Vereinsbergwerk Grüner Zweig

Useful Information

Location:	09487 Schlettau. From the market square Elterleinerstraße towards Finkenburg, at the end of the village turn left Krummer Weg, until the beginning of the forest. Short footpath Richtsteig to the "Grüne Zeig". (50.557623, 12.931477)
Open:	On Tag des offenen Denkmals. After appointment. [2023]
Fee:	donation. [2023]
Classification:	Silver Mine
Light:	bring helmet and headlamp
Dimension:	T=8 °C.
Guided tours:	L=700 m.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Vereinsbergwerk Grüner Zweig, Bergknappschaft Schlettau e. V., An der Zschopau 29, 09487 Schlettau, Tel: +49-3733-64796. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1504	Knappschaft Schlettau mentioned for the first time with their assignment to the Buchholz mining office.
1515	Schlettau becomes a freie Bergstadt (free mining town).
1521	First Schlettau mining regulations by mining master Brenzyg from Wolkenstein.
1668	Knappschaft Schlettau founded again.
1767	Mine reopened.
1811	Mine closed.
MAY-1945	Membership fees collected for the last time.
1999	23 former miners re-establish the Knappschaft Schlettau as an non-profit association.
2001	Vereinsbergwerk for research purposes.

Geology

Description

The Vereinsbergwerk Grüner Zweig (Grüner Zweig association mine) is also known as the Grüner Zweig show mine, but it is not a commercially operated mine with fixed opening hours, of which there are many in the Ore Mountains. It is a mine that has been restored and made accessible by the local non-profit association Bergknappschaft Schlettau e.V. Its main purpose is to preserve the mining history of Schlettau and to offer interested visitors the opportunity to experience it for themselves. For this reason, the mine can only be visited on special days, such as the Tag des offenen Denkmals (Open Monument Day), and by appointment. In addition, it is secured but not comfortably developed. Every visitor should bring old clothes, rubber boots, a helmet and headlamp, as well as gloves. The association sees itself as the successor to the Knappschaft Schlettau (miners' association), which ceased to exist at the end of the Second World War. Verein is the German term for a legally accredited non-profit association, Vereinsbergwerk is simply a mine which is operated by such an association.

The mine is one of the oldest surviving witnesses to mining in Schlettau. As early as the 15th century, the gallery had reached a length of 440 m, had two daylight shafts, a shaft for pumping the water and seven Gesenke (blind shafts). However, neither why mining ceased nor when is known. It was not until the 16th century that Schlettau was granted a miners' guild, became a free mining town and received the first Schlettau mining regulations from mining master Brenzyg from Wolkenstein.

The mine was in operation for a second time between 1767 and 1811. There were several extensions, new adits, a daylight shaft, a winding shaft, a pumping shaft and a wheel chamber. About 200 hundredweight of silver were mined, but the yield was probably not quite as hoped for, only 9 of the planned 30 miners' houses were built. After the Second World War, the Woas command of the SAG Wismut explored the mine unsuccessfully for uranium ore. In 1971, the mine was examined again as part of the GDR's geological exploration. This time, too, the results were probably not convincing. Finally, the mine was opened illegally by some enthusiasts in 1995. But since then the association was founded and operates the mine legally for research purposes and as an association mine.

The guided tours include about 350 m of galleries that were still dug by hand with mallets and irons. Several Gesenke, a 10-metre-high wheel chamber, workings and filling points can be visited. Due to the age of the mine, beautiful sinter formations of iron hydroxide and manganese, as well as gypsum crystals, have formed in many places.