Energiefabrik Knappenrode

Lausitzer Bergbaumuseum Knappenrode

Useful Information

Location:	Werminghoffstraße 20, 02977 Hoyerswerda / OT Knappenrod. Knappenrode near Hoyerswerda. A4 exit Bautzen. (51.3958338, 14.3265610)
Open:	All year Tue-Sun, Hol 10-17. Closed 01-JAN, 05-09-JAN, 23-25-DEC, 31-DEC. [2026]
Fee:	Adults EUR 9, Children (6-18) EUR 6, Children (0-5) frei, Students EUR 6, Disabled EUR 6, Families (2+2) EUR 18. Groups (10+): Adults EUR 7, Children (6-18) EUR 5. [2026]
Classification:	Lignite Mine
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:	Ar=25 ha.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	partly
Bibliography:	W. Nowel, R. Bönisch, W. Schneider, H. Schulze (1994): Geologie des Lausitzer Braunkohlenreviers, Senftenberg (Lausitzer Braunkohle AG), 107 S. C. F. Zincken (1867): Die Physiographie der Braunkohle, A. Krüger Verlagsbuchhdl., Leipzig, 818 S.
Address:	Sächsisches Industriemuseum, Energiefabrik Knappenrode, Werminghoffstraße 20, 02977 Hoyerswerda / OT Knappenrod, Tel: +49-3571-60703-0. 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

1913	begin of construction of the Werminghoff workers’ housing.
1914	begin of the construction of the briquette factory and the power station.
1918	Commissioning of Briquette Plant I, comprising 7 disc dryers and 10 steam presses.
1947	Order to dismantle the plant.
1948/49	Reconstruction of the briquette factory.
25-FEB-1993	Closure of the Knappenrode briquette factory.
18-JUN-1994	Opening of the Knappenrode Mining Museum.

Geology

The lignites of Germany were formed during the Tertiary, between 44 and 17 Million years ago. The climate in this period was subtropical to tropical all around the world, even in northern Germany, which allowed gigantic growth of plants. Europe was covered in wide areas by rainforest. This was especially the case for the flat basin in the area where today is Niedersachsen, Brandenburg and Poland. In this area extensive wetlands and swamps existed, which were flooded periodically by the North Sea. This sedimentation basin was bounded by the Bohemian Massif to the south and the Scandinavian Shield to the north.

For the formation of massive layers of peat, which were later transformed into lignite, not only the amount of plant material is important. It is also necessary that the amount of the decay is very low. This is a result of water covering the swamps and stopping the supply of oxygene, and the interception of decay by the flooding with sea water. Once the plants were covered by sand or silt layeres, the decay was stopped completely.

The next step in the process is called coalification, which means the slow vanishing of hydrocarbons, until only pure carbons remain. This process is started and powered by high pressure and temperature caused by huge layers of rock on top of the former peat. But here the process has not gone very far. Time was too short, and the coverage too thin. That why this coal is called lignite and has many remains of its origins as plants. It has a high amount of water, solid material (ashes), sulfur, and various hydrocarbons. This causes several bad qualities of the lignite, especially the environmental pollution and the low caloric value.

Description

The Energiefabrik Knappenrode (Energy Factory Knappenrode) is located in a former briquette factory. Between 1918 and 1993 this factory produced briquettes from the nearby lignite mining. It is the place where all stages of the local mining activities are collected and on display on an area of about 250,000 m². This includes machinery for large scale open cast mining, subterranean mining, transport, production of briquettes for heating and electricity.

The exhibition Revier.Lausitz traces the history of the Lusatian mining region from the 12th century, when Sorbian farmers began cultivating the land and discovered and utilised the ‘burning earth’ phenomenon. In the 18th century, it was common to use lignite for cooking and heating, but industrial use only became possible in the second half of the 19th century. Technical progress, particularly the use of steam engines, led to a growing demand for fuel. However, the most important consumers were the regional crafts: textiles, ceramics, glass and iron. The biggest problem was transport; it simply wasn’t worth transporting the relatively low-grade lignite over long distances by horse-drawn cart. Instead, many industrial firms imported English hard coal. That changed abruptly when Lusatia was connected to the railway network. Suddenly, lignite could be sold to Berlin and other cities, but local industry also suddenly had access to cheap energy. And in Lusatia, there were many goods that sold well in the growing city of Berlin: glass, bricks, iron, sand and fuels. Within a few years, the rural area transformed into a thriving industrial region. The Sorbian rural population, however, had to contend with negative consequences. They became an ethnic minority and were even treated with hostility because of their Slavic roots. As a Sorbian proverb says, ‘God created Lusatia, the devil the coal beneath it’.

However, the heyday of lignite did not begin until the 1970s. It was the main energy source in the GDR and was mined and converted into electricity in large quantities here in Lusatia and west of Magdeburg. Since the Second World War and the founding of the GDR, the country had relied solely on this one energy source. All the hard coal deposits of the German Reich were located either in West Germany or in Poland and the Czech Republic.

A second exhibition in the former factory building is called Fabrik.Erlebnis.Rundgang. It naturally covers all aspects of briquettes: production, transport and use. The machinery used to produce the briquettes has been fully preserved, including both early 20th-century technology and more modern equipment. Over 75 years of production, 67 million tonnes of briquettes were pressed. There is also an acoustic highlight here called Akustik.Schicht; three times a day, the deafening reality of the factory is simulated.

The power station is also known as the turbine hall. Here stand three imposing steam turbines: a Brown Boveri from the imperial era, an AEG from 1943, and one built in the GDR in the 1950s.

With its vast grounds and diverse exhibitions, this museum offers enough space to display even the large mining excavators used in opencast lignite mining. However, given its sheer size alone, you should definitely allow plenty of time. We would recommend that those interested plan for half a day; however, even if you just want to get a general impression, you should still allow for 1.5 hours, simply because of the size of the building. Comfortable footwear is advised. The museum also offers guided tours for groups.

This is a museum, not a show mine, and in fact lignite mining was carried out exclusively as opencast mining, so there are no underground mines. We have included the museum nonetheless because it is arguably the best museum on lignite opencast mining in Germany.