Suggental silver mine
| Suggental silver mine | |||
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| General information about the mine | |||
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| Information about the mining company | |||
| Start of operation | 12th century | ||
| End of operation | 1938 | ||
| Successor use | Visitor mine | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | silver | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 48 ° 4 '0.3 " N , 7 ° 56' 6.1" E | ||
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| local community | Waldkirch | ||
| District ( NUTS3 ) | Emmendingen | ||
| country | State of Baden-Württemberg | ||
| Country | Germany | ||
The Suggental silver mine is a medieval mine in the Suggental near Waldkirch near Freiburg im Breisgau .
Geology and formation of the Suggentäler ore deposit
The Suggental with its silver ore mines is located in the Central Black Forest on the edge of the Central Black Forest gneiss mass. The side rock of the veins is formed by orthogneiss leading to hornblende . Several ore veins run through the valley in a south-east-north-west direction, these have been the target of extensive mining activities in the past. The eastern main fault of the Upper Rhine Rift, which separates the Rhine Valley from the Black Forest, runs directly in front of the entrance to the valley. The Black Forest forming the shoulders of the trench is broken up into a mosaic of clods by further disturbances. The Suggental lies on the Kandelscholle, which is bordered in the north by the Elztal fault. The most important ore veins in the Suggentaler Revier follow the direction of the south edge of the Kandelscholle, which runs from northwest to southeast.
The deposit itself is genetically a hydrothermal vein deposit. Hot, very mineral-rich waters rose along cracks and fractures in the rock and deposited the dissolved mineral salts again in areas with low temperature and chemistry. This ascent was made possible along fractures in the rock known as faults or faults . These are geologically classified as dextral inclined thrusts. The Suggental is characterized by a whole fault zone that stretches from the southeast to the northwest and extends roughly from the entrance of the Suggental up to the Luser. The fact that there is even a Suggental valley is a direct consequence of this weak zone in the earth's crust.
The heavy spar tunnel at Bürliadamshof uncovered underground by the “ Bergbaufforschungsgruppe Suggental ” has an average strike of 126 ° in the route profile examined so far . Its dip is perpendicular or steeply directed to the southwest or northeast. In terms of mineral content, it can be classified as a barite-quartz-sulphide vein. The white barite (barite), which is in very pure form in the Suggental , is by far the predominant main mineral. In addition to barite, there is a lot of quartz in the passages , mainly as a very hard, amorphous mass (chert, chalcedony), but also smaller crystals ( Rock crystal ) occur. The most important metal ores are galena and pale ore , which are mostly fine-grained and closely interwoven, and copper pebbles . They appear as cords that are millimeter to centimeter wide or in nests in barite.
Only the silver carriers fahlerz (tennantite, a copper-iron-sulpharsenide) and galena (lead sulphide) were of interest to the miners of the Middle Ages. According to von Carato, pure pale ore contained a silver content of 57 kg / t, i.e. 5.7% Ag, massive lead galena 0.2 kg / t, i.e. just 0.02% Ag.
history
The mining in Suggental look back on a long tradition. While the beginnings probably go back to Roman times, mining and the valley experienced their heyday in the 13th century. The mining interest was mainly in the metals silver and lead, but copper and iron were also extracted in the Suggental.
The Suggentäler pits were considered to be the richest in Breisgau in the 12th and 13th centuries , and so the Suggental was also called Reichenthal at that time. As the mine building grew deeper and deeper , measures for dewatering became necessary. Water wheels and pumps operated with them should regulate the water level in the pits and also facilitate the conveyance of the broken material. In order to get enough impact water for the water wheels, a slope water ditch (the so-called "Wuhr" or " Urgraben ") of over 15 km in length was created in 1284 , which collected water on the east and south sides of the Kandel. The water brought in was dammed in artificial ponds in the upper area of the valley in order to have enough water available for the operation of the water wheels at any time of the year.
During the heyday of mining, around 300 miners are said to have lived and worked in the valley with their families, and it is said that a cat could have run from the church at the upper end of the valley to the lower over the roofs, so densely populated it is been.
Fall of the Suggental
Happening
A legend reports that due to a severe storm towards the end of the 13th century (1288, according to other sources 1298) the dams of the retention basin broke, and so the masses of water falling towards the Elz valley suddenly inundated the pits. Most of the miners and residents of the valley were killed in this disaster, and the valley itself remained uninhabitable for a long time. After this devastation, the mining industry should never find its prime again.
background
The legend is based on two events that were merged in it: On July 14, 1288, there was indeed a storm that devastated the mine. However, operations were resumed afterwards. In 1297, Colmar troops attacked the silver mines in Glottertal and the neighboring valleys (which can mean the Suggental). This had devastating effects on the mining industry, since in addition to the destruction of the mines, the miners were probably also expelled, without whom it was not possible to re- open the destroyed mines.
Reports
The storm as the cause of the "sinking of the Suggentals" appears in several places in historical documents, but is dated to different years in the 13th century. The number of those who drowned also fluctuated between 150 and 300 people. The news about the storm is printed for the first time in the early 19th century and is based on the manuscript by Josephus Isaacus Trantenbach (1777). Up to this point in time, the accident in the Suggental was only mentioned briefly in historical documents, and mainly as a moral warning. In addition, it possibly served as propaganda for the reopening of the Suggentäler mine by trying to pretend to potential investors and buyers that the mine was flooded in full bloom at the time and that mining would therefore still be worthwhile.
In Trantenbach's report, which at first glance appears to be a rich source, but whose representations are largely not historically verifiable, the water levels still visible today in the masonry of the sacristy of the former mountain church “Our Lady in Suggental” appear for the first time Cemetery church . Since it is impossible to accumulate the water at this height due to the topography, it is most likely due to the efflorescence of the constantly damp masonry at a construction seam. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the constantly damp underground of the church was lamented and the church was demolished in 1835/36. The mark that is visible today was added on the occasion of the restoration in 1977 based on the legend.
Another explanation may lie in a warlike incursion from Alsace, documented for the turn of the year 1298/1299, in which the Glottertal and neighboring valleys were devastated: “… et vallem Glotyri et alias valles pro viribus deleverunt… et res comitis Fryburgensis pro viribus devastare… invaserat, intraverunt et fodinas argenti destruxerunt ”(Colmar Chronicles).
The legend of the fall of the Suggental
There is historical evidence that the flourishing valley was the seat of the Princess of Schwarzenburg from 1276 onwards. The original "Reichental" was called "Paradiestal" at that time.
According to legend, the princess wanted to marry the person who poured water into her castle so that she could keep her fish in water basins. Such a youth was also found, and he built the original trench for them. A big festival was held for the wedding, at which both court society and the villagers forgot decency and modesty and, for example, hollowed out loaves of bread to wear as shoes. Only the old farmer from the Obere Adamshof at the upper end of the Suggental is said to have foreseen the storm. His son rescued the elderly father on the mountain behind the yard, from where they watched the fall of the Suggental. All but five of the residents perished in the storm.
Because of this story, the name "Suggental" is also interpreted as the "sunken valley". Onomologists today agree that it actually goes back to the first settlement by an Alemanni named Succo (= "Valley of the Suggo").
Revival in the 18th century
It was not until the years 1776–1789 that attempts were made to revive the old mining in the Suggental. A trade union to which a number of wealthy citizens from Waldkirch and the surrounding area, some even from Upper Swabia, belonged, was founded by Steiger J. Ortlieb and the Kollnau citizen S. Dietz and the Josephi tunnel was reopened. Due to mismanagement, the union quickly got into debt, and so mining came to a standstill again around 1789. During this time, various mining investigations into the productivity of the pits were carried out by Baron von Vernier and Mr von Carato on behalf of the highest Upper Austrian mining authority in Tyrol, but the mining operations on a larger scale were no longer started.
Mining started again in the 20th century
Only at the beginning of the 20th century did interest in the raw materials in the Suggental flare up again - this time, however, the focus was no longer on silver, lead, iron and copper, but on barite (barite) , which occurs here in abundant and very pure form . Between 1910 and 1914, the Schwarzwälder Barytwerke GmbH Wolfach undertook exploration work, whereby the St. Anna tunnel and what is now known as the Matze tunnel were created under the name "Grube Erich". From 1927 to 1933 mining was carried out by the "Suggentäler Barytwerke" under the direction of Haslach's mayor Leopold Selz; a workforce of 15 to 20 people worked until 1938.
Since then, mining in the Suggental has been idle.
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Overwork
In 1985, the Suggental specialist group began work to uncover the old pits in the Suggental. In March 1985, the excavation of the St. Anna tunnel began, in 1987 the tunnel II ( Matzestollen ), located approx. 80 m further down the valley, was opened. About a shaft , a tripod was built, this was later confirmed by a historic model of mine God's blessing in Bleienbach modeled headframe replaced. The Suggental thus owns the only mine in the Black Forest that has a day shaft with a headframe. In the years that followed, the work on and laborious securing of the pit was continued, with setbacks such as open pitfalls caused by the difficult mountain conditions. The opening of the mouth hole of the St. Josephi tunnel on the Talbach in 1990 created a further exit from the pit and made drainage in the mountain much easier. To date, more than 56,000 hours of work have been volunteered for this.
Visitor operation
Since June 2004 the city of Waldkirch has taken over the patronage of the mine. The Suggental silver mine can be visited all year round after prior registration. Children may use the entire mine from 12 years traveled , younger stands and a small, separate pit area open to visitors. The mine can be driven over a length of over 450 m, with a height difference of approx. 45 m over shafts.
Events
Every two days on the second weekend in September, the so-called Stollen Festival takes place in cooperation with the Suggental Music Association. On these days, guided tours through the mine are offered all day.
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Count Egino II of Freiburg for permission to build the original trench from 1284. Retrieved on April 27, 2013 .
- ↑ Andreas Haasis-Berner: I love gold and silver very much ... 12. The legend of the fall of the Suggental. In: Freiburg online publications. Institute for Pre- and Protohistory University of Freiburg, archived from the original on August 15, 2004 ; Retrieved November 30, 2010 .
- ^ Seal of the Anna union. Retrieved July 13, 2013 .
- ^ Report of the Baron von Vernier to the Suggental. Retrieved May 1, 2012 .
- ^ Report by Baron von Carato to the Suggental. Retrieved May 1, 2012 .
literature
- Rudolf Metz: The early mining in the Suggental and the Urgraben am Kandel in the Black Forest. Alemannisches Jahrbuch, 1961: 281–316, Freiburg ISSN 0516-5644 .
- Andreas Haasis-Berner: Water arts, slope canals and dams in the Middle Ages. An archaeological-historical study of hydraulic engineering using the example of the ancient trench at the Kandel in the central Black Forest. Rahden, Verlag Marie Leidorf 2001 (= Freiburg contributions to the archeology and history of the first millennium; 5) (see Univ., Diss., Freiburg im Breisgau, 1999). ZDB ID 2033034-0
- Mining research group Suggental: Mining history in the Suggental. 10 years 1985-95. 2nd edition, Breisach 1995.
- Christian Rößler, Ferdinand Dreher: Documentation of mining archaeological finds from the medieval Suggental silver mine , self-published, Freiburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-049589-2 .
Web links
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