Hüttenberger Erzberg
The Hüttenberger Erzberg is a historically significant iron deposit in the Seetal Alps in the north-east of Carinthia ( St. Veit an der Glan district ). It is named after the town of Hüttenberg , which in turn took its name from the early ironworks . The Hüttenberger Erzberg is not as well known as the Styrian Erzberg , but it was already known in ancient times for its high ore quality (see Noric iron ).
Geology and iron processing
The Hüttenberger Erzberg on the mineralogically interesting western edge of the Saualpe is built between three trench-like valleys: the Görtschitztal in the west, the Löllingergraben in the south and the Mosinzbach valley in the north. It extends to an altitude of 1300 m above sea level. A. and consists mainly of mica slate of the Central Eastern Alpine crystalline complex , in which iron-rich marble strands are embedded. Above the brown iron stone dominates , in the lower elevations the more valuable Spate iron stone . Smaller deposits of pyrite and barite can be found. The ore deposits are of post-volcanic origin and have displaced the limestone that predominates in marble.
As recent archeology (including Brigitte Cech from Gastein ) recognized, the Romans never mined on the Styrian Erzberg, but they did so near Hüttenberg. Its mining area was opened up by the Celts , who established the reputation of the steel-like " Ferrum noricum " with highly developed iron processing technology and exported it far and wide . Iron smelting lasted here until the beginning of the migration in the 5th century.
The skill of the blacksmith was essential for the quality of Noric steel . In addition to iron shells melted from shaft furnaces, they also used secondary raw materials made from scrap metal . The quality of the iron flakes depends on the local deposit and the phosphorus content. Low-phosphorus ores produced unalloyed iron flakes, which the inner-alpine Celts improved through multi-stage forging techniques.
Important sites are in the Görtschitztal and in the cadastral community of Lölling , in the Semlach / Eisner district, on the southwest slope of the Hüttenberger Erzberg.
Heinz Meixner is considered to be the most important mineralogist of the ore mountain , who maintained a laboratory and library in the mining administration in Knappenberg and worked as a company mineralogist .
Historical
Hüttenberg came to the Archdiocese of Salzburg together with Althofen (and later Friesach ) in autumn 860 , but royal donations from nearby Brückl (831) have already come down to us. Salzburg also exercised ownership of all mineral resources, the so-called Bergregal . In 1548 the imperial mountain judge brokered the award of iron, copper or salt bonds between the Carinthian prince and Salzburg , but a final pacification came much later.
The market town of Hüttenberg owes its foundation and development to the Hüttenberger Erzberg. It remained in Salzburg's possession until 1805 when it came to Austria.
The ore deposits of the Erzberg were dismantled from three sides around 1800 after the merger of many smaller trades: from the north the Compagnie Rauscher with smelting plants in Mosinz, Schottenau and Heft, from the south the Löllinger Union with the raft furnaces in Lölling and later in Prävali . At the front Erzberg (western roofing ) it was the Gräflich Egger union with blast furnaces in Treibach and the Gräflich Christalnigg union with the raft oven in Eberstein and later at Brückl. At that time, the Hüttenberger Erzberg was one of the most important ore deposits of the monarchy and the center of the Carinthian iron industry. In 1855, the main iron sausage trades accounted for 78,737 t, 74% of the total ore mined in Carinthia. In 1869 the Compagnie Rauscher, Dickmann-Secherau and other unions active in Hüttenberg merged and founded the "Hüttenberger Eisenwerkgesellschaft - HEWG". Albert Dickmann-Secherau was entrusted with managing the company together with Alfred von Christallnigg and Eduard Rauscher.
Most of the mining monuments from this time have been preserved, as well as houses of trades and miners, administration buildings, mining offices , some miners ' chapels , etc. The themed trails are separated into mining, conveyor routes, smelting works and building culture.
The mining of iron in the mine ended in 1978, the closure work in 1980. After that, it was converted into a show mine and the mining history association (formerly Friends of the Mining Museum Hüttenberg ) set up a mining history educational trail . The former, completely overgrown railway line of the field railway from Globitsch- Bremsberg to the Hefter blast furnaces was uncovered and cleaned by the association with the support of the municipality and the volunteer fire department Knappenberg (Hüttenberg) and made accessible through 6 bridges.
In the years that followed, the historical hiking trails covered almost the entire area of the Hüttenberger Erzberg. The excursion guides for the nature trail were written by Professors Hans Jörg Köstler and Eberhard Clar .
literature
- Bruno Baumgärtel: The Erzberg near Hüttenberg in Carinthia . in: Yearbook of the Imperial and Royal Geological Institute, vol. 52, Vienna 1903, pp. 219–244 ( digitized version ; PDF; 1.8 MB)
- B. Cech et al. 2008: The production of Ferrum Noricum on the Hüttenberger Erzberg . Interdisciplinary research with Semlach / Eisner 2003–2005, Österr.Ges.f.Archäologie 2008. See also foreword ÖGA (PDF file; 940 kB)
- Ferdinand Seeland: The Hüttenberger Erzberg and its immediate surroundings . in: Yearbook of the Imperial and Royal Geological Institute, vol. 26, Vienna 1876, pp. 49–112 ( digitized version ; PDF; 4.5 MB)
- Josef Rossiwall: The iron industry of the Duchy of Carinthia in the year 1855. A representation of the ironworks there according to its status and operations including a description of the more excellent ironworks with their iron stone and lignite mines and their peat cuttings. Vienna, 1856
Web links
- Kurt Dieber, Hikes over the Hüttenberger Erzberg in Carinthia (PDF file; 1.1 MB)
- Salzburg Wiki, Hüttenberger Erzberg
- Hüttenberg show mine on showcaves.com
Coordinates: 46 ° 56 ' N , 14 ° 34' E