Gleißinger Fels visitor mine

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Gleißinger Fels visitor mine
General information about the mine
Entrance Gleißinger Fels.JPG
Entrance to the visitor mine
Information about the mining company
Start of operation 1802
End of operation 1907
Funded raw materials
Degradation of Iron mica
Geographical location
Coordinates 50 ° 0 '28.1 "  N , 11 ° 50' 12.7"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 0 '28.1 "  N , 11 ° 50' 12.7"  E
Gleißinger Fels visitor mine (Bavaria)
Gleißinger Fels visitor mine
Location of the Gleißinger Fels visitor mine
Location west of new building
local community Fichtelberg
District ( NUTS3 ) Bayreuth
country Free State of Bavaria
Country Germany

The Gleißinger Fels visitor mine is a visitor mine near Neubau , a district of Fichtelberg am Ochsenkopf in the Upper Franconian district of Bayreuth .

history

In 1478, the Lords of Hirschberg were given permission by Elector Philip, with reservation of the toll ore and sale within two to three miles of Mehlmeisel, to mine all metals. This revitalized the mining around today's Fichtelberg as well as many rumors about gold and silver deposits. However, until the beginning of the 17th century only the local demand for ore was met and gold or silver was never found; there was still no notable mining and no extensive iron production. In 1600 Frederick IV issued mountain freedoms , which ensured a new upswing in mining.

Around Fichtelberg there were numerous bare granite rocks , which were very popular with mineralogists due to the feldspar they contained with special colors. The granite contained partly soapstone , rarely hornblende and pyrite. Limonite and hematite appeared as a coating on quartz.

In 1604 the “Gottesgab” treasure trove started operations and a short time later a blast furnace and several hammer forges followed . The Thirty Years' War a few years later brought mining around Fichtelberg to a complete standstill. In 1635 all pits and hut buildings were destroyed. After the war, work under Elector Maximilian I was resumed. The former trades raised claims and a legal dispute between the government and the trades ensued for years.

During the dispute, Johann Ernst von Altmannshausen leased the pits and hammer mills. The mined ores were processed in a rifle factory near Ebnath , which later became the Royal Bavarian Rifle Factory near Amberg . After Elector Maximilian II. Emanuel settled the dispute between the government and the trades through a severance payment in 1685 , it became known that von Altmannshausen had embezzled profits and, from 1689, mining was again operated at the elector's expense. It was carried out in a simple way: one looked for a deposit above ground and mined the ore until dewatering was no longer possible. There was overexploitation in many places . Numerous dies in the region ended after 8 to 9 Lach Tern depth , the greatest depth was reached on Gleißinger rock with 18 Lach Tern.

Since a lot of wood was used to smelt the ores, some blast furnaces were stopped from 1750 and mining was reduced. From 1789 only the iron mica mining on Gleißinger Fels was important. The amount of ore mined decreased by half. At the end of the 18th century the government tried to make mining more attractive with increased funds .

1802 took place the excavation of the "deep tunnel " or "Reiner'schen Erbstollens ". Work stopped three years later. Mining has meanwhile been continued by individual companies. These holdings employed so-called self-laborers, regular there by the mining authority employed miners too costly have been had. The operations were under the supervision of the Fichtelberg Mining Authority.

From 1827 wältigte to the deep tunnel again, and five years drove him long in the direction of Hauptbaue the Kaiser and the Voithen zeche ago, who built on the so-called Gleißingerfelsglimmergang. The thickness of the iron mica was here up to four, that of the quartz enclosing it up to ten meters. The quartz veins streaked almost northerly with an average dip of 65 degrees west. In 1832 the work was stopped again, instead the excavation of an "upper gallery" 16 Lachter higher was started in order to solve the construction of the two collieries earlier . Alignment of the deposit began two years later . In 1835, a wing location of the upper adit with the Voithenzeche broke through and the deposit was penetrated with five cross cuts . From 1837 onwards, the deep tunnel in the lying area of the deposit was driven to the southern wing location of the upper tunnel and opened with a die. Due to lack of money and problems with the dewatering, work on the deep tunnel was stopped again.

At the breakthrough between the upper adit and the Kaiserzeche, enough ore was supposedly found to secure the mining operations for the next 30 years; However, only one year later, in 1850, the end of the mining industry became apparent with the first temporary cessation of operations. Competition and low metal prices continued to have a negative impact, so that the Royal General Mine and Saline Administration caused the permanent termination in 1859. Despite two short phases during which operations were resumed, mining on Gleißinger Fels finally came to a standstill in 1907. At that time, a 180-meter-long section of the upper tunnel and its five cross-passages were passable, while everything below this floor was flooded . It was assumed that the deposit on Gleißinger Felsen was completely exhausted, but other deposits in the region were not.

Mining had made a decisive contribution to the local development of Fichtelberg and was an essential source of income for the population until the beginning of the 20th century. The pings and heaps , which were created especially in the early days of mining, disappeared from the beginning of the 19th century due to the later cultivation of the fields .

Today's visitor mine

Today's drivable mine looks back on 200 years of history and is the only drivable silver iron mine in the world. In addition to the guided tour in the mine, visitors have the opportunity to find out more about the history of mining through a documentary film. Other special features include rock drawings that are 20 million years old . In addition, since 2015 it has been possible to visit parts of the mine that are not generally accessible as part of special guided tours.

The region as the " Ruhr area of the Middle Ages" and its geological and historical sights was u. a. has recently been given appropriate importance with the establishment of the Bavaria-Bohemia Geopark .

The visitor mine is designated as a valuable geotope (geotope number: 472G002) by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment .

Web links

Commons : Gleißinger Fels visitor mine  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ von Flurl: Description of the mountains of Bavaria and the upper Palatinate. 1792, p. 458.
  2. ↑ Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906. , 19th year, 1908, p. 154.
  3. ↑ von Flurl: Description of the mountains of Bavaria and the upper Palatinate. 1792, p. 442.
  4. ↑ von Flurl: Description of the mountains of Bavaria and the upper Palatinate. 1792, p. 384.
  5. ↑ von Flurl: Description of the mountains of Bavaria and the upper Palatinate. 1792, p. 443.
  6. ↑ Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906. , 19th year, 1908, p. 163.
  7. ↑ a b Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906th , 19th year, 1908, p. 155.
  8. ↑ von Flurl: Description of the mountains of Bavaria and the upper Palatinate. 1792, p. 452.
  9. ↑ Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906. , 19th year, 1908, p. 158.
  10. ↑ a b c Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906th , 19th year, 1908, p. 159.
  11. ↑ Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906. , 19th year, 1908, p. 153.
  12. ↑ a b Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906th , 19th year, 1908, p. 162.
  13. ↑ Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906. , 19th year, 1908, p. 161.
  14. ↑ Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906. , 19th year, 1908, p. 161 f.
  15. ↑ Fink: The iron mica deposit on Gleißingerfels. In: Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906th , 19th year, 1908, p. 167.
  16. ^ Bavarian State Office for the Environment, Geotop visitor mine "Gleißinger Fels" (accessed on October 12, 2017).

literature

  • Mathias von Flurl : Description of the mountains of Baiern and the upper Palatinate . Joseph Lentner, Munich 1792.
  • Dietmar Herrmann, Helmut Süssmann: Fichtel Mountains, Bavarian Vogtland, Steinwald, Bayreuther Land. Lexicon . Ackermannverlag, Hof (Saale) 2000, ISBN 3-929364-18-2 , p. 155 ff .
  • Wolfram Fink: The iron mica deposit on the Gleißingerfels . In: Geognostic Department of the Kgl. Oberbergamtes in Munich (Ed.): Geognostische Jahreshefte 1906 . 19th year. Piloty & Loehle, Munich 1908, p. 153-167 .