Besucherstollen Oberes Schloß

Useful Information

Location:	Oberes Schloss 2 / Burgstraße, 57072 Siegen. (50.8755067, 8.0302445)
Open:	All year Tue-Sun, Hol 10-17. Closed 01-JAN, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Pentecost Saturday, 01-MAY, German Unity Day, 24-DEC, 25-DEC, 26-DEC, 31-DEC. [2026]
Fee:	Adults EUR 5, Children (0-18) free, Students (-26) EUR 2, Disabled EUR 2. Groups (10+): Adults EUR 4. Bunker Burgstraße 13: Adults EUR 8, Children (6-18) EUR 4. [2026]
Classification:	Replica Underground Mine
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:	L=150 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Joachim Stahl (1980): Bunker und Stollen für den Luftschutz im Raum Siegen Verlag die Wielandschmiede, Kreuztal 1980, S. 29 ff., S. 39.
Address:	Siegerlandmuseum im Oberen Schloss, Oberes Schloss 2 / Burgstraße, 57072 Siegen, Tel: +49-271-404-1930.
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

25-MAR-1905	inauguration of the Siegerland Museum.
08-JUL-1938	show mine opened on Westfalentag (Westphalia Day).

Geology

Description

Besucherstollen Oberes Schloß (Upper Castle show mine) is part of the Siegerlandmuseum (Siegerland Museum), which is located in the Oberen Schloss (Upper Castle) on the 307-metre-high Siegberg in the town of Siegen. As early as 1888, the city of Siegen acquired the Upper Castle from the Kingdom of Prussia for the “relatively modest” price of 30,400 marks. In 1905, it established the Siegerland Museum, which was essentially a local history museum. The official description was “to portray the essence of the Siegerland region in terms of history, culture and folklore”. By 1929, the exhibition had already occupied 35 rooms.

To this day, the museum remains a local history museum, but we have included it here because it is also a show mine. Of course, there was no mining beneath the castle, but in 1938 a show mine was established beneath the castle courtyard at a depth of 14 metres. A 150-metre-long tunnel was dug and fitted out with original equipment and machinery from a Siegerland ore mine. The show mine was opened on Westphalia Day in 1938. It forms part of the permanent exhibition and can be visited without a guided tour. However, guided tours are also available, including special tours such as the children’s tour Dwarf Magic Underground. This combines a visit to the exhibition mine with a cosy storytelling session.

There is a second “underground” attraction at the Siegerland Museum, though this has nothing to do with mining. This is the Bunker at Burgstraße 13, an above-ground bunker dating from the Second World War. The museum offers a public bunker tour once a month. You must register online via the museum’s booking portal and then collect and pay for your ticket at the ticket office. The tour also begins there.