Visitor mine Alaunwerk Mühlwand
| Visitor mine Alaunwerk Mühlwand | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
 |
|||
| Information about the mining company | |||
| Employees | 30th | ||
| Start of operation | 1691 | ||
| End of operation | 1827 | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | Alum slate | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 50 ° 35 '59.7 " N , 12 ° 17' 26.2" E | ||
|
|||
| Location | Mill wall | ||
| local community | Reichenbach | ||
| District ( NUTS3 ) | Vogtland district | ||
| country | Free State of Saxony | ||
| Country | Germany | ||
The visitor mine Alaunwerk Mühlwand is a visitor mine in Reichenbach in Vogtland in the Saxon Vogtlandkreis .
Geographical location
The Alaunwerk Mühlwand visitor mine is located in the Göltzsch valley between Mylau and Lengenfeld . Regardless of its eponymous location not far from the Limbach district of Mühlwand , it is already on the corridor of the Reichenbach district of Rotschau .
background
The former Mühlwand alum plant was in operation between 1691 and 1827 and at times employed up to 30 workers. After its closure, all activities ceased and the old alum factory seemed to be forgotten. It was only after a storm in July 1954 that the old tunnels opened up again due to the enormous water pressure. The rinsed out construction wood and colored stalactites pointed to the old tunnel system. Just one year later, the alum plant was declared a natural monument. From 1957 to 1960 interested citizens of Rotschauer explored sections of the tunnel system. They discovered numerous grottos , colorful stalactites and partially buried tunnels . Plans to build a dam prevented all further excavations in 1960. It was not until 1994 that the renewed search for buried tunnels and caves could be successfully resumed. On September 22, 2001, the Mühlwand alum factory was finally made accessible to all visitors.
Data and figures on the mine
In 1691 the first excavations began by mountain master P. Döhring. The first 3 pits were opened in August 1691. The first boiling house was built on the banks of the Göltzsch and stood until 1799. Its name 'die Hütt' has been popularly used as a term for the area to this day. In addition to the boiling plant, as a hat house, it also housed the mining equipment, measuring and packaging equipment for alum , a desk and also served as accommodation for miners. From 1691–1724 the extraction of 10539 ½ quintals of alum was boiled and sold. Unfortunately, from 1699–1705 the twentieth (taxes) were not paid, so the debts amounted to 1200 thalers . The Reichenbach merchant Johann Malß bought the factory for 3,100 thalers in 1719. But as early as 1722 he canceled it after disputes.
From 1703 beer was also served in the hut, initially only to the miners, but increasingly also to guests and visitors, as the plant was conveniently located on the old military and imperial road from Leipzig and Chemnitz to southern Germany. In 1714, the brewing community in Reichenbach complained to the Voigtsberg Mining Authority that the factory, as the property of Reichenbacher citizens, only had to sell beers brewed in Reichenbach, but not foreign beers, especially no drinks from Mylau, on which only half the drinking tax and accis were allowed be paid. The mining office determined that beers from Netzschkau, Lengenfeld, Treuen, Neumark and Mylau are not to be regarded as foreign beers and can be served due to their location in relation to the plant.
The mining stopped between 1725 and 1729 due to disputes among the Müller heirs and plans to sell. The next owner was from 1738 the chamberlain Karl von Metzsch auf Reichenbach, Friesen and Brunn. He bought the plant for 2,700 thalers. During the Seven Years' War from 1756 to 1763 the dismantling was also suspended. Surrounding residents hid their belongings in the mine to save it from marauding mercenaries. Various private owners repeatedly struggled with natural and bureaucratic adversities. In 1765 they left the alum factory to the state. It became an " electoral " or " royal Saxon " mine. The Elector Friedrich August I visited his mine in January 1769. When the plant was handed over to state ownership in 1765, the operating result was modest. In addition to rock that was too hard in the area of the developed pits, the causes were also outdated and z. T. called dilapidated equipment.
The beginning of industrialization in the 18th century caused the demand for alum to rise sharply. Even though sulfuric acid now replaced alum from the textile and paper industries, alum was again required for its production. So it was decided early on to modernize the technical equipment of the alum plant. For this purpose, a new, larger boiling house was built from 1799 in place of the old hut. A technically impressive, complex boiling system was installed in it. At the same time as the new hut was built, the old road bridge over the Göltzsch, the Eger'sche Bridge, was strengthened and essentially got its current appearance. Huts and bridges devoured 650 and 81 talers, respectively.
The problem was the expansion of the mine itself. An extension of the Tagesbaues not been possible because it came already to the property boundaries of the areas of the Lord of Hühne field, which looked at risk its pastures and processed. The old tunnel, the mouth of which is now on private property, was not deep enough to be able to completely drain a larger pit, so around 1800 a new, approximately 100 m long drainage tunnel was driven in a south-westerly direction. Part of this tunnel, also known as the "deep tunnel", runs parallel to the roadway under the road towards Reichenbach and still drains the mine today.
The artificial and cheaper production of alum had a lasting effect on profitability. The amount of mining fluctuated considerably. The state then decided to close the mine. This took place from 1826 and was already completed a year later. All parts were dismantled and melted down. From 1846 to 1851 part of the spoil heaps was cleared, ground into sand and used, among other things, for the construction of the Göltzschtal bridge . The area experienced a brief economic boom when Franz Leksa built a sand works . In 1914 he built a steam locomotive and used it to operate a stone mill. Only a few red heaps remained and the remains of them are now overgrown and unrecognizable.
First rediscovery in the 1950s
In the devastating July flood of 1954, the binge and the former tunnel were inundated by heavy rainfall. In the low-lying open pit, the dammed water pressure was so great that it penetrated the sealed drainage tunnels. In the process, colored dripstones were washed into the daylight in addition to wooden stumps.
In 1957, under the direction of the Kulturbund and the Rotschauer citizen Paul Dietsch, the opening and exploration of the caves and tunnels of the mine began. He had to stop the research in 1960 due to a planned dam construction at Mylau. The dam was never built.
Creation of the visitor mine
When the GDR joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990, there were also new opportunities for the almost forgotten alum factory. During a first tour of Heimatfreunde with BUND Chairman Dr. Viebahn In 1991 the area was completely overgrown and changed. No paths, no open spaces, nowhere are any traces of the former mine entrances. Nothing indicated anything worth seeing. Only a few contemporary witnesses could give approximate information. A development was out of the question.
However, the high unemployment from 1990 onwards also enabled the first measures to be taken to explore and develop the natural and cultural monument. ABS GmbH (later GZA), an employment company spun off from the Renak works , organized the first projects in 1994. After research in archives and libraries, after discussions with contemporary witnesses and initial explorations in the area, the picture of an extensive mine soon emerged, which would be worth expanding.
Women and men in so-called job creation measures (ABM) first had to recultivate the site: remove rubbish, clear out undergrowth, create driveways and footpaths. Soon the former alum factory was transformed into a park-like area. On circular paths and on boards, visitors could now get to know the special features above ground.
In the early summer of 1995 they finally started looking for the alleged mine entrances. First the tunnel entrance was exposed and then the large stalactite grotto. The responsible mining authority and a security company issued initial reports: the results were promising. But the company under whose direction the work had been up to now could not guarantee a longer-term perspective for the underground expansion.
With a development association founded in 1998, a carrier for the further expansion of the mine was found. Now the complicated underground work could begin: clearing out the largely muddy tunnel system. With shovels, buckets and wheelbarrows, the helpers uncovered corridors and shafts, laid power lines, built in woodwork and footbridges. A regrettable setback - to this day - was the breach of access to the large stalactite grotto. The visitor mine was opened on September 21, 2001.
Big setback and rescue
In May and June 2013 the mine and the outdoor facilities were flooded as a result of the flood of the century . The visitor mine, which had been tended for many years, could no longer be saved. It could be cleared with generously made funds available. The clean-up work lasted until 2017. The outdoor facilities were partially redesigned.
On October 7, 2017, the visitor mine was ceremoniously reopened by the Mayor of Reichenbach, Raphael Kurzinger.
Web links
- Website of the visitor mine
Individual evidence
- ↑ Free State of Saxony: Archive holdings: Electoral alum works on the Göltzsch near Reichenbach (Alaunwerk Mühlwand); Boiling ovens and heating pans . on www.archiv.sachsen.de
- ^ Peter Beyer, Volker Jacobi: 160 years Göltzschtalbrücke and Elstertalbrücke: 1851 - 2011; 160 years of the railway connection between Saxony and Bavaria . Photo & Verlag Jacobi, Reichenbach / Vogtland 2011, ISBN 978-3-937228-05-1 , p. 17
- ^ A b Stalactite grotto Alaunwerk Mühlwand-Reichenbach eV: A historic visitor mine in the alum slate . on www.alaunwerk.de
- ↑ Freie Presse , October 9, 2017
