Musée de la Mine et des Techniques Minière de Giromagny

Useful Information

Location:	Place des Commandos d'Afrique, 90200 Giromagny. (47.743703, 6.824972)
Open:	closed. [2023]
Fee:	closed. [2023]
Classification:
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Musée de la Mine et des Techniques Minière, Place des Commandos d'Afrique, 90200 Giromagny, Tel: +33-384-29-09-00.
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History

1987	first room inaugurated in Giromagny by the mayor at the time, Jean Singer.

Geology

In the 18th century, Giromagny sandstone was renowned because it was composed of white quartz and fine-grained black amphibole, which gives an iron gray color. Resources in the area were the Stéphanian sub-Vosgian coal basin, which extends from Bouhans-lès-Lure to Romagny, and the deposits of metallic ores in gangues in the sandstone.

Description

The Musée de la Mine et des Techniques Minière (Museum of Mining and Mining Techniques) was located in the commune Giromagny. It was created in 1987, but unfortunately it was closed in 2012 as the building no longer exists, the commune built a new cultural center and abandoned the museum. Unfortunately, there was no immediate solution, and so the spectacular models of the museum are currently in storage. As they have been in storage for a decade now, there is not much hope for a timely reopening. As the museum is actually still listed on the internet, we decide to create this page to make one thing clear: there is no museum.

The museum is basically the result of a book written by François Liebelin named Mines et Mineurs du Rosemont. The groupe départemental d’études archéologiques (GDEA) was doing archaeological excavations in the mines of the area. Involved were beneath the president Michel Rillot two amateur archaeologists, Denis Zeller and Jacques Thomas. In collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, they excavated the mines of Rosemont. Some of their findings became the basement of the exhibition. Colette Zeller, the wife of Denis Zeller, was president of the cultural center, and supported the project. They reconstructed the ancient mining technology and built wooden models of the mining technology, especially for the pumping of water out of the mine. Beneath the archaeological remains, the models of water wheels powering a system of pumps is the main sight of the exhibition.

The village had numerous mines for the exploitation of silver, lead, and copper ores. During the Middle Ages, the miners originated from Saxony, Bavaria, or Tyrol and did not speak French. As a result, a new parish was created in 1569 and attached to the diocese of Besançon. The mines were first operated by the Habsburgs, then the Lords of Rosemont. After a decline during the 30 Years War Cardinal de Mazarin became the owner of the Giromagny mines in 1648. Nevertheless, the mining ended and the village lost its economic backbone. It was later replaced by textile industry.