Mellestollen

Useful Information

Location:	Wittmannsgereuther Straße 105, 07318 Saalfeld. (50.6315169, 11.3054706)
Open:	Tag des offenen Denkmals. [2025]
Fee:
Classification:	Iron Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	A=500 m asl.
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Hotel-Restaurant Mellestollen OHG, Familie Pröschold, Wittmannsgereuther Straße 105, 07318 Saalfeld/Thüringen, Tel: +49-3671-8200. info@mellestollen.de
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

1850	Maximilianshütte begins mining iron.
1872	Maxhütte establishes the Maxhütte branch in Unterwellenborn.
1920	Mellestollen dug.
1939-1942	11 km long cable car route between Hopfgarten/Mellestollen and Unterwellenborn built.
1969	Iron mine closed.
2014	Show mine opened.

Geology

Description

Mellestollen is the name of a mine tunnel, right next to the Hopfgartenstollen. Both are remnants of an ore mine that closed in 1969. Apparently, they were not dismantled or sealed at the time, and even many tools and machines were left behind. The tunnels and mining chambers, which are up to 8 m high, are still as they were when they were abandoned.

Originally, the iron ore was mined by the Maximilianshütte in Sulzbach-Rosenberg in the Upper Palatinate. When the Maxhütte in Unterwellenborn was commissioned as a branch plant in 1872, it took over the mine. It belonged to the Flick Group from 1921 and was expropriated in 1946 and continued as a SAG operation. In 1948, it became a state-owned enterprise with the name VEB Bergbau- und Hüttenkombinat Maxhütte.

There are several show mines around Saalfeld, which were used to extract quite different resources. More than 3,000 years ago, the Celts mined copper and antimony and used tin to produce bronze. There is plenty of archaeological evidence of this. However, mining then came to a standstill and was not resumed until 1537, when iron ore and silver were mined. The ore here had an iron content of only about 30%. However, it also contained cobalt, which was later used as a valuable dye in the porcelain industry.

The ore mined underground was loaded into lorries with a capacity of about 0.9 tonnes of ore. These were pulled by hand or by horse several kilometres and then loaded. Later, a mine railway was used. During the Second World War, the demand for iron was very high, and so a direct 11 km long cable car route was built between Hopfgarten/Mellestollen and Unterwellenborn from 1939 to 1942. This transported approximately 250,000 tonnes of ore annually. It continued to operate until ore mining ceased in 1969.

The site is now used by the Waldhotel Mellestollen. The operators, the Pröschold family, are aware of the history of this place and at some point had the idea of opening the mine as a show mine for their guests. This is how the Besucherbergwerk Mellestollen (Mellestollen visitor mine) came into being, which was actually built in the neighbouring Hopfgartenstollen. However, it is not freely accessible; as in most exhibition mines, it can only be visited with a guided tour. To our knowledge, visits are only possible on Open Monument Day in September. However, groups of 10 or more can make an appointment for a guided tour.