Besucherbergwerk Schieferstollen Wilhelmslust

Useful Information

Location:	Grube Ecke, 57555 Mudersbach. Parkplatz Otto-Hellinghausen-Platz (Kirmesplatz) an der Ecke "Im Hüttenwald"/Brückenstraße. 600 m/10 Minuten Fußweg. (50.8221840, 7.9502717)
Open:	APR to OCT 1st Sat of month 14-17. [2026]
Fee:
Classification:	Slate Mine Geopark Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:	T=8 °C, H=90 %.
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Besucherbergwerk Schieferstollen Wilhelmslust, Grube Ecke, 57555 Mudersbach. Hans-Josef Söhngen, Tel: +49-2745-932471, E-mail: Ulrich Merzhäuser, Tel: +49-2745-1618, 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

1856	The Wilhelmslust slate mine has been approved by the Interessenwald.
2004	the Sauerländische Gebirgsverein Abt. Siegtal-Mudersbach e. V. (SGV) prepares the tunnel for tours.
2006	show mine opened to the public.

Geology

The slate was formed during the Devonian period, 350 to 400 Ma ago, through the deposition of very fine-grained clayey silt. Under the pressure of the sediments deposited on top of it, it solidified into claystone. During the subsequent orogenesis, the claystone layers were folded by lateral pressure. Tectonic movement fractured the clay-rich rocks, resulting in the formation of schist.

Description

The Besucherbergwerk Schieferstollen Wilhelmslust (Wilhelmslust Schieferstollen show mine) is situated in the Grube Ecke in Mudersbach. This is rather confusing, as one might assume that this is the name of a "Grube", i.e. a mine. In fact, it is the name of the street; you park at Otto-Hellinghausen-Platz and first follow the street Im Hüttenwald, then Grube Ecke to the end, before walking a further 200 metres or so to the tunnel entrance. The footpath is also called Grube Ecke and leads round the hill Hohe Ley to the actual Grube Ecke, which is situated by the Schützenhaus and TSV Glück-Auf Brachbach, on the eastern edge of the village of Brachbach. Firstly, it is important to know that ‘Ley’ means ‘stone’ in the Rhenish Slate Mountains, just like Lorelei, who sat on a rock. And whilst Brachbach is home to the Josefsglück Slate Tunnel show mine, the Ecke mine is in fact not accessible.

The guided tour through the slate tunnel also passes through two mining chambers, one of which is of impressive size. The visitor mine was developed from 2004 onwards by the Sauerland Mountaineering Association, Siegtal-Mudersbach Branch (SGV). The show mine opened in 2006.

The Wilhelmslust slate adit was approved by the ‘Interessenwald’ in 1856. An ‘Interessenwald’ was a cooperative form of communal forest ownership. The tunnel was dug by a master roofer from Mudersbach, who was evidently sourcing his own building materials in this way. He probably did not do this himself; he had employed miners. These miners drove the tunnel forward by hand; although the use of black powder was already widespread at that time, it was not used here. It is thought that it would have damaged the slate, meaning the roof slates would no longer have been watertight. Only around 10% to 20% of the rock extracted was suitable for slate slates; the rest was used for road construction and rubble walls.

Slate quarrying began here as early as the Middle Ages. The oldest surviving licence dates from 1717. Initially, this was carried out in quarries, i.e. as open-cast mining. The obvious disadvantage is that the slate near the surface can be damaged by weathering. For this reason, a switch was made to underground mining from 1850 onwards. A ministerial decree of 1860, which prohibited the use of thatch for roofing, marked the heyday of the roofing slate industry. Numerous slate quarries and adits were established, like this one in 1856.