Annaberg silver mine
| Annaberg silver mine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
_-_Eingang_St._Joachimsfundgrube.jpg) |
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| Funding / total | 2.24 tons of silver | ||
| Information about the mining company | |||
| Start of operation | 1752 | ||
| End of operation | 1804 (or 1814) | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | Silver / zinc / lead | ||
| Degradation of | zinc | ||
| Degradation of | lead | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 47 ° 51 '19.5 " N , 15 ° 22' 37.7" E | ||
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| Location | Enamel | ||
| local community | Annaberg (Lower Austria) | ||
| District ( NUTS3 ) | Lily field | ||
| state | Lower Austria | ||
| Country | Austria | ||
The Annaberg silver mine is a former silver mine in the village of Schmelz in the municipality of Annaberg in Lower Austria . Between 1752 and 1804 (or 1814), silver, and later zinc and lead ores were mined here.
history
First find
In 1751, the innkeeper of the “Zum Ochsen” (or “To the golden ox”) and post office administrator Johann Burger in Annaberg found silver-containing ore on the so-called “Hollere-Alm” on the Hocheck after an earthquake.
Exposure
The mine opened up with the construction of the St. Anna tunnel , from which the Theresia and Caroli shafts were sunk . On April 25, 1752, the mine was inaugurated by the prelate from Lilienfeld . Just one year later, the St. Joachim's treasure trove was opened up and the decision was made to mine a new tunnel, the Maria Erbstollen .
closure
Due to the steadily deteriorating yield, the mine was closed in 1805 or 1814 and the factory complex was auctioned off in 1821.
smelting
Initially, the ore was smelted in Žarnovica in what is now Slovakia and only later processed in the smelter built in 1760 in the Lassingbach Valley. Since a lot of zinc ores were mined in addition to silver, a brass works was built in the Schmelz in 1765 . The copper required for brass production came from Hungary and Spitz on the Danube .
Yield thaler
First issue in 1758
On November 4, 1758, an application was made to have a few hundred exploitation thalers minted. This request was approved by Empress Maria Theresa and the thalers were minted by the Mint in Vienna. On the obverse is the bust of Empress Maria Theresa with a pearl diadem in her hair. The signature reads: “M. THERESIA. DGR IMP. GE. HU. BO. REG. “The reverse side shows the crowned imperial eagle, in the coat of arms Saint Anne and the Austrian armband, under the eagle mallets and iron . The inscription reads "S. ANNÆFUNDGRUBEN AUSB. THA. IN. N. Œ 1758 "and in the margin you can read" Justitia et Clementia ".
Second issue in 1765
The yield thalers minted in 1765 differ from the first minted only in the year and the now floral coat of the empress.
Lead mining
_-_St%C3%BCtzelement_in_der_St._Joachimsfundgrube.jpg)
As the lead which the stripping was required of silver from its ores from Bad Bleiberg in Carinthia to be brought in, had to be started in the vicinity of lead ores mine . After they found what they were looking for on the Galmeikogel in 1765, the "St.-Johann-v.-Nepomuk-Bleioffnungsbau" was built there.
Funding figures
Around 1,600 kg of fine silver had been extracted by 1758. Between 1762 and 1765 it was about 365 kg. The subsidies continued to decrease in the years to come and although exploitation thalers were still minted in 1765, after 1767 no more profit shares could be paid out. Between 1768 and 1783 only about 280 kg were gained.
literature
- August Haller: The silver mine near Annaberg in Lower Austria . In: Leaves of the Association for Regional Studies of Lower Austria . New episode 26, 1892, p. 409 ff .
- G. Hagenguth, E. Pober, MA Götzinger, R. Lein: Contributions to the geology, mineralogy and geochemistry of the Pb / Zn mineralizations Annaberg and Schwarzenberg (Lower Austria) . In: Jahrb. Geol. B.-A. tape 125 , Issue 1-2, December 1982, ISSN 0016-7800 , pp. 155-218 .
