Fresh luck pit

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Fresh happiness
General information about the mine
Frischglueck Neuenbuerg.jpg mine
Information about the mining company
Start of operation 1770
End of operation 1866
Funded raw materials
Degradation of Iron, manganese
Geographical location
Coordinates 48 ° 50 '0.2 "  N , 8 ° 35' 35.4"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 50 '0.2 "  N , 8 ° 35' 35.4"  E
Fresh happiness (Baden-Württemberg)
Fresh happiness
Fresh luck location
Location Neuenbürg
local community Neuenbürg
District ( NUTS3 ) Enzkreis
country State of Baden-Württemberg
Country Germany

The Frischglück mine was a mine for manganese-rich brown iron ore near Neuenbürg in the Enz Valley . The mining of iron ore at Neuenbürg was already in Celtic times around 500 BC. Chr. ( Early La Tène Period ) operated. The Frischglück mine was in operation from 1770 to 1866. The mine has been operated as a visitor mine since 1985 .

geology

The mine is built on the Neuenbürger Gang area, which extends south of Pforzheim . The district has a west-east extension of 15 km and contains 70 hydrothermal tunnels . The high-yielding veins are located in the red sandstone and are up to four meters thick , typically one meter. The ore-bearing tunnels are filled with breccias , these consist of barite and red sandstone and are clad with brown iron. The iron ore containing manganese had an iron content of 50 percent and was therefore very welcome for steel production.

history

500 to 100 BC BC - Celtic time

Already in the early La Tène period around 500 BC. Iron ore was mined and smelted near Neuenbürg . The mining of iron ore took place near the surface, as civil engineering and larger shafts were unknown. The Celtic mining near Neuenbürg was so important for the Celts that they built a fortified hilltop settlement on the Schlossberg near Neuenbürg. Extensive slag remains and iron tools were found there, which had been made from the iron ore found on site. In the immediate vicinity of the Frischglück pit, seven racing furnaces were found that extracted the iron from the ore. Another 50 racing furnaces were confirmed by geomagnetic measurements. The plant is one of the oldest known iron smelting works in Central Europe. About 1 kg of iron was melted from 50 kg of ore plus charcoal.

70 to 250 AD - Roman period

The Romans settled in the region between 70 and 250 AD. Iron mining and processing were continued by the Romans; there was a Roman ironworks near Pforzheim that processed locally mined iron ore.

800 AD to 15th century - Middle Ages

There is no documentary evidence of iron ore mining in the early Middle Ages, but several excavation campaigns have shown that iron ore was mined in the 8th and 9th centuries.

In the years 1100 to 1442 there is evidence of mining by the Counts of Straubenhardt (see also: Straubenhardt ruins ), in 1527 five iron ore mines near Neuenbürg were mentioned in a document.

16th century to 18th century - early modern times

A first modern mention of the mining industry can be found at Duke Eberhard III , who from 1654 first lug propel left. However, this was unsuccessful and was abandoned two years later. Mining continued only on the surface. From 1720 civil engineering was carried out for the first time , the first tunnels were the Christians- and Jakobsstollen in the Gewann Schnaizteich. From 1758 the mining operations were temporarily stopped for economic reasons.

1770 to 1866 - main operating period

The operational period of today's Frischglück mine began in 1770. After 1797, the iron ore extracted was processed in the Royal Ironworks in Friedrichstal (later: Schwäbisches Hüttenwerk SHW ), the distance for ore transport being 60 km. The ore obtained was ideal for the production of cast iron due to the low sulfur content and the poverty of copper .

In the early 19th century, the first very promising attempts to produce steel from the ore of the Frischglück mine were made, which went back to the initiative of Friedrich II. Von Württemberg. In the first half of the 19th century, the mine yielded high, with over 2,625 t of iron ore extracted between 1770 and 1843. From 1851 blasting was used and Gedinge work was introduced, which led to piecework work. From 1866 onwards, mining came to a standstill, supplies were exhausted and demand sank, especially since the nature and above all the strength of the rock caused enormous costs.

1985 to today - visitor mine

From 1975 the mining history of Neuenbürg was researched by interested citizens, which led to the first clearing work at the Frischglück mine from 1979 . On March 30, 1985, the mine was opened as a visitor mine.

The visitor mine shows central sections of the Grube Frischglück on three levels and a one-hour tour. In particular, the mining method stoping , as well as numerous highly visible iron ore and Schwerspatgänge are visible, also are search tunnels and armor to explore. Right next to the pit is the archaeological excavation area with the 2500 year old racing kilns.

See also

literature

  • Wolfgang Werner, Volker Dennert: Deposits and mining in the Black Forest. Published by the State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining, Baden-Württemberg. Freiburg im Breisgau, 2004, ISBN 3-00-014636-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner, Dennert, 2004, p. 136 ff.
  2. ↑ a b Werner, Dennert, 2004, p. 141.
  3. ↑ G. Gassmann: Investigations of smelting plants in Neuenbürg, Gewann Schnaizteich. In: Archaeological excavations in Baden-Württemberg. Stuttgart 1995, pp. 155-158.
  4. ↑ a b Werner, Dennert, 2004, p. 142.
  5. ↑ Werner, Dennert, 2004, p. 143 ff.
  6. ↑ Werner, Dennert, 2004, p. 136 f.