Smelting works on the Beerberg

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The smelter at Beerberg was an early modern production facility in Hasserode near Wernigerode in the Harz Mountains .

Geographical location

There, where Dränge- and Holtemmetal meet at the western entrance of Hasserode, was a favorable location for this hut, in which the ores extracted from the mines above both valleys could be processed. The hut also had a stamping mill , whose two hammering hammers - like the sawmill immediately next to it - were powered by water from the Holtemme and the brown water. The course of both water ditches can still be clearly seen in the terrain, as the ditch from the Holtemme in particular was used by the Niewerth sawmill in Hasserode until after the Second World War.

The assumption that the copper ores from the mines near Goslarschen Gleie were melted near the Ochsenteich cannot be confirmed on the basis of contemporary documents. The ores obtained were melted directly on the Beerberg. The record of copper and lead from the smelter at the Beerberge in the “ Rathswaghaus ” in Wernigerode by the wagon master Johann Klingsporn is valid as proof of this . In December 1608, for example, there were over 1.5 quintals of copper and 28 quintals of lead.

One of the owners of the smelter at Beerberg was Hans Petersillie. He sold his smelter on March 16, 1602 for 440 thalers to Magister Mathias von Craesbeke, who, as an entrepreneur, was to have a major impact on mining in the county of Wernigerode over the next twenty years. Craesbeke - also popularly known as Grasbeck - already owned the following six mines in the local area in 1602: Help of God, St. Margarethe, Behrberger Stolln, Wolfsburg, Venusberg and St. Georg . Johann Storkau worked for him as a mountain factor.

Craesbeke later founded a union under mining law with some other aristocrats and remained co-owner of the smelter until 1615. At that time, the hut was forcibly expropriated by Count Heinrich zu Stolberg, who ruled the county of Wernigerode together, and his nephew Wolf Georg. The reason was debts of more than 400 thalers, which arose from the fact that the miners employed at the hut had bought food, grain, beer and leather from various traders in Wernigerode on credit from their employers. The hammer lords and their mountain factor Storkau refused payment, which led to disputes lasting several years. The two Counts of Stolberg invited everyone involved to a hearing in the Count's office in Wernigerode on January 14, 1615. However, the Hammerherren and Storkau did not appear on the scheduled date. The counts then decided that the hut on Beerberg would be sold and that the creditors would be paid with the purchase money. Carpenters, blacksmiths and bricklayers were hired to appraise the already very dilapidated smelter that belonged to at the time

  • the old hut with all fixtures,
  • a tasting oven ,
  • the boards on the bellows,
  • the masonry on both sides of the Radstube including the water gradient,
  • the chimneys,
  • the new building next to the stamping mill and the other fixtures and two stamping irons.

It is interesting that a "striking clock" is mentioned as early as 1602, so that it can be assumed that the smelter also had a clock tower.

Within a very short time , a financially strong buyer was found in Andreas Peters from Magdeburg , who was the city treasurer and goldsmith there. In the presence of the two counts, Peters agreed on January 18, 1615 to pay the required sum of 300 thalers in installments to the count's office. On the same day, Andreas Peters took possession of the smelter with great expectations. As early as July 1615, however, he was ready to resell the ironworks because the previous owners did everything to drive him out of the smelter " even if it should cost them several thousand thalers" .

In the Thirty Years' War the smelter on the Beerberg came to a complete standstill. It was dismantled and only the remains of the moat are a reminder of its earlier existence. Not far from the former smelter, the Hasserode blue paint factory was built in the late 17th century .

literature

Coordinates: 51 ° 49 ′ 34.5 "  N , 10 ° 45 ′ 59.5"  E