Erlebnis-Bergbaumuseum Steyeregg

Useful Information

Location:	Steyeregg 4a, 8551 Wies. (46.735725, 15.240296)
Open:	after appointment. [2025]
Fee:	Adults EUR 2,50, Children EUR 1. Groups (10+): Adults EUR 2, Children EUR 1. [2025]
Classification:
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Erlebnis-Bergbaumuseum Steyeregg, Steyeregg 4a, 8551 Wies. Gerfried Schmidt, Tel: +43-650-34-56-006. Werner Schuster, Tel: +43-664-886-30-531. Gemeinde Wies, Oberer Markt 14, 8551 Wies, Tel: +43-503-465–100 gde@.at
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

1790	First shiny coal found in the Wies-Eibiswald district.
1799	Start of mining operations.
1878	The mines are owned by nine sole proprietorships, three partnerships and three joint stock companies.
30-DEC-1975	The last pithead is mined in Bergla, and coal mining ends in the Wies-Eibiswald district.
1999	Mining museum established as a historical witness to the former mining community.
2010	awarded the Austrian Museum Seal of Quality.

Geology

In the Wieser Revier mining area, shiny coal was mined, a type of coal that has a strikingly shiny surface. The shine is due to the increasing conversion of plant residues into the maceral vitrinite. This process begins when the plant remains are covered with younger sediments such as sand or clay, but not always, only under the right conditions. This is why we also refer to the special forms vitrite in hard coal and glossy lignite in lignite, as is the case here.

Coal is formed from dead plant material from swamp forests, forming moors and peat. Repeated subsidence led to flooding, which deposited sediment on top which exerted pressure on the peat layers. Pressure and temperature squeezed out the moisture and the chemical transformation into coal, known as carbonisation, began. The first stage is lignite, which already contains significantly more carbon than peat but also contains many other substances, including water. The lignite here was formed in the Tertiary period around 2.5 to 65 million years ago. Although located on the southern edge of the Alps, the effects of orogenesis were also felt here, and the originally flat seams were moved and displaced. They reached the surface, where the locals were able to mine them relatively easily. Nevertheless, the mines were later at an average depth of 127 metres.

Description

The Erlebnis-Bergbaumuseum Steyeregg (Steyeregg Mining Experience Museum) is a mining museum that focuses heavily on interaction, hence the word "experience". This means that visitors can operate the miner’s drilling rig or simulate the shovelling movements of a miner at the touch of a button. Some of the tools are still in working order and some have been simulated. It is therefore a hands-on museum. The rest of the name is a little more difficult to explain. It is located in the village of Steyeregg, but as this belongs to the municipality of Wies, the museum is also known as the Wies Mining Experience Museum. Why it is called the Limberg Mining Experience Museum is less clear. Limberg is the neighbouring village to the north and also has a Limberg Castle, but the name probably comes from the fact that the lignite deposits are located in this area and were accessed from here.

In the first exhibition room, there are a variety of exhibits in clearly arranged display cases, such as fossils, mining tools and surveying equipment. There are also display boards, photos, mine plans and maps. A geological cross-section of a coal mine and a model of "above and below ground" with a winding tower, slag heap, railway tracks, alignment shaft, ventilation shaft and construction tunnel are very detailed and show all aspects of mining. Various underground tunnels are open in the model so you can see inside. One scene shows a miner filling a skip with coal using a shovel.

The second room explains blasting. In existing boreholes, visitors can "abtun" (ignite) a blast in stages using detonators. A tunnel reinforced with German timbering leads further underground. You have to ring the mine bell, then you can view various types of timbering in the tunnel junction. In another section of the tunnel, you can see a miner kneeling at his hard work. Visitors can operate the drilling rig at the touch of a button.

From the outside, the building is very small, although the chapel "Zum Heiligen Erlöser" (To the Holy Saviour) is attached, which is also very small. The chapel is related to mining, as it was used by miners for prayer before entering the mine. The entrance was through what is now the museum, which was actually the mouth of a tunnel. The museum is largely underground, at the beginning of the tunnel.