The Upper Harz Mining Museum has one of the oldest and most complete collections of "mining antiquities" as the remains of the region's rich mining traditions were called when the museum opened in 1892. Today, the different departments of the museum provide the most comprehensive presentation anywhere of the history of mining in the upper Harz mountains.

The many exhibits of the permanent presentations in the show mine and open air grounds as well as the mines oldest surviving documentary movies of the mines illustrate at their fullest the development of the technology and working conditions in the ore mines and the life of a people whose very livelihood for centuries depended on the silver mines.

Led by experienced guides, a tour of the show mine is a fascinating experience. Arriving under ground, one is quickly aware of what it means to make do without daylight and to work in the humid air of the mountain. Images of Heinrich Heine's description come to mind. Having been down in the mine Karoline in 1824, his experience of "miry, wet ladders" prompted him to record in his famous "Journal of a Harz Journey": "It certainly was the dirtiest Karoline I have ever seen." But different from the mine Karoline in those days, the show mine today can be reached by a well swept filight of stairs.

From the "hanging bench" where once the mined ore came up the shaft, past the prayer room where the miners used to meet for a moment of meditation before entering the mine, and past the "guardian's bay "where the winch operator worked, the tour leads on to the upper loading station. In the shaft one sees the ore skip into which the ore arriving in carts - called "Hunts" locally - was loaded here.

At the left side of the shaft besides the pumps necessary for running the mine, one sees a system of movable ladders, a "Fahrkunst". Heine could not yet enjoy its benefits, for it was invented in Clausthal-Zellerfeld in 1833, nine years after the poet's visit. Before this invention the miners needed from one to two hours for their strenuous descent down into the mine and back up. From then on that time was drastically reduced.

How the ore was mined, how it was transported to the shaft and on to the surface, this and more the visitor will learn during his guided tour.

Address:
Oberharzer Bergwerksmuseum
Bornhardtstraße 16
D-38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld

Telefon: +49 5323/98950
Telefax: +49 5323/989569
eMail: Info@OberharzerBergwerksmuseum.de

Fragen, Anregungen, Kritik richten Sie bitte an Rolf Budach oder an das Museum.
Copyright (c) Oberharzer Bergwerksmuseum ,

 Donnerstag, 21. September 2006

Anschrift:
Das Oberharzer Bergwerksmuseum
Bornhardtstraße 16
38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld

Telefon: 05323/98950
Telefax: 05323/989569

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