Dreislar heavy spar mine
The heavy spar mine in Dreislar , a district of Medebach in the Hochsauerland district, dates back to the early 20th century and was the last of its kind in North Rhine-Westphalia to mine heavy spar until 2007 . Today there is a barite museum in the place.
history
The first documented mention of mining activities in Dreislar comes from the year 1777. Johann Adam Florenz Pape from Meschede began looking for Eisenstein. The rights were later transferred to the Grafschaft monastery . In 1847 Rudolf Graf von Spee, the owner of the former Glindfeld monastery , acquired the rights. His attempts to revitalize copper and iron ore mining were unsuccessful. In 1870 the rights passed to the Count of Stolberg without any upswing in mining. In 1909 the mining rights were acquired by the Deutsche Baryt-Industrie Dr. Rudolf Alberti acquired. This company was no longer looking for iron ore, but wanted to mine barite (barite). This mineral was required by the chemical industry. The First World War interrupted the production. This was not resumed until 1920. Construction of a narrow-gauge railway to Liesen was started to transport the recovered material and overburden . The route along with a small tunnel was already finished; with the cessation of work in 1923, the railway was never completed. Dreislar was also electrified by the Alberti company. Due to the effects of inflation , operations came to a halt again in 1923.
Alberti sold the mining rights and the operating facilities in 1925 to IG Farben AG and the Sachtleben company . The mining operations were initially not resumed.
Only the increased demand for barite after the Second World War made mining profitable again. Since 1957 the mineral has been mined on a larger scale by Sachtleben. In the decades that followed, the mine became the most modern of its kind in Europe. After all, 27,000 tons of salable barite products per year have recently been promoted. The deposit consisted of two main tunnels and a few side tunnels. The passage width was 2–10 m. In 2007, the production was stopped after the deposit was exhausted.
The entrance to the mine was buried to prevent vandalism .
museum
Already in 2001 there were considerations to set up a barite museum in the former school of the town. The concept was funded, among other things, with EU funds. The museum was officially opened in August 2008. In addition to the work underground, it shows a collection of minerals.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 8 ′ 59.2 " N , 8 ° 40 ′ 47.9" E