Freiberg Mining Field

Last updated
The historic Alte Elisabeth silver works in Freiberg 20070616 AlteElisabeth.jpg
The historic Alte Elisabeth silver works in Freiberg

The Freiberg Mining Field (German : Freiberger Revier or Freiberger Bergbaurevier) is an ore field which is located on an ore deposit of precious and non-ferrous metals roughly 35 x 40 kilometres in area in the lower Eastern Ore Mountains in the German Free State of Saxony. Mining has been carried out here since the last third of the 12th century. Parts of this region, along with other nearby sites in the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019 because of its testimony of continuous extraction for centuries and its status as the nexus for many technological developments in ore mining. [1]

The mining region, in the broadest sense, is centred on Freiberg, but extends beyond that town's borough into the municipalities of Halsbrücke , Hilbersdorf , Bobritzsch , Weißenborn , Oberschöna and the boroughs of Brand-Erbisdorf and Großschirma . In a narrower sense the name refers to the area covered by the Freiburg and Halsbrück mining territories (Freiberger and Halsbrücker Grubenfelder). The Brand Mining Field (Brander Revier) immediately to the south comprises just the one mining territory, the Brander Grubenfeld.

The most important mineral deposits are the ores blue lead (galena), zincblende (sphalerite), fool's gold (pyrite), arsenical iron (arsenopyrite), argentiferous grey copper ore (freibergite), dark-red silver ores (Pyrargyrite), and silver glance . The most important non-metallic materials are: quartz , calcareous spar (calcite), heavy spar (baryte) and fluorspar (fluorite). [2]

Mining in the Freiberg area began here in the 12th century. This includes a steadily developed water supply system for the benefit of the mining industry, the Revierwasserlaufanstalt Freiberg. Within this mining region there were, historically, a large number of smelteries and, even today, there are still various active smelting works, for example in Muldenhütten  [ de; es ].

Related Research Articles

Ore Mountains Mountain range in Central Europe

The Ore Mountains or Ore Mountain Range in Central Europe have formed a natural border between Bohemia and Saxony for around 800 years, from the 12th to the 20th centuries. Today, the Czech Republic–Germany border runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic, which rises to 1,244 metres (4,081 ft) above sea level and the Fichtelberg in Germany.

Rammelsberg

The Rammelsberg is a mountain, 635 metres (2,083 ft) high, on the northern edge of the Harz range, south of the historic town of Goslar in the North German state of Lower Saxony. The mountain is the location of an important silver, copper, and lead mine, the only mine which had been working continuously for over 1,000 years when it finally closed in 1988. Since 1992, the visitor mine of Rammelsberg has become a UNESCO World heritage site.

Freiberg (district) District in Saxony, Germany

Freiberg is a former district in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It was bounded by the district of Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis, the city of Chemnitz, the districts of Mittweida, Meißen and Weißeritzkreis, and by the Czech Republic.

Freiberg Place in Saxony, Germany

Freiberg is a university and former mining town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called Große Kreisstadt and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.

Silver Road

The 140-kilometre-long road, the Silver Road is the first and longest holiday route in the German Free State of Saxony. Against the background of the importance of mining in the history of Saxony, the road links those sights and tourist attractions of the Ore Mountains and its foreland that relate to the centuries-old mining and smelting industries of the region.

Krupka Town in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic

Krupka is a town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. The town is located in the Ore Mountain Mining Region, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and during the late Middle Ages it was one of the world-leading producers of tin and silver. The centre of Krupka is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Mittelsachsen is a district (Kreis) in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.

Wismut (company) Mining company in East Germany

SAG/SDAG Wismut was a uranium mining company in East Germany during the time of the cold war. It produced a total of 230,400 tonnes of uranium between 1947 and 1990 and made East Germany the fourth largest producer of uranium ore in the world at the time. It was the largest single producer of uranium ore in the entire sphere of control of the USSR. In 1991 after German reunification it was transformed into the Wismut GmbH company, owned by the Federal Republic of Germany, which is now responsible for the restoration and environmental cleanup of the former mining and milling areas. The head office of SDAG Wismut / Wismut GmbH is in Chemnitz-Siegmar.

Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park

The Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park extends across the upper slopes of the Vogtland and Ore Mountains in southeastern Germany along its international border with Czech Republic. It is the longest nature park in Germany with a total length of 120 km. Its management organisation is the Zweckverband Naturpark Erzgebirge/Vogtland. It includes the following conservation areas:

Frohnau (Annaberg-Buchholz) Subdivision of Annaberg-Buchholz in Saxony, Germany

Frohnau is a village in the Saxon borough of Annaberg-Buchholz in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in southeast Germany. The discovery of silver on the Schreckenberg led in 1496 to the foundation of the neighbouring mining town of Annaberg. The village of Frohnau is best known for its museum of technology, the Frohnauer Hammer, and the visitor mine of Markus Röhling Stolln. The mining area around Frohnau has been selected as a candidate for a UNESCO world heritage site: the Ore Mountain Mining Region.

Berggeschrey or Berggeschrei was a German term for the rapid spread of news on the discovery of rich ore deposits that led to the rapid establishment of a mining region, as in the silver rush in the early days of silver ore mining in the Ore Mountains. It is similar in some respects to the gold rush in North America.

Ore Mountain folk art

Ore Mountain folk art is a well-known form of highly artistic wood carving from East Germany. It encompasses the diverse forms of expression of the creative work beyond the classical or the modern arts, and in particular the production of figures, sculptures and paintings. In a broader sense, the people's poetry, literature, and the Ore Mountain songs are in itself the folk art. The Ore Mountains claim to be the largest, enclosed folk art area in Germany.

The Revierwasserlaufanstalt Freiberg or RWA Freiberg, was a historical water management system that delivered driving water to the Freiberg mines in the time of the German Electorate and later Kingdom of Saxony. Today the system is used to supply drinking and industrial water and is operated by the Saxony State Reservoir Office.

Ore Mountain Mining Region Industrial heritage location

The Ore Mountain Mining Region is an industrial heritage landscape, over 800 years old, in the border region between the German state of Saxony and North Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is characterised by a plethora of historic, largely original, monuments to technology, as well as numerous individual monuments and collections related to the historic mining industry of the region. On 6 July 2019, the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, because of its exceptional testimony to the advancement of mining technology over the past 800 years.

Saxon Mining Office

The Saxon Mining Office is the executive authority for mining rights in the German state of Saxony. It is also responsible for all non-metallic mineral resources on the terrain of the former East Germany.

Neugrabenflöße

The Neugrabenflöße, was a roughly 18 km long Kunstgraben dating to the 17th century. It enabled the rafting of timber for the mining and smelting industries in the Ore Mountains of eastern Germany. It ran from the River Flöha near Fleyh (Fláje) to the Freiberger Mulde near Clausnitz in the Ore Mountains.

Lengefeld Lime Works

The Lengefeld Lime Works is a limestone mine southwest of Lengefeld in the Saxon town of Pockau-Lengefeld in the Ore Mountains. It is the last mine in Saxony and the last mine on the German side of the Ore Mountains that still transports men and materials into the mine up and down vertical shafts.

Historic Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Góry

The Historic Silver Mine, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Tarnowskie Góry, Silesia, Poland. The mine and the neighbouring Black Trout Adit are remnants of a silver mining industry. The museum is an Anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It also joined The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage and the Silesian Tourist Organization.

Eastern Ore Mountains Nature Park

Eastern Ore Mountains is a nature park near Teplice, Czech Republic. The nature park was founded in 1995. It covers an area of 40 km2. The nature park is known for its diverse nature, peat bogs and mountain meadows. The nature park Eastern Ore Mountains lies in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Ore Mountains. It is part of the special protection area Východní Krušné Hory, which was founded in 2005, because of the population of black grouse and other endangered bird species within it.

References

  1. "Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 9 Jun 2021.
  2. Otfried Wagenbreth, Eberhard Wächtler et al.: Der Freiberger Bergbau Technische Denkmale und Geschichte, 1st ed., Deutscher Verlag für Grundstoffindustrie Leipzig 1985, ISBN   3-342-00117-8.

Coordinates: 50°55′10″N13°21′00″E / 50.91944°N 13.35000°E / 50.91944; 13.35000