Fischbach copper mine

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The Fischbach copper mine is a historic mine in the Hosenbachtal in the Birkenfeld district , where copper ores were mined and smelted from the 15th to the 18th centuries . It has been open to visitors since 1975.

history

According to a document from 1461, copper has been extracted in the Hosenbachtal near Fischbach since 1400 . The Sponheim Counts and the Wild and Rhine Counts on the Kyrburg , whose territorial border ran across the Hosenberg, agreed in 1473 to split the income from mining equally. In the 16th century, 200-300 miners worked in the mine at times. The copper was delivered to Dinant in what is now Belgium , among other places , where a center for brass production was. Due to the Thirty Years War , the mining was stopped on December 3, 1624.

Mining in the Hosenberg was not resumed until 1697, but not in the pits on the opposite side of the Hosenbach valley. From 1730 to 1765, the Fischbacher mining industry experienced a renewed heyday. The first black powder invoices were found in Fischbach around 1750 - but blasting techniques were already common in Saxony in the early 17th century and were probably brought from there to Fischbach by migrants before 1750. In the first half of the 18th century, Fischbach was a stopover for the migration of skilled workers from the Eastern European mining areas to France, which took place over several generations.

The economic decline began between 1765 and 1776. In 1792 the company was closed due to the Revolutionary Wars . Several attempts at resumption in the 19th and 20th centuries failed due to unsatisfactory economic viability.

Visitor mine

In 1975 the mine was opened as a visitor mine; In 1986 the copper smelter was also reconstructed. The mining circuit was opened in April 2004. The sough of the mine is accessible in the summer months.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c R. Lang et al .: Underground experience - the historic copper mine in Fischbach / Nahe , local community Fischbach / Nahe, 2009.
  2. ↑ Hans-Eugen Bühler and H. Peter Brandt: Patterns of European Migration in Mining of the Early 18th Century: Fischbach / Nahe and Markirch / Alsace as Hubs of Exchange , In: Zeitschrift für Berg- und Hüttenwesen, 8th year, 2002, Issue 1, pp. 36-55. http://www.pierre-marteau.com/resources/mining/buehler_brandt.html
  3. ↑ Accessible Erbstollen. Retrieved June 21, 2017 .

Coordinates: 49 ° 45 ′ 16.8 ″  N , 7 ° 22 ′ 54.6 ″  E