Trau auf Gott Erbstolln Lichtenberg


Useful Information

Location: Dorfstraße 127, 09638 Lichtenberg/Erzgebirge.
(50.826393, 13.434907)
Open: By arrangement.
[2023]
Fee: free.
[2023]
Classification: MineAdit MineSilver Mine
Light: Helmet and light are provided
Dimension: L=326 m, T=8 °C.
Guided tours:
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: Dr.-Ing. habil. Günther Meier (2002): Das Besucherbergwerk „Trau auf Gott Erbstolln“ in Lichtenberg bei Freiberg, Sächsische Heimatblätter 48 (2002) 3, S. 165-172. pdf Deutsch - German
Address: Gemeindeverwaltung Lichtenberg, Bahnhofstraße 3a, 09638 Lichtenberg, Telefon: +49-37323-543-0, Fax: +49-37323-543-27. 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

1787 adit started by Eigenlehners (independent miners).
SEP-1998 to APR-1999 mining rehabilitation on behalf of the Saxon Upper Mining Authority.
12-SEP-1999 show mine opened for the Tag des offenen Denkmals (Open Monument Day).

Geology

The bedrock of Lichtenberg consists of gneisses of the basement, the up to 5 km thick Prevariscan basement. With an age of 1 Ga, the oldest rocks of the Ore Mountains are found here. The so-called Brander Gneisses are biotite gneisses, mica schists and greywackes, which are interspersed with quartzites in bands. Lava flows penetrated fissures and formed quartz porphyry veins, but contact metamorphism and hydrothermal convection also led to the formation of quartz, fluorite and baryte veins with sulphide ores.

Description

As the name Erbstollen suggests, the Trau auf Gott Erbstolln Lichtenberg (Trust in God Adit) is the drainage gallery of a mine. However, the mine water repeatedly flooded the main street of Lichtenberg and led to black ice in winter. The Sächsisches Oberbergamt (Saxon Upper Mining Authority) was forced to rehabilitate the gallery for safety reasons. It was opened and explored, and it was discovered that this is a geological, mineralogical and mining-historical gem. Dr. Günther Meier, who supervised the work, recognised the extraordinary features and suggested that the gallery be prepared for the public. The Saxon Upper Mining Authority agreed, with the restriction that the necessary restoration costs should not exceed the originally planned costs of refilling. The local authority took responsibility for its future use as a museum. Safeguarding measures were carried out and, of course, the drainage system was changed. Among other things, a broken shaft was prepared as a fresh air and escape route and the gallery was secured with natural stone lining. However, it does not have any kind of trails or light, so you need protective clothing and a lamp. And it has no regular open hours, visits are only possible by appointment with the municipality.

The tunnel mouth is located directly on the village road, in a wooden hut which has since been restored. Strong erosion during the ice ages and at the beginning of the post-glacial period led to the deposition of valley and terrace sediments. The gallery was driven about 90 m into the Quaternary terrace sediment of the Gimmlitz river. This was certainly less difficult than driving through hard granite or gneiss, but is extremely dangerous due to the very high risk of collapse. The walls of the adit make the unconsolidated sediments accessible and are fascinating from a geological point of view.

Otherwise, the Erbstollen follows a small, insignificant quartz vein called Trau auf Gott Spat through different varieties of gneiss with different colours. Three cross-cuts were made to open up three of the five veins. Mineralogically, the up to one metre thick Trau auf Gott Stehende is particularly interesting, with purple, green and white fluorspar and rosette-like quartz crystals, together with scaly haematite.

The biggest feature, however, is the multitude of markings in the gneiss. For example, Fundtafeln (discovery boards) are marking the discovery of veins, 20 annual advance boards mark the annual progress of the advance, mark-survey quarterly and annual marks were used for surveying, as well as 7 survey points marked into the rock. In 1785, the Freiberg mining master Christian Wilhelm Schmidt had issued a regulation for the striking of the signs. It was hoped that this would improve the management of mining activities. So-called Reviergeschworene (district jurors) were appointed, who were the only ones entitled to hammer in the signs and who received Stufengeld (step mone) of 8 Groschen for doing so. This was the reason why as many marks as possible were created, the amount corresponded to a miner's weekly wage.

Mining originally began in the open pit on the Casper Stehender seam. As always, at a certain depth the miners had problems with mine water, and so an adit was built to drain the water. It drained into a side valley at a depth of 27 m, and by 1792, which was the first time the Trau auf Gott Erbstolln was depicted in a mine drawing, it had already collapsed. This first mining period ended when the groundwater reached a depth of 27 m, it is unknown when this occurred. In order to revive this first mining period, another drainage gallery was built, this time much deeper, which is why it was also called the Tiefer Trau auf Gott-Erbstolln. It was to drain 40 m to 55 m deep, allowing mining of up to 28 more metres. Work began in 1787, and first an earlier adit was reopened and 60 metres of it were cleared and secured with timber lining in the first six months. Then a new adit was driven by drilling and blasting, reaching the Trau auf Gott Stehender in 1815. But Casper Stehender was never reached, probably because the various passages that were opened up, all of which were not worth mining, led to the conclusion that Casper Stehender would not be profitable either. So in 1817, driving was stopped and the gallery was officially closed in 1835, still almost 100 m from its destination.