Schaubergwerk Kupferplatte

Copper Plate Mine

Useful Information

Location:	Bergwerksweg 10, A-6373 Jochberg. Between Kitzühel and Felbertauern tunnel. At the B 161 (Paß-Thurn-Bundesstrasse), at kilometre 20.6, signposted, 100 m to the parking. Bus stop Jochberghütte. 10 km south of Kitzbühel. (47.391245, 12.425482)
Open:	closed. [2023]
Fee:	closed. [2023]
Classification:	Copper Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	T=9 °C.
Guided tours:	L=600 m, electric train ride L=145 m, D=30 min.
Photography:
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Schaubergwerk Kupferplatte, Bergwerksweg 10, A-6373 Jochberg, Tel. +43-5355-5779 Fax: +43-5355-5459. 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

1874	smelting at Jochberg ended.
31-JUL-1926	mining at Jochberg ended.
28-JUL-1990	opened as a show mine.
JUL-2012	Knappenweg Jochberg opened to the public.
2020	mine closed for refurbishment.

Description

The copper at the Kupferplatte was mined and processed since 3,000 years ago. The archaeological excavations showed Copper Age pits and furnaces. But the heyday of the copper mining was in the middle of the 19th century, when 160 miners worked here and produced 1,800 tons of copper ore every year. Until 1874 it was also smelted in Jochberg. After mining ended in 1926 the mine was left unchanged, until it was reopened in 1990 as a show mine. The disused, abandoned mine was purchased by the Grander family at the end of the 1980s. They reopened the mine with the help of family, friends and volunteers. A non-profit organisation, the Knappschaft Jochberg (Miners Union Jochberg), was founded to manage the show mine. Johann Grander jr. trained as a Werkmeister für die Betriebsführung eines untertägigen Bergbaus (foreman for the management of an underground mine) in order to be able to competently manage the exhibition mine.

The mine tour has a mine train, which brings the visitors 150 m deep into the mountain. Here they can see the original mining machinery and the seams with the copper ore. Multilingual multimedia and audio technology informs the visitors about details of the local mining operations.

The mine was closed during the years 2020 to 2022, we are not sure if it was closed due to the pandemic or for refurbishing, as they state on their website. Probably they decided to do the refurbishing instead of operating under continually changing governmental restrictions. Unfortunately they have not reopened yet [2023], so we have no idea if the show mine is closed for good. We decided to interpret it as temporarily closed.

At the entrance to the show mine the Knappenweg Jochberg starts, a mining trail which shows the regional mining history at 10 stops. Educational signs explain the Jochberg geology and mineralogy, the prehistoric mining industry, how the Jochberg smelting works came into being, how people lived and worked in the mining industry, and much more. The trail is accessible without restrictions, but obviously only during Summer and weather depending.