Ehrenfriedersdorf tin mine
The Ehrenfriedersdorf tin mine is a visitor mine with an attached mineralogical museum and a member of the Saxon Industrial Museum .
History of the mine
The town of Ehrenfriedersdorf was founded around 1200 . Tin has been extracted in Ehrenfriedersdorf since the early 13th century, mainly from tin soaps . By 1300 the soaps were largely exhausted and tin and silver ore were now mined underground . In 1338 the mining brotherhood was founded, which is still the oldest mining association in Europe. In the centuries that followed, the productivity fluctuated considerably, and production could only be maintained through constant technological advances. In the 19th century the mine was subject to major economic change. There was a closure and frequent changes of ownership. During the First World War, Kriegsmetall AG started production as a tenant. In 1920 the city of Ehrenfriedersdorf took over the Ehrenfriedersdorfer Vereinigt-Feld-Fundgrube (EVFF) and in 1922 it was shut down and dismantled. As a result of the self-sufficiency efforts of the German Reich in 1936, operations were resumed by the Sachsz Bergwerks AG . After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the processing was dismantled as a reparation payment and given to the Soviet Union . In 1948, the reconstruction and the resumption of the promotion began with disruption of the newly discovered part of the deposit Northwest Field. After decades of ore mining, mining was finally stopped on October 3, 1990 as a result of completely unprofitable mining. Custody work and preparation for operation as a visitor mine took place.
Visitor mine and mineralogical museum
In 1995 the company officially started operating as a visitor mine and in 1996 a gGmbH was founded with the city of Ehrenfriedersdorf as its partner. From 1997 to 1999, the deep Sauberger tunnel was repaired for visitors to visit. In 1998 the “Saubergexpress” mine railway and a gemstone grinding shop were inaugurated. The Ehrenfriedersdorf tin mine became a member in 1999 with the establishment of the Saxon Industrial Museum Association.
Various tours are offered, such as a 1.5-hour touristic tour and a 2.5-hour adventure tour. Different locations on regional geology, the history of Ehrenfriedersdorfer mining and tin ore mining are visited. Various technical devices, including very rare ones, can be seen within the mine tours. Some of these will be demonstrated, including a mechanical demolition platform, compressed air drill, drill carriage, overhead loader and bunker wheeled loader. Part of the tour is also a ride on the electric mine train, which is operated as a panorama train or in the Tiefen Sauberger Stolln as the “Saubergexpress”.
In addition to the regular tours, special tours on topics such as geology, railways in the mine or Georgius Agricola and Ehrenfriedersdofer mining are offered on a regular basis.
The Mineralogical Museum gives an overview of local and regional geology and mineralogy. Furthermore, the processing of tin ores and their use are explained schematically. Special exhibitions, for example on geological and mining history topics, complement the work of the Mineralogical Museum.
particularities
The visitors' mine is not entered via a tunnel, but via the main and straightening shaft in Sauberg at a depth of around 100 meters using a historic cable car system with a cage. The headframe and the hoisting machine originally came from the Wilhelm shaft in Oberhohndorf near Zwickau and were built in Ehrenfriedersdorf after 1936.
Since 1997, a healing gallery has been used for recumbent cures for respiratory diseases such as asthma or allergies. This is particularly possible due to the good climate and the air conditions (around 8 degrees Celsius and almost 100% relative humidity) underground, especially due to the low air pollution there with pollutants and allergens.
The reconstruction of the Ehrenfriedersdorfer wheel pump is located in the mine in the area of the Alexanderschacht and Heinzenschachts. Georgius Agricola has already described this in his De re metallica (Book VI). In 2000 a corresponding wheel chamber was discovered. The replica of the waterwheel with the wheel pump described can be viewed since 2007.
literature
- Zinnerz Ehrenfriedersdorf GmbH (Ed.): Mining history, geology and minerals from Ehrenfriedersdorf / Sa. With 30 excursion destinations. Haltern 1991.
- Ehrenfriedersdorf tin mine. Visitor mine and mineralogical museum. In: Feldkamp, Jörg; Zweckverband Sächsisches Industriemuseum (Ed.): Sächsisches Industriemuseum. Five stations of industrial culture in Saxony. Chemnitz 1999, pp. 30-39.
- Zweckverband Sächsisches Industriemuseum, Zinngrube Ehrenfriedersdorf (ed.): Georgius Agricola and the Ehrenfriedersdorfer wheel pump. Ehrenfriedersdorf 2002.
- Voigtmann, Joachim; Saxon State Office for Museum Affairs (Ed.): Visitor mine, Mineralogical Museum Zinngrube Ehrenfriedersdorf (Saxon State Office for Museum Affairs. Saxon Museums - Small Series, Volume 4). Chemnitz 2002.
- Zinngrube Ehrenfriedersdorf (ed.): Noble stones - refine stones. History, geology and find points of precious stones in the Selva - Ehrenfriedersdorf area. Introduction to gem processing. Ehrenfriedersdorf [2004].
Web links
- Site of the Zweckverband Sächsisches Industriemuseum: http://web.saechsisches-industriemuseum.com/ehrenfriedersdorf.html
- Page of the Zinngrube Ehrenfriedersdorf: http://www.zinngrube.de
proof
- ^ Zweckverband Sächsisches Industriemuseum, Zinngrube Ehrenfriedersdorf (ed.): Georgius Agricola and the Ehrenfriedersdorfer wheel pump . Ehrenfriedersdorf 2002, p. 12 ff .
Coordinates: 50 ° 38 ′ 33.7 ″ N , 12 ° 58 ′ 27.5 ″ E