Vestenburger Stollen

Irrgänger Stolln


Useful Information

Location: Parkweg 17, 08280 Aue.
(50.582841, 12.704007)
Open: Vestenburger Stollen: Only by appointment.
Stadtmuseum Aue: All year Tue-Fri 10-18, Sat 10-16:30, Sun 12-16:30.
[2024]
Fee: Stadtmuseum Aue: Adults EUR 1, Children (0-18) EUR 0.50, Students EUR 0.50, Disabled 0.50, Unemployed EUR 0.50.
[2024]
Classification: MineTin Mine
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours: D=60 min, L=600 m.
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Besucherbergwerk Vestenburger Stolln am Heidelsberg, Parkweg 17, 08280 Aue, Cell: +49-172-7708444. info@bergbauverein-aue.de
Voranmeldung: Herr Schwarczenberger, Cell: +49-172-77-08-44-4.
Herr Sieg, Cell: +49-160-76-06-47-6.
Herr Weinert, Cell: +49-162-15-99-26-5.
Stadtmuseum Aue, Bergfreiheit 1, 08280 Aue, Tel: +49-3771-23654. info@stadtmuseum-aue.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

1661 the Saxon chief forester and personal hunter Georg Friedrich Rachals has a beer cellar built on the slope of the Heidelsberg.
1665 the Tiefer Vestenburger Stolln is started.
1707 Christianus-Erbstolln started.
1710 Oberer Vestenburger Stolln reaches the Irrgang mine.
1765 mining ceases in the Segen Gottes Grube.
1794 end of mining in the Vestenburger oder Irrgänger Stolln.
1810 mining ceases mostly.
1834 tin mining in Aue ends with the closure of the last mine.
1973 on the initiative of local history enthusiasts, a mining museum is opened at Bergfreiheit on the occasion of Aue's 800th anniversary.
1993 beginning of the clearing works.
1995 Verein Historischer Bergbauverein Aue e.V. (Aue Historical Mining Association) is founded.

Geology

Description

The Oberer Vestenburger Stollen (Upper Vestenburg Adit) was excavated over a length of 200 metres in the early 1990s, developed and opened to the public as a visitor mine shortly afterwards. A Huthaus (Mine House) was built above the mouth of the tunnel and a miners' hall with a miner's parlour and a cave was built nearby. This work was carried out by the Historische Bergbauverein Aue e.V., which also manages the show mine. The show mine is owned by the municipality of Aue-Bad Schlema.

This mine started out as a beer cellar. In 1661, the Saxon chief forester and personal hunter Georg Friedrich Rachals had a beer cellar built on the slope of the Heidelsberg. This is also the reason why this gallery is so large: it was not intended as a mine, but for storing beer barrels. To the surprise of the miners, however, an ore vein with a rich tin deposit was opened up. In the flowery language of the miners, this was the reason that the "Auer Berggeschrei weithin erscholl" ("Auer Berggeschrei resounded far and wide"). In other words, there was a (small) gold rush, word of the tin discovery spread, and miners from near and far moved to the Heidelsberg and a miners' settlement was established. In the period that followed, the Heidelsberg was characterized by lively mining activity that lasted until around 1810. There were once a total of 240 shafts, trenches and tunnels on the Heidelsberg. The first decades were the most productive, later the yield declined significantly.

The show mine is in the Vestenburger Stolln, which is also known as the Irrgänger Stolln. The name probably goes back to the well-known chorale by Martin Luther, "Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("A Mighty Fortress is Our God"). The second name, Irrgänger Stolln, is probably the result of a misjudgement; presumably the mined passage was incorrectly categorized. In any case, it is about the nearby Irrgang mine, the tunnel leads to this mine and drains it, hence it was named "tunnel to Irrgang mine" or short Irrgänger Stolln. The gallery is stable and relatively easy to navigate, which is why it was chosen as a show mine. The mine consists of several tunnels; in addition to the Upper Vestenburger Stolln, there was also the Deep Vestenburger Stolln and the Christianus-Erbstolln.

The Segen Gottes Fundgrube was granted as early as 1661, during the Berggeschrei, and the Vestenburg Tunnel was added in 1668, but this seems to have been more of a financial investment. Perhaps the owner first had to raise the necessary money for mining. The first excavation was made in 1672, and in the same year the Oberer Vestenburger Stolln was also lent. This tunnel was driven 80 metres, but when no tin ore was found, the tunnel was closed and kept inactive. This meant that the things prescribed by mining law were done so that the right to mine the tunnel was preserved, although it was not currently worked. This was probably a good decision, as in 1702 an adit was needed for the drainage of the deep parts of the Irrgang mine, and for this reason the Vestenburger Stolln was elongated. After a further 114 metres, the Irrgang wing was begun in 1706. In 1708, already collapsed parts of the Irrgang Mine were reached, and in 1710 the deepest part of the mine was reached.

An adit was an essential infrastructure, and in the Middle Ages an investment of several generations of labour. The extremely high investment risk was offset by the legal obligation of all drained mines to give the owner of the gallery 10 % of their yield. This payment was referred to as "Stollenzehnter" (adit tenth), or "Stollenneunter" (adit ninth), because the recipient himself had to pay 10 % to the state, leaving him with only 9 %. This levy was not paid in money but in ore, in this case tin ore. However, there were constant disputes between Segen Gottes and Irrgang over the amount of the levy, and in 1714 they agreed on a one-off levy of two hundredweights of tin. Irrgang gained even more from the tunnel than just the drainage, the mine also used the tunnel as a transport route for the mined ore.

However, the mining of Segen Gottes continued and was soon below the level of the Vestenburger Stolln, so that it could no longer be used for drainage. The Tiefe Vestenburger Stolln was opened already in 1665, officially, in the documents, to mine tin ore. However, this deep tunnel had a number of significant features: it could be used for drainage, as second access to the ore it created natural weathering, and it also provided a second escape route in an emergency. In 1707, the Christianus-Erbstolln was opened, which also yielded rich ore, and in 1751 the mines were reached and drained. However, mining ceased as early as 1765.

Mining was reopened 10 years later, but the yield in this second phase was very low. Mining in the Vestenburger or Irrgänger Stolln ended in 1794. In 1804, the Christianus Stolln was leased for the last time, by 1810 most mines were closed, and tin mining in Aue finally ended in 1834.

The association has rebuilt two buildings, the Huthaus above the entrance to the mine and the Knappschaftssaal (miners' hall) with the Steigerstube and the Kaue next door. Although the buildings are new, they were constructed from wood according to historical models. They are used for various events organized by the association, are rented out for events and also serve as a museum and starting point for guided tours of the show mine. Every year at Christmas, a miners vesper is held. Warm clothing and sturdy shoes are required for the guided tours, protective clothing, helmet and light are provided. The mine railway in front of the show mine with a double locomotive from the Wismut mine is a gift from the mountain troops who were once stationed in Schneeberg. However, it dates from a much later mining period in the middle of the 20th century.

Just a few metres away at Bergfreiheit road, the Stadtmuseum Aue (Aue town museum) is located in a former, structurally altered Huthaus at the foot of the Heidelsberg. The building was renovated by the Aue branch of SDAG Wismut and presented to the town as an anniversary gift on the occasion of Aue's 800th anniversary. The exhibition documents the working and living conditions of the miners. It also has a show mine replica, which is located directly in the museum building. Originally planned as a beer cellar, it was excavated in 1973 by SDAG Wismut for the museum and also contains mining technology from the 20th century. In other words, the tunnel may not be a real mine, but it is still underground. Originally the museum was called Traditionsstätte Erzbergbau and was a mining museum, but since 1990 it has been a town museum which also documents other aspects of the town's history.