Klosterstollen Barsinghausen


Useful Information

Location: Hinterkampstraße 6, 30890 Barsinghausen
Open: Mine: after appointment.
Bergbaumuseum: all year Tue-Sun 14-17.
[2011]
Fee: Adults EUR 8, Children (14-17) EUR 5, Children (6-13) EUR 4, Children (0-5) not allowed, Family (2+*) EUR 20.
Erlebnistour Fußbefahrung: max. 10 persons EUR 100.
Bergbaumuseum: Adults EUR 3, Children (14-17) EUR 2, Children (6-13) EUR 1.
[2011]
Classification: MineCoal Mine
Light: miners lamp provided
Dimension: T=9 °C
Guided tours: D=2 h.
Erlebnistour Fußbefahrung: D=3 h.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: "Alte Zeche" Gemeinnützige Betriebs GmbH, Hinterkampstr. 6, 30890 Barsinghausen, Tel: +49-5105-514187 (before noon), Fax: +49-5105-773061. E-mail: contact
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

1639 mine am Bröhn in Wennigsen first mentioned.
1831 Klosterbergwerk in the upper Fuchsbachtal mentioned.
1847 Gemeindebergwerk im Bullerbachtal opened.
01-SEP-1856 construction of the Klosterstollen started.
07-OCT-1869 seam reached.
10-NOV-1869 first cart of coal produced.
1888 begin of Wilhelmschacht (Schacht I).
1921 coal mining at Klosterstollen stopped.
1957 Schachtanlage Klosterstollen closed.
1986 start of renovation.
1999 show mine opened.

Geology


Description

The Besucherbergwerk Klosterstollen Barsinghausen is a part of the Gemeindebergwerk im Bullerbachtal which was opened in 1847. The tunnel was started on 01-SEP-1856 and reached the coal seam at a length of 1,474 m on 07-OCT-1869. One month later the first cart of coal was produced. The coal mining through this tunnel was stopped in 1921, but it was subsequently used for mine ventilation. Mining used then the four shafts of the Schachtanlage Klosterstollen. The mine was finally closed in 1957 because it was not profitable any more.

The Klosterstollen was filled with water for many years, but in 1974 another tunnel collapsed and the water flooded the industrial area around Schacht IV (shaft 4). It was necessary to fix this and install a new drainage for the abandoned mine, as a result the Klosterstollen is drained too. The process takes years, but in 1984 some mining enthusiasts discover that it might be possible to reopen the now dry tunnel. They start to plan a show mine. In 1986 the tunnel is opened and the development as a show mine starts. It is opened in 1999 after the mining authority officially gives the permission to run a show mine with a mine train.

The tour starts at the Zechensaal, a huge mine building from 1898, in the former Waschkaue the visitors are equipped with helmets. Waschkaue is a German miners term, which means a place where the miners change clothes before and after their shift, and have the possibility to shower after work. The unused set of clothes is hang on a hook and pulled to the ceiling on a long chain. The the tour rides on the mine train some 1,400 m into the tunnel. At the end the mine with the 70 cm thick coal seam is visited, mining machinery is demonstrated and explained. Beneath this regular tour there is also a tour called Erlebnistour Fußbefahrung which requires to walk the whole distance. As a result the tour takes some three hours, but it shows parts of the mine which can not be seen on the regular tour. Visitors must be at least 16 years old and be able to walk some distance on uneven ground. At the end of the tour it is possible to visit the mining museum and its exhibition Energiegeladen - Wege der Deisterkohle. There is also the possibility to visit the reconstructed headframe on shaft 2 with its mine elevator.

This landscape, actually this limestone ridge, is called Deister. In this area coal was mined for more than 300 years. But the coal seams are less than one meter thick and thus costly to mine. Huge amounts of ground water ae it also necessary to pump a lot to drain the mines. The Klosterstollen create a yearly revenue between 100,000 and 1 Million Reichsmark during the 1910s. But in the early 1950 the mining became unprofitable. The owner Preussag thus decides in 1955 to close the mine, the first colliery closed in Germany after world War II.