Coal digging

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As Kohlengräberei refers to a method of coal mining , in which the apparent passing coal seams with simple tools have been removed. In some regions the coal digging was also called Kohlengrafften , Kohlpfützen or Kaulen . This form of extraction of mineral resources is not mining in the mining sense. Strictly speaking, the coal digging can also be described as wild mining .

Beginnings

Outcrop of the coal seam on the west bank of the Zwickauer Mulde near the Cainsdorf train station

It is not known exactly when the first coal digging took place. One can almost certainly name the period of coal digging in some hard coal fields. In the Ruhr area , the first coal graves took place around the year 1000. In the Aachen mountain area, the period from 1113 to 1125 is mentioned, during which coal was dug using so-called " calculi ". In the 13th century coal digging began in the entire southern Ruhr area from Unna to Mülheim (Ruhr). The reason for the coal digging was the increase in the price of the increasingly scarce firewood. This type of coal production was favored by the fact that the “base” hard coal did not fall under the mountain shelf . Therefore, the coal seams were the property of the respective landowner. Many farmers or smallholders, so-called Kötter , only operated this coal production in addition to their actual field work for their own needs, e.g. B. for house heating . Extraction of coal on its own plot initially was under no legal mining laws, here rather attacked the common law . But there was also coal digging in other mining areas. In the Saarland, there were first coal graves in the city of Sulzbach in 1462. Here too, the coal extraction was carried out by farmers and craftsmen on an unscheduled basis. The coal digging was favored where the coal seams came to the surface due to mountain faults and postponements . The outcrop of the seams on the surface was often formed as a tail, the so-called hook strike, which one could then easily follow.

The method

Creation of a pinge through coal digging

The method of coal extraction by means of coal digging cannot be clearly determined. First of all, the pieces of coal lying on the ground, if any, were collected, and then they started digging for the coal. Most likely, the coal diggers then used the tools they needed for the field work. Holes were dug in the ground with a pick and shovel, the coal seam was exposed, and the coal was hacked and collected. However, only the lump coal was used. The fine coal , which inevitably accumulated when working on the coal seam , was piled up on small heaps near the grave site because it could not be used in the fireplaces at that time . So that the coal extracted could be transported, it was loaded into wicker baskets or similar vessels and transported away.

The coal digging was mostly operated randomly and irregularly, because the mining points were found more or less by chance. Presumably, the initial orientation was based on the outcrop of the seam . There, where possible, the hooking of the seam outcrop was followed. When the coal digging had been going on for a long time, they probably also used black-colored molehills as a basis. This black coloration was caused by the coal lying just below the soil layer, which was thrown up by the mole. The mining points were then worked in the strike direction of the seams . This created pings as indentations in the ground. At one point it was dismantled until the pit was full of water, after which a new workplace was set up at another point. The puddles of water left behind were referred to as coal puddles, from this term the popular name Pütt for the coal mines arose in the Ruhr area . Even if the extraction turned out to be too difficult in one place, the coal digging was ended there and re-dug in another place. As a rule, the same seam was then worked on, only at a different point. Only a few people were assigned to the individual reduction points. The landowner often took his wife, children, male and female servants to help. Only as much coal was mined as was needed.

The coal digging mainly served to cover personal needs. It mainly happened in winter when the fields did not have to be tilled. In particular, there was also a greater need for fuel at this time of year . Some of the coal was also sold to local craft businesses such as B. Forging sold. Another method of coal production besides coal digging was the so-called coal breaking. This method was very similar to breaking stones. The two methods are often equated with each other in the documents and not clearly distinguished from one another, so that it is sometimes problematic today to make precise statements about the method used in each case.

Cons and Problems

The upper, mined coal layer burned very badly in the forge fire and in the hearths in the living area. This was due to the fact that the upper coal layer, which is also known as the “flower of the seam” , is very soft and only a few pieces could be extracted . In addition, this near-surface, often exposed coal was also weathered. The problem was that with this method the coal seam was always mined in new places. This was also intensified by the fact that the pings, depending on the depth of the groundwater table, quickly filled up with water. In addition, depending on the nature of the soil, the unsecured pits could collapse after a few meters. As a result, more and more pings were created due to the increasing need for fuel. Over the years, in some areas, whole pinging trains were created, which consisted of pinges strung together like a string of pearls. Around the year 1285 the area near Newcastle in England was devastated with funnel pits six to fifteen meters deep. For this reason, it was only possible to enter the area in the dark if there was a risk of death. But also in the Ruhr area there was more and more damage to the fields and devastation of entire areas in the 16th century. For this reason, the lords of Witten and Steinhausen decided in 1578 to restrict the coal digging. However, these first attempts at regulation were not able to prevail sufficiently. Another problem of the increased coal digging arose for the further orderly mining in the tunnel construction . The pits gradually overflowed and broke. Due to the stringed, water-filled pings, these areas became boggy over the years. As a result, the areas in which this disorderly mining had taken place were unusable for further orderly mining.

End of coal digging in Europe

The coal digging in the Ruhr area gradually came to an end around the middle of the 18th century. The reasons for this were varied. From the beginning of the 17th century, coal was also placed under the mountain shelf. The coal digging became unprofitable when the coal tithe was paid . In addition, from this point on, the state regulated mining through mining laws - wild coal digging and overexploitation were severely restricted. Mountain officials were used for surveillance. In the county of Mark , the first miner was appointed to office around 1609 .

Later, with the help of the state, miners from the old ore districts in the Ruhr area were settled. They brought their mining expertise and their experience of modern mining with them to the Ruhr area. In addition, the increased demand for fuel for industry could no longer be met by the coal digging. The use of charcoal had been banned by law by the Prussian state for the protection of the forests, under threat of punishment.

In the Saarland, too, coal digging was severely restricted from the middle of the 18th century. In 1754, Wilhelm Heinrich von Nassau-Saarbrücken took all of the coal mining operations under sovereign administration. The wild coal digging was made a criminal offense. The last time the coal digging was carried out in Germany was in the first ten years after the Second World War . During this time the coal shortage was very great and so, for reasons of cost, the coal was extracted from near-surface remnants of the seam using this method.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Walter Gantenberg, Rolf Köhling, Wilhelm Spieker: Coal and steel determined their lives. 1st edition. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2000, ISBN 3-88474-281-7 , p. 19.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Ralf Volkert, City of Witten (ed.): History of the coal mining industry in the Brandenburg region. From the beginnings to the mining law reform in 1865. Printed by Stadt Witten, Witten 1986, p. 4, 12–13.
  3. ^ A b c Heinrich Achenbach: History of the Cleve-Märkischen mining legislation and mining administration. Published by Ernst & Korn, Berlin 1809.
  4. ↑ a b Gerhard Gebhardt: Ruhr mining. History, structure and interdependence of its societies and organizations. Glückauf Verlag, Essen 1957, pp. 2–5.
  5. ↑ a b c d e Saarbrücken City Association (Hrsg.): The Saarkohlenwald history and future . Printing SDV Saarländische Druckerei und Verlag, Saarbrücken 2005, p. 10.
  6. ↑ a b c d e Joachim Huske: The hard coal mining in the Ruhr area from its beginnings to the year 2000. 2nd edition. Regio-Verlag Peter Voß, Werne, 2001, ISBN 3-929158-12-4 .
  7. ^ A b Erik Zimmermann: Black Gold in the Ruhr Valley . The history of Werden mining, publishing group Beleke, Nobel Verlag GmbH, Essen 1999, ISBN 3-922785-57-3 , pp. 7-9.
  8. ↑ Joachim Huske: The coal mine in the Ruhr area. 3. Edition. Self-published by the German Mining Museum, Bochum 2006, ISBN 3-937203-24-9 .
  9. ^ A b c d Karl Heinz Bader, Karl Röttger, Manfred Prante: 250 years of coal mining in the Brandenburg region. A contribution to the history of mining, the mining administration and the city of Bochum. Study publisher Dr. N. Brockmeyer, Bochum 1987, ISBN 3-88339-590-0 , pp. 22-23.
  10. ↑ Thomas Schäfer, Stefanie Marsch, Bernard Bernarding: When the farmers dug for coal. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung. No. 8, Saarbrücken, January 10, 2012, p. A2.
  11. ↑ a b c d K. C. v. Leonhard: Natural history of the stone kingdom. New, thoroughly revised and increased edition. Published by JB Müller, Stuttgart 1854.
  12. ^ Wilhelm Hermann, Gertrude Hermann: The old collieries on the Ruhr (series: The Blue Books ). Verlag Langewiesche Nachhaben, Königstein im Taunus, 6th, expanded and updated edition 2008, ISBN 978-3-7845-6994-9 , p. 14.
  13. ↑ Walter E. Gantenberg: On old coal routes. Volume 1, 1st edition. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8375-0110-0 , p. 21.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g Gerhard Koetter (Hrsg.): Mining in the Muttental. 1st edition. Druckstatt Wöhrle, Witten 2001, ISBN 3-00-008659-5 , p. 16.
  15. ↑ a b c Delf Slotta: From pinging, digging and ravines. In: coal. 9/2003.
  16. ↑ a b Ralf Volkert: Brief history of the Ruhr mining industry. Information brochure, Witten Tourist Office (ed.)
  17. ↑ a b c d Kurt Pfläging: Stein's journey through the coal mining industry on the Ruhr. 1st edition. Geiger Verlag, Horb am Neckar 1999, ISBN 3-89570-529-2 , pp. 19-20.
  18. ↑ Till Kasielke: Bochum-Sundern, traces of the early coal mining on Baaker mountain. Excursion report. In: Bochumer Botanischer Verein e. V. Yearbook of the Bochum Botanical Association. Volume 8, Bochum 2016, ISSN 2190-3972, pp. 133-139.
  19. ↑ BM Krooß, A. Busch, L. Benner: Excursion: Geo-energy generation in the Ruhr area. RWTH Aachen online ( Memento from July 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (last accessed on October 15, 2012; PDF file; 1.13 MB)
  20. ^ Delf Slotta, RAG Aktiengesellschaft (ed.): The coal field on the Saar. RAG Aktiengesellschaft Kommunikation Saar, printing and processing Lithos Verlag, Saarbrücken, p. 8.

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