Museum für Bergbau und Stadtgeschichte Obernkirchen

Useful Information

Location:	Am Kirchplatz 5, 31683 Obernkirchen. (52.270368, 9.127949)
Open:	All year Wed, Sun 15-18. [2026]
Fee:	free. [2026]
Classification:	Coal Mine
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Thomas Krassmann (nY): Materialien zur Geologie und zum Bergbau des Schaumburger Landes, untertage.com / GAG. online
Address:	Museum für Bergbau und Stadtgeschichte Obernkirchen, Am Kirchplatz 5, 31683 Obernkirchen, Tel: +49-5724-9716000. 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

14. Jahrhundert	The first coal mining around Obernkirchen.
1757-1769	The heyday of coal mining.
1900	Modernisation of the mining.
1940	PREUSSAG AG is the only coal-mining company in Schaumburg and Deister-Barsinghausen.
1952-1956	Schacht Lüdersfeld sunk to access the coal deposits in the central part of the Schaumburg Basin.
28-MAR-1960	PREUSSAG AG decided to close all mines and operational units in the Schaumburg Basin.

Geology

The Schaumburger Mulde (Schaumburg Basin) is, as the name suggests, a geological basin filled with sedimentary rocks from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous periods. This basin was formed by salt tectonics, which lifted the two wings of the basin – the Bückeberge in the south and the Rehburger Berge in the north – upwards. Within the basin, at the transition from the Upper Jurassic to the Lower Cretaceous, lie the Wealden strata, consisting of sandstones and clay shales with occasional coal seams interbedded within them. In this area, the Middle Wealden has two coal seams, each 20 cm thick, and contains the Obernkirchen Sandstone. The Lower Wealden consists of shaly clays with sandstone; in the upper part, the main coal seam is usually about 0.5 m thick, alongside one or two smaller coal seams.

Description

The Museum für Bergbau und Stadtgeschichte (Museum of Mining and Local History) is one of those places that has many different names, yet the name is actually so generic that there is a significant risk of confusion with other places. This museum is referred to as the Museum of Mining and Local History, Mining and Town Museum, or Obernkirchen Mining and Local History Museum. Including the name of the town of Obernkirchen is a good idea to reduce the risk of confusion. The museum is not a show mine; it is a mining museum housed in the classical-style old school building on the church square. The permanent exhibition focuses on 500 years of coal mining in Obernkirchen, mining operations including a briquette factory, the Liethstollen mining area and a brickworks, two bottle glassworks, and the world-famous sandstone quarries on the Bückeberg. It is therefore a museum dedicated to the history and various forms of mining and the associated processing industries in the Schaumburg region. However, coal mining is the main focus. The coal was processed in briquette factories and served as a fuel source for glassworks and the brickworks. The Obernkirchen sandstone is a building stone that has been quarried in the sandstone quarries on the Bückeberg for well over a thousand years.<\p class="indentedText"> Stone-carving workshops sprang up next to the quarry to process this stone further.<\p class="indentedText"> The results can be admired in the lapidarium in the entrance area.<\p class="indentedText">

In addition, the museum is also a traditional local history museum, featuring an exhibition on the town’s history and a counter-style pharmacy. The privileged pharmacy was established in 1760 with the permission of the Hessian Landgrave Friedrich II It has been almost entirely preserved, complete with raw materials (simplicia) and ready-made mixtures (composita) for preparing the prescriptions. The tools used, such as mortars, hand scales, pill boards and ointment pots, are also on display. In addition, the museum has other sites, such as the technical monument Bremsschacht 7, the Bornemann Locksmith’s Workshop founded in 1830, the Brockmann family’s Bürgergarten, and the old watermill on the Aue in Vehlen. These are more or less freely accessible and there are signs with explanations.

The museum is well worth a visit and explains the local geology, mining and history of the region. It is run by the Kulturfenster Obernkirchen e.V. association. However, the museum and the building belong to the town of Obernkirchen.