier , in: Walter Buschmann (Ed.): Industriekultur Düsseldorf and Bergisches Land , Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, pp. 65–85, ISBN 978-3-8375-1565-7
  • Guido Wagner, Herbert Stahl: Forays through the Bensberg ore district , 6 circular hikes and 2 bike tours around Bergisch Gladbach and Overath, Overath 2019, ISBN 9783947438136

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