Kropfmühl visitor graphite mine

Visitor Center (July 2016)

The Kropfmühl visitor graphite mine is a museum in Kropfmühl in Lower Bavaria, a district of the town of Hauzenberg in the Passau district . Here it is located in the immediate vicinity of the production facilities of the listed company Graphit Kropfmühl AG.

Today the museum shows the history of the regional graphite mining and the only graphite mine in Germany in Kropfmühl.

history

After the discovery of graphite deposits , this mineral has been mined in the Bavarian Forest since the 18th century , initially in landowner mining on the farmers' fields in open-cast mining , later also in underground mining . However, there is evidence that Celtic settlers used the local graphite for their ceramic products.

Repair work necessary as a result of flood damage in summer 2016

The so-called Hauzenberg graphite has been industrially extracted in Kropfmühl since 1870 . Local mining quickly gained in importance. As early as 1877, a patent for a process for cleaning graphite ( flotation ) was registered. In 1916, Graphitwerk Kropfmühl Aktiengesellschaft was founded , a mining company that is now active worldwide and has locations in China , Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, among others . After an economic shutdown of graphite mining in 2006 as a result of the sharp drop in the price of the raw material, operations have been resumed in part of the mine since 2012.

In order to clearly illustrate the history of regional mining , the graphite visitor mine in Kropfmühl was finally founded in 1983 . Parts of the historic mine and individual tunnels were made accessible to visitors. In 2010 the Graphit Kropfmühl Visitor Mine was founded, which has been trying to preserve this cultural heritage ever since.

Funded by the district of Passau, the city of Hauzenberg, the municipality of Untergriesbach and AMG Mining AG , the tunnel building and the winding tower were revalued in 2015 . In spring 2016, the Graphiteum, an interactive adventure world, was put into operation, which, however, had to be closed again in the meantime due to severe weather in June 2016 due to flood damage.

exhibition

Are offered on site tours by experienced miners , which up to the fourth floor in 45 meters depth range. Before that, visitors are informed about the history of the local mining industry with an image film. In the museum itself, historical mining machines and memorabilia from the miners are on display. On a 4.5 kilometer long geological trail, the local geology and mining are also shown on various display boards .

Since March 2016, the Graphiteum has also been offering a modern, interactive world of experience that illustrates graphite mining on 350 square meters of exhibition space.