Golden Sun mine

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The Golden Sun is a former mine in the municipality of Felsberg am Taminser Calanda in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.

history

"Bündner doubloons": gold coins from 1813 with gold from Calanda (mining A).
Plan of the former mine around 1860 (dismantling B).

The Celts and Romans already seemed interested in the Calanda and its rocks; various finds and scratches in old tunnels indicate this.

In 1803, master locksmith Vinzens Schneller from Felsberg discovered boulders that had fallen from Calanda on his property. The blocks were blown up and used to build bank barriers. Something shiny was discovered in one of the blasted stones, which the Chur pharmacist Georg Capeller recognized as pure gold . Vincenz Schneller was compensated for his find with 70 “ Bündner Gulden ” (the cantonal currency at the time).

In 1809, the pharmacist von Capeller and others founded the mining company "To the golden sun". At the point where the stones were broken off, at an altitude of 1295  m M. created the first pits of Fliden and Tschengel . Six workers were employed who discovered a gold-bearing vein (Mining A). In 1811 the "ore gourmet" Catharina Beutler from Fischbach TG was brought in. On their recommendation, at an altitude of 1040  m above sea level. M. created a second, 120-meter-long tunnel, but without encountering gold.

Around 2.5 kilograms of gold are said to have been extracted in the first four years . In order to crush the stones, a small stamp mill and a mill as well as a miner's house were built. The largest stage is said to have weighed around 125 grams and consisted of 23 carat gold. Since Graubünden, as a free state , had the right to mint its own coins through the mediation constitution , “Bündner doubloons ” worth 16 old Swiss francs were minted with the gold from the Calanda in 1813 . Depending on the source, the information about the number varies between 52 and well over 100 pieces. The coins bear the inscription "Canton Graubünden" and the coat of arms of the three leagues . However, since the workers were paid per kilogram of material excavation, they dug haphazardly and lost the gold-leading corridor due to a lack of expert guidance. After major financial losses, the company dissolved in 1820 and the mine was closed in 1822.

In 1856, work in the first tunnel was resumed under the leadership of UA Sprecher from Chur. The gold-bearing quartz vein was found and several gold grades were found (mining B). In 1857, a step at the industrial exhibition in Bern brought proceeds of 400 francs, with which the costs for the funding could be covered. In 1859 the lease passed to A. Stecher from Chur. Later other tenants tried their luck, but they were all unsuccessful. In 1909 the work was finally stopped.

In 1960 the Jakob Stieger spotlight from Domat / Ems found a step four centimeters wide. Radiation has been prohibited at Calanda since 1969.

The mine and the gold discoveries at Calanda were and are the subject of several books and exhibitions. The Helvetic Gold Museum in Burgdorf showed materials for gold mining on Calanda in a one-year exhibition. Some of the gold specimens from the “Goldene Sonne” mine are exhibited in the Bündner Naturmuseum in Chur.

Trivia

In the wine area of the municipality Felsberg a white wine is Riesling x Sylvaner name "Golden Sun" produced.

literature

  • Kurt Bächtiger: The old gold mine "Golden Sun" on Calanda (Canton of Graubünden) and the current status of its research. In: Swiss emitters. 1968-1969.
  • Kurt Bächtiger: The old gold mining at the "Golden Sun" on Calanda near Chur. In: Bergknappe. No. 38, 1986.
  • Kurt Bächtiger: From the Golden Sun. Gold finds from the old gold mine "Golden Sun" on Calanda.
  • Mirco Brunner: The "Golden Sun" at Calanda near Felsberg, The history and rediscovery of a gold mine at Calanda near Felsberg. In: Swiss Youth Research . 2007.
  • Mirco Brunner, Werner Lüthi: The gold of the Bündner mountains. Verlag Helvetisches Goldmuseum Burgdorf, 2008.
  • Mirco Brunner: The “Golden Sun” mine. In: Andreas Caminada (Ed.): Caminada Magazin. No. 1. Pulver, Fürstenau 2012, pp. 34–35.
  • M. Brunner, A. Buhlke, A. Corti, J. Reich, K. Schiltknecht, C. Stäheli, M. Franz: Mining archaeological investigations on Calanda. In: Archeology Graubünden. Volume 3, 2018, pp. 91-104. doi: 10.5281 / zenodo.2640584
  • M. Brunner, A. Buhlke: "Golden Sun" reloaded: First mining archaeological investigations on Calanda. In: Minaria Helvetica. Volume 39, 2018, pp. 20–51. doi: 10.5281 / zenodo.2537790
  • E. Bosshard: The gold mine "to the Golden Sun" on Calanda. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Alpine Club. Volume 25, 1889–1890.
  • Joos Cadisch: The ore deposits on Calanda. Cantons of Graubünden and St. Gallen. Reprint from Swiss Mineralogical and Petrographic Communications. Volume XIX, 1939.
  • Victor Jans: The gold should also flash in Graubünden rivers. Gold finds and gold deposits in Graubünden. Special edition of the Bündnerzeitung. April 30, 1983.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The image was colored later. Photo of the coins in Mirco Brunner: The Golden Sun at Calanda. Matura thesis. Bern 2007, OCLC 759621160 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Linus Bühler: Felsberg. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ↑ Mirco Brunner: The Golden Sun at Calanda. 2007.
  3. ↑ Rheinfluss magazine . No. 8, 2010.
  4. ↑ Portrait: History. Gold mine "To the golden sun". In: Felsberg Online. Felsberg community, accessed December 10, 2011 .
  5. ↑ Felsberger AOC Goldene Sonne Riesling-Silvaner 2010. ( Memento from January 15, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )

Coordinates: 46 ° 50 '52.1 "  N , 9 ° 26' 12.3"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred and fifty-two thousand three hundred and eighty-four  /  190459