Altes Kalkbergwerk Miltitz

Useful Information

photography — Altes Kalkbergwerk Miltitz, Erzgebirge, Deutschland. Public Domain.

Location:	Bahngäßchen 3, 01665 Klipphausen. (51.103460, 13.415140)
Open:	APR to DEC Sun, Hol 13:30. [2023]
Fee:	Adults EUR 5, Children EUR 3, Reduced EUR 3. [2023]
Classification:	Limestone Quarries and Mine Silver Mine Room and Pillar Mining
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	VR=65 m, A=176 m asl.
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Altes Kalkbergwerk Miltitz, Gemeinde Klipphausen, Talstr. 3, 01665 Klipphausen, Tel: +49-35204-2170. 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

~1400	first marble quarrying.
1571	first documentary mention of a marble quarry.
19th century	underground quarrying in the room and pilar method.
1865	Adolf-von-Heynitz-Stolln started for silver mining.
1885	silver mining stopped again due to low yields.
1916	collapse kills four miners.
1924	marble exhausted, mining ceased, mines drowned.
1923/1924	new marble deposit discovered, Wiesenstolln excavated.
1965	Neues Kalkbergwerk (New Limestone Mine) closed, mining stopped.
1943	German Wehrmacht tries to build a petrol factory in the Altes Kalkbergwerk (Old Limestone Mine).
2000	opened as a show mine.
2017	rockfall damages parts of the mine heritage trail.

Geology

The Nossen-Wilsdruffer Schiefergebirge is the basement of an orogeny consisting of gneiss, mica schist and hornblende schist. Above this, limestones were deposited during the Devonian. In the Carboniferous, a magma body rose, but as it did not reach the surface and cooled slowly, the Meissen granite formed. During the cooling process, the surrounding rock was strongly heated for a long time and thus, among other things, the limestone was transformed into marble. This is how the Miltitz marble was formed.

Description

The Altes Kalkbergwerk Miltitz (Old Miltitz Limestone Mine) is not only, as the name suggests, a limestone quarry, pyrite and even native silver have also been found in crevices. The limestone was transformed into marble by contact metamorphosis, so marble mine would be a better name. Marble quarrying in Miltitz began probably around 1400, but it was first mentioned in 1571. For a long time it took place on the surface in quarries, but in the 19th century the quarry was forced to follow the deposits underground, where the marble was quarried in the Weitungsbau, a form of Room and Pillar Mining. The chambers were up to 12 m high. In the 1920s, which saw the depletion of the reserves, another marble deposit was discovered nearby and the quarrying was moved there between 1924 and 1925. The so-called Altes Kalkbergwerk (Old Limestone Mine) was abandoned and quickly filled with groundwater, and the Wiesenstolln was started, where marble was mined until 1965. There is also a variant of the story in which the relocation of mining was triggered by cave-ins and groundwater intrusion. In 1916, part of the mine collapsed from the surface to the fourth level, claiming four lives.

During the Second World War, from 1943 onwards, the German Wehrmacht tried to build a petrol factory in the old lime mine under the codenames Molch III and IV. Forced labourers from concentration camps were used for this purpose, 17 prisoners died under the inhumane conditions. Technical equipment was installed and the outside area was camouflaged. In fact, the production of small parts could still begin shortly before the end of the war, but the underground production of aviation fuel was never established. After the war, most of the pit was pumped empty and filled with gravel to prevent a possible collapse. In the 1960s, the reclamation was completed and the pumps were turned off, after which the mine partially filled up with groundwater again. After that, the mine was closed until it was reopened at the end of the 1990s by the municipality of Triebischtal, which opened it as an exhibition mine in July 2000.

The exhibition mine consists of the huge chambers of marble mining, as well as the Adolf-von-Heynitz-Stolln, where traditional ore mining for silver was carried out. Silver mining began in 1865 and was already stopped twenty years later due to insufficient yield. With its large halls and flat floor, the mine is very accessible and is used for concerts and other events. Most of the mine is water-filled and is used for diving by the Tauchtreff Dresden diving school. The dates are announced every year at the beginning of the season and are usually booked out quickly.