Wallerfanger blue

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Azurite pigment

Wallerfanger Blue is a natural color pigment made of azurite that was mined in the Saarland community of Wallerfangen in Roman times. The color was traded in the Renaissance as far as Italy. Allegedly Albrecht Dürer painted blue with Wallerfanger.

Roman mining

Wallerfanger Azuritgestein ( Historical Museum Wallerfangen )

In the district of St. Barbara there is evidence of Roman mining, which aimed to break down the color pigment. The Roman copper tunnel of Emilianus has been preserved to this day and is partially accessible. The mine consists of the upper gallery, which was examined by Reinhard Schindler and H. G. Conrad in 1964–1966, and the lower gallery, about 7 m deeper, which was examined by Gerd Weisgerber in 1993–1998 . About 130 meters to the west of this mine, G. Müller discovered another tunnel in 1965, which is known as the "Bruss tunnel" after the property owner at the time. This tunnel has been scientifically examined by the German Mining Museum in Bochum since 2003 . It shows traces of medieval and modern re-use, but according to evidence of broken fragments it also dates from Roman times.

Six meters to the left of the mouth hole of the upper Emilianus tunnel, the following occupation inscription (inscription for taking possession) is carved: "INCEPTA OFFICINA EMILIANI NONIS MART [IS]" ( roughly German  : Emilianus started the workshop [the mine] on the Nones of March ).

The year of possession is not recorded. The inscription documenting the ownership claims to a mine is the only one of its kind north of the Alps. Furthermore, finds from the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD prove the Roman activities. The upper gallery has been open to the public over a length of 29 meters since 1967. The lower, 35 m long tunnel is exposed up to the face ; the mining areas are behind a larger embankment. The access route is not maintained regularly and is not noticeable. There are no fixed opening times; they can be requested from the mayor.

The color pigment can still be found inside the tunnel today in tiny particles that are enclosed in sandstone . Lentil-sized chunks can also be found on a nearby spoil dump . The mining of the Romans was probably not geared towards the production of copper, but towards the much more profitable extraction of the raw material for use as wall paint, paint and make-up . At a distance of 25 kilometers, archaeologists found the wall of the villa bath in the Roman Villa Borg painted with Wallerfanger blue.

Mining in the Middle Ages

The dye was also degraded in Wallerfangen in medieval and modern times . Already in the high Middle Ages, the "Brussel mine" was used again. The examination of timber from this period revealed a C14 dating between 982 and 1166 AD.

The extraction of the mineral mixture from the rock has changed over the centuries. The period from 1492 to the first half of the 16th century should be seen as the prime of mining. In 1628 the tunnel was finally abandoned because it was unprofitable - a development that was often observed in the Palatinate-Lorraine mining district during the Thirty Years' War - and excavations were not undertaken again until more than a hundred years later. The lead in these new attempts was the Lorraine mining commissioner Jean Jacques Saur (Johann Jacob Sauer) (* around 1687; † on January 11, 1757 in Markirch after a long illness and dropsy ), who had received the concession to mine the blue ore. But just two years later, Saur gave up operations. The last period of dismantling lasted from 1855 to 1866, it was named after the concession holder Paulshoffung .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heimatmuseum Wallerfangen: Medieval and Modern Mining ( Memento from July 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 4, 2010.
  2. ^ Gisingen, a village on the Muschelkalk. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved March 4, 2010 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gisingen.info
  3. ^ A b Gabriele Körlin: On the Roman azurite mining in Wallerfangen, Saarlouis district. The excavations in the “Bruss” tunnel . In: Landesarchäologie Saar 2005–2009 . Preservation of monuments in Saarland 2 (Saarbrücken 2010), pp. 97–112, especially p. 108
  4. ↑ CIL 13, 4238 , illustration .
  5. ↑ Heimatmuseum Wallerfangen: Römischer Bergbau ( Memento from July 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 4, 2010.
  6. ↑ Katrin Hewer, Vanessa Gergen: Wallerfanger blue - extraction - investigation - application in painting. (PDF file; 1.1 MB) Jugend forscht, August 15, 2005, accessed on March 4, 2010 .
  7. ↑ Thomas Witzke : Signs, panels, inscriptions and drawings in mining. Retrieved March 4, 2010 .
  8. ↑ Hans-Eugen Bühler and H. Peter Brandt: Patterns of European Migration in Mining of the Early 18th Century: Fischbach / Nahe and Markirch / Alsace as hubs of exchange. Retrieved March 4, 2010 .

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