Weissenstadt uranium mine
The Weißenstadt uranium mine , also known as the Werra tin ore mine , is a monument for uranium mining in the Upper Franconian city of Weißenstadt and is now used as a visitor mine .
location
The mine is located in an elongated forest area between Weißenstadt and the Schneeberg . It can be reached via the Lederer residential area in the northeast of Weißenstadt or via the Schönlind district . The Rudolfstein is located nearby . The black pond is evidence of tin mining in the immediate vicinity. The starting point for a circular hiking trail, which provides information about the opencast mine with its medieval soaps and the tunnel, is the visitor parking lot at the edge of the forest, which can be approached via the mountain road from Weißenstadt.
Visitor mine
The visitor mine as part of the Bavaria-Böhmen Geopark is embedded in the circular hiking trail with detailed information boards. Since summer 2016, guided tours have been offered in the mine with advance notice. They only take place in the summer months, as the mine tunnels serve as winter quarters for bats .
Bats
The mine tunnels are used for wintering by various rare bats, including the great mouse- eared bat , the brown long-eared bat , the water bat , the bearded bat and the fringed bat. One count came to 50 individuals. This was the reason to install 50 bat boxes in the corridors when the mine was being renovated .
history
Despite the Allies' ban , in 1950 - disguised as a "tin ore investigation company" - the mining and enrichment of uranium began in Weißenstadt. The operator was the Maxhütte in Sulzbach-Rosenberg as part of the Flick Group. Work was carried out in tunnels that had previously been used to mine tin ore. In 1955, the Federal Minister for Atomic Affairs, Franz Josef Strauss, visited Weissenstadt. It was not until 1956 that the newsreel Welt im Bild reported on uranium mining for the first time. There were plans to expand Weißenstadt into an "atomic city". The Munich research reactor was supplied with uranium from Weißenstadt. The operation ran until 1975, only in 1990 the plant was shut down. There were similar approaches to uranium extraction in the Christa mine near Großschloppen , in Lengenfeld near Tirschenreuth , Poppenreuth near Tirschenreuth and Mähring . Today Weißenstadt benefits from radioactive radon as a spa .
In 1956 a total of 62 medals were made from Weißenstadt uranium. There are two types of medals. The embossing required the highest pressure. The material also becomes easily brittle and oxidizes quickly, so that the specimens already have considerable defects today.
The facility has meanwhile been renovated and is accessible as a visitor mine by prior arrangement. The tunnel entrance has been heavily fortified and there is an outdoor exhibition area. Former outbuildings, especially for the miners' stay, have been preserved in poor condition and are to serve as visitor rooms in the future.
literature
- Stefan Meier, Bernhard Dünkel: The tin and uranium mine at Rudolfstein near Weißenstadt, Fichtelgebirge . In: Lapis , Heft 2/2010, pp. 29–37.
- Dietmar Herrmann: The tin and uranium mine at Rudolfstein . In: SIEBENSTERN, magazine of the Fichtelgebirgsverein, issue 2–2017, p. 5
- Flick's experimental shaft . In: Der Spiegel , issue 34/1956.
Web links
- Uranium from Weißenstadt , article from Between Spessart and Karwendel
- Werra tin ore mine and uranium mine at Rudolfstein near Weißenstadt on Erwin Purucker's homepage
Individual evidence
- ↑ Meier, Dünkel, p. 31.
Coordinates: 50 ° 4 ′ 43.4 " N , 11 ° 53 ′ 9.4" E