Fortuna pit (Solms)

Fortuna
General information about the mine
The mouth of the new deep tunnel (1908)
Funding / total	~ 4.8 million tons of t
Rare minerals	Magnetite
Information about the mining company
Operating company	Prince of Solms-Braunfels; Friedr. Krupp AG; Sieg-Lahn / Harz-Lahn-Bergbau AG; Barbara raw material companies
Employees	43 (1983)
Start of operation	1847
End of operation	March 3, 1983
Successor use	Visitor mine
Funded raw materials
Degradation of	Iron ore
Greatest depth	250 m
Geographical location
Coordinates	50 ° 34 '28.2 "  N , 8 ° 25' 23"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 34 '28.2 "  N , 8 ° 25' 23"  E
Location Fortuna
Location	Oberbiel
local community	Solms
District ( NUTS3 )	Lahn-Dill district
country	State of Hesse
Country	Germany
District	Lahn dill

Old machine house of the Fortuna mine, built in 1907/1908. The tower served as a water reservoir for the steam engines

The Fortuna mine, which was closed in 1983 in a wooded area north of Solms-Oberbiel near Wetzlar, is one of the many mines in the Lahn-Dill area . Here was iron ore in the form of hematite (hematite) and limonite (Limonite) mined , as a small Magnetitlager.

The Fortuna mine is a visitor mine and a geo-information center in the Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus Geopark .

history

In 1847 the ore deposits in the later mining area ( mine field ) of the Fortuna mine were first mentioned in the mining authority files . In 1849, the mining area to the prince was Ferdinand Solms-Braunfels awarded that the mine 57 years mainly as a surface mining operation. The first shaft was not sunk until 1900 . From 1878 the iron ore was transported to the Georgshütte blast furnace in Burgsolms by a 3.6 km long cable car . In 1906 the prince sold the Fortuna mine and all other mines, including the Ferdinand mine, to the Friedrich Krupp company in Essen.

1907, a new shaft ( engine shaft II ), initially only up to 40 m sole , drilled. Shortly afterwards, a depth of 150 m was reached. A second cable car was completed in 1908. The ore was now pulled by the mine train from the mine tunnel over the Berghausen – Oberbiel road and unloaded in the so-called dumping hall. After processing , it was taken by cable car to Albshausen station on the Lahntalbahn . This mainly transported the ore to Wetzlar, where Buderus smelted it in the blast furnaces . Between 1908 and 1915 the new deep tunnel was driven and made access to the new shaft possible. About this tunnel drive visitors today in the mine one.

In 1929 a blind shaft was sunk from the 150 m level to the 250 m level. After machine shaft II collapsed in 1943 , a new blind shaft was sunk from the new deep tunnel to the 150 m level. This shaft is also used by visitors to the visitor mine today to get to the 150 m level. In 1953, Harz Lahn Erzbergbau AG took over the mine. In 1954 the main blind shaft was sunk down to the 250 m level. In 1957 the overburden was broken through for days. A new hoist house was built there. In the years 1959/1960 a connecting shaft to the 100 m level was drilled to enable weather control.

In 1962 the mine was closed for the first time, because the main buyers of the ore, including the Krupp company, wanted to use ores from abroad for steel production in the future. A small team remained for decommissioning work. And as early as 1963, operations began again, as the conversion to foreign ores led to problems.

In the following years, wheeled vehicles were used underground and above ground. For underground were LHD purchased and transported daily from 1979 trucks the ore to the station Albshausen. In addition, the ventilation was changed in 1974 and the pit air was discharged by means of fans against the natural air flow through the light hole from 1960.

The end of the mine was in 1981 at the latest, when the Sophienhütte in Wetzlar was the last blast furnace plant in Hesse to be shut down. The Erzabnahme declined progressively, and when on March 3, 1983 ended the last delivery layer were in Grundbachtal 130,000 tons of ore to stockpile .

The Fortuna mine is a protected cultural asset under the Hague Convention .

Visitor mine

On March 16, 1983, the Fortuna Visitor Mine Association was founded. He set himself the goal of preserving the mine as a visitor mine for posterity. In September 1983, however, the pumps were initially switched off, which until then had prevented the pit from sinking due to rising groundwater .

In December, the association was able to obtain a decision from the district and the surrounding towns and communities, according to which the Fortuna mine should actually be preserved for posterity. 1985, after the marshes of the pit, the expansion work for the visitor mining operation could begin. The visitor business was opened on Whit Monday 1987.

Visitors reach the 150-meter level with a hoist cage . A battery-powered mine train takes you 450 m to the north camp saddle . After the trip, the visitors reach an old mining area, where expert guides demonstrate the technique of iron ore mining in the Fortuna mine until it was closed in 1983. Various special tours are also offered away from the normal visitor routes. In addition, the mine house, dumping hall and ore bunker with its museum and the hoisting machine house with the original machine from 1958 offer interesting insights into the working world of miners. The exhibition mine is Geo-Information Center of the Geopark Geopark Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus .

After basic safety-related upgrading in 2010/2011 as well as investments in the museum, infrastructure and surface facilities, the reopening took place on April 16, 2011 as a visitor mine under the new sponsorship of the Geowelt Fortuna e. V . Since then, Fortuna has had around 20,000 visitors a year.

The visitor mine with shaft experience and mine train ride is one of the impressive mining historical relics and is part of the Route of Industrial Culture Central Hesse as well as the European Route of Industrial Culture (ERIH) .

Field and mine railway museum

Route

After the opening of the Fortuna visitor mine in 1987, the Lahn-Dill district became the sponsor of the visitor mine . The Förderverein visitors mine Fortuna eV , which had built up the visitor mine by then, took on the construction of another museum as a new project. The Fortuna Field and Mine Railway Museum (FGF) has been built since 1987 on the former coal mine site of the Fortuna mine .

The work of the members began with the procurement of the first rail vehicles and the construction of an infrastructure in the form of a 600 mm track system and a shelter for the locomotives . In September 1993 - there was now an approx. 100 m long route and a large museum hall - the museum was opened and the first passenger transport for visitors took place.

Today the museum's collection includes over 50 locomotives and over 100 wagons. These include light rail vehicles , mine rail vehicles and small rail vehicles . Every year around six driving days take place, on which visitors can take a trip with the steam locomotive-hauled train on the now 2.5 km long route with a forest section and an uphill section ( gauge 600 mm) and visit the museum.

List of locomotives

drive	No.	design type	Manufacturer	Type / name	Factory no.	Construction year	image
steam	1	Bn2t	Henschel	Bouncer	23170	1936
	2	Bn2t	Budich	like Henschel-Riesa	1029	1944
	3	Bn2t	OK		6625	1913
	4th	Bn2t	Krauss		6616	1912
	5	Dn2t	Henschel	Brigadelok	14913	1916
diesel	10	Bdm	OK	MD 1	7551	1937
	11	Bdm	OK	RL 1c	5462	1934
	12	Bdm	Young	EL 105	7258	1937
	13	Bdm	Parishes	18/20	3364	1941
	14th	Bdm	Parishes	45/50	2483	1939
	15th	Bdh	Schöma	CFL 45 DC	2832	1964
	17th	Bdm	The MA	DS 22	1387	1950
	18th	Bdh	The MA	DS 40/1	2884	1966
	19th	Bdm	Ruhrtaler	KML 7	2802	1949
	20th	Bdh	Ruhrtaler	G 22 HL 2	3899	1968
	21st	Bdh	Schöma	CHL 40	2379	1960
	22nd	Bdm	Deutz	A6M 517	27388	1940
	23	Bdm	Deutz	MAH 914	55952	1956
	24	Bdm	Deutz	OME 117	12518	1934
	25th	Bdm	LKM	Ns 2f	248797	1956
	26th	Cdm	LKM	V 10 C	250316	1963
	28	Bdm	Deutz	MAH 228F	8431	1928
	29	Bdm	LKM	Ns 2f	248485	1954
	30th	Bdm	Demag	ML 15	2025	1937
	31	Bdm	Skoda	BND 30	2434	1956
	32	Bdm	LKM	Ns 1b	247418	1957
	33	Bdm	Parishes	18/20	3365	1941
	34	Bdm	Deutz	GZ 30B	57692	1964
	35	Bdh	Deutz	GG 90 B	56547	1957
	36	Bdm	Ruhrtaler	G 90 Ö / V	3449	1956
	37	Cdh	Parishes	Hf 130 C	4046	1943
	38	Bdm	Ruhrtaler	G 90 Ö / V	3562	1958
	39	Bdh	Ruhrtaler	G 90 PDB	3781	1964
	40	Cdm	Ruhrtaler	G 100 Z	3772	1963
	41	Bdm	Deutz	OMZ 122	39616	1941
	42	Bdm	Deutz	MLH 322 G	16316	1936
	43	Bdm	Deutz	OME 117	12850	1934
	44	Bdm	Young	ZL 105	6581	1936
	45	Bdm	Strüver	Rail pen		1942/1943
	46	Bdm	Ruhrtaler	KML 7	2731	1948
	47	Bdh	Deutz	GG 90 B	57945	1965
	48	Bdh	Deutz	GG 90 B	56433	1957/1987
	49	2 + Bdh + B	Ruhrtaler	G 160 trio	3894	1969/1996
	50	Bdm	LKM	Ns 2f	262067	1959
	51	Bdm	Young	EL 110	11866	1955
	52	Bdh	Rensmann (Deutz)	D2-9	56137	1955/1991
	53	Bdm	Young	EL 110	6610	1936
	54	1A-A1-ie	The MA	GT 10/2	3266	1972
	55	Bdm	Parishes	20/24	1669	1936
	56	Bdm	Deutz	OME 117	36524	1941
Electric	60	Ba	Bartz	BL 1/4 Type 1260	1341	1958
	61	Bo-e	AEG Bartz	HF 1 and GF 08	8144/1715	1962
	62	Bo-e	AEG	EL 5	1930
	64	Boa	Bartz	KGA 07-b-05	U375	1968
	65	A1-a	Siemens Schalke	Dismantling	5199/10944	1951
	66	A1-a	AEG Bartz	BL 1/6	1417	1958
	67	Bo-e	BBC	G 509	2781	1967
	68	BoBo-a	BBA	B 660	889	1989

Mining of the Lahn-Dill area

→ Main article : Lahn-Dill area  and list of mines in the Lahn-Dill area

literature

• Rolf Georg: On a narrow track at the mine. The Fortuna Field and Mine Railway Museum (FGF) (gauge 600 mm). Museum guide. Friends of Fortuna Visitor Mine, Wetzlar 2000.
• Rolf Georg, Rainer Haus, Karsten Porezag: Iron ore mining in Hesse. Historical photo documents with explanations. 1870-1983. Friends of the Fortuna visitor mine , Wetzlar 1985, ISBN 3-925619-00-3 .
• Hansjoachim Lippert: The Roteisenstein border camp from the turn of the Middle-Upper Devonian in the Dill-Mulde. Observations and thoughts on the formation of ore and secondary rock. In: Journal of the German Geological Society. Vol. 104, 1952, ISSN  0012-0189 , pp. 260-276.
• Hansjoachim Lippert: From the Roteisenstein mining on Lahn and Dill. In: Journal of the German Society for Geosciences. Vol. 105, 1953, pp. 20-24.
• Karsten Porezag: Wetzlar mining town. Wetzlardruck GmbH, Wetzlar 1987, ISBN 3-926617-00-4
• Tim Schönwetter: The Fortuna mine - monument to the Hessian iron ore mining . In: Zeitschrift Industriekultur 1.2018, pp. 16–19.

Web links

Commons : Grube Fortuna  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Homepage Fortuna visitor mine
• Homepage field and mine railway museum
• Website Geopark Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus
• Monument protection Hessen: Fortuna pit
• Route of industrial culture in Central Hesse

Individual evidence

1. ^ Print edition of the Dill newspaper (June 8, 2011)
2. ↑ Lahn-Dill-Kreis appoints the association as sub-tenant of the visitor mine Grube Fortuna ( Memento from September 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), message from the Weilburger Nachrichten of March 14, 2011
3. ↑ On the trail of ore construction in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . April 14, 2011, p. 54.
4. ↑ Fortuna Field and Mine Railway Museum: Steam locomotives.
5. ↑ Fortuna Field and Mine Railway Museum: Diesel locomotives.
6. ↑ Fortuna Field and Mine Railway Museum: Electric locomotives.