Ridnaun Schneeberg

Useful Information

Location:	Ridnaun. Motorway A22 Brenner, exit Vipiteno Sterzing. Follow signs to Jaufenpass and Bergbaumuseum. Turn right on road into Ridnaun Valley to the end of the road. (46.929050, 11.271360)
Open:	Ridnaun Compact: 14-APR to OCT Tue-Sun, Hol 10, 11:30, 13:30, 15:15. Mining Junior: 14-APR to OCT Wed, Fri, Sun 13:30. Adventure shift: MAY to SEP Tue-Sun 10, after appointment. Mining Experience: MAY to SEP Tue-Sun 7:30, after appointment. [2021]
Fee:	Ridnaun Compact: Adults EUR 10, Children (0-16) EUR 4, Students (-27) EUR 4, Seniors (65+) EUR 7, Family EUR 20. Mining Junior: Adults EUR 10, Children (0-16) EUR 7, Students (-27) EUR 7.
Classification:	Silver Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	T=8 °C.
Guided tours:	Ridnaun Compact: D=90 min. Mining Junior: D=2.5 h. Adventure shift: D=7 h, MinAge=6. Mining Experience: D=10 h, MinAge=6.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Landesmuseum Bergbau, Standort Ridnaun, Maiern 48, I-39040 Ridnaun, Tel: +39-0472-656364. 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

1985	mine closed.

Description

The location Ridnaun at the end of the road in the Ridnaun Valley is a unique monument to the industrial revolution. The mining museum has three locations at Ridnaun, the processing plant at Maiern (Ridnaun), the mine at Poschhaus, and further up the Schneeberg.

The first is located at the end of the road and easily accessible by car and public transport. It's the place where the ore was processed in a state-of-the-art ore processing plant which was built some 150 years ago. Huge crushers were breaking and crushing the ore and then the ore and the slag were separated in huge flotation pools. The ores were mined high up in the mountain and then transported to Maiern on the world’s largest above-ground conveyor and through the 6 km long Poschhaus Gallery diagonally through the mountain into the Passeier Valley. The permanent exhibition on the Maiern site is specialized on the local mining traditions. The collections include personal items and private photos from the miners and their families. They tell about the life as a miner in the 19th and 20th centuries. After the lost World War I the formerly Austrian area became Italian and so from the 1920s many miners came from the central Italian provinces. For these migrant workers from the south the main Alpine ridge was an alien world. The miners' homes at the end of the valley became a sort of ghetto, they had little contact to the German-speaking locals. Most of the workers returned home when the mine closed. The museum also has an exhibition about mine surveying, geological mapping, and a mineral collection with local ores and minerals.

The mine at Poschhaus at 2,000 m asl is accessible on guided tours, and reached by coach to the mine entrance. Visitors ride a mine railway for 1,000 m, which brings them into the mine to the ore deposits, where an adventurous tour of the gallery begins. This first section are mining galleries from the 1970s. Shafts lead to the Karlsstollen from 1700 which is also visited. The tour includes a 300 steps descent and several narrow passages.

But here the road ends, and the highest part of the mine is reached only by walking. The miners' settlement of St. Martin is located on the high plateau Schneeberg 2,355 m asl. It was abandoned when the mine closed in 1969, but many buildings still exist. There is a modern mountaineering lodge (Hütte, Rifugio) and nearby in the former Neue Schmiede (new smithy) is an exhibition. It is centered on the everyday life of the miners, illustrated by objects belonging to the former villagers, documents and mining tools. There are also educational trails across the slag heaps to sealed-off gallery mouths and heavy equipment from the last excavation phase, which was simply left behind.

There are two tourist tours. The Ridnaun Compact tour shows the ore processing plant in Maiern, the highlight is, that the machinery is set to work during the tour. There is also a show gallery, where the development of ore mining methods is demonstrated. It also includes the remains of the ore conveyor system outside. The Mining Junior is an interactive tour for families with children and school groups. Participants search ore using sledgehammers and picks, hoes, shovels and sieves in the gallery, on the ore heap and in the pond.

And then there are two full day tours which are quite strenuous and offered only after appointment. The Adventure Shift includes the ore processing plant in Maiern and the Poschhaus mine. The Mining Experience is the longest tour and includes a two-hour hike from Poschhaus along old miners’ trails and transport routes up to the Schneeberg Pass. Here the miners’ settlement on the Schneeberg is explored. Back at Poschhaus this mine is also visited, as on the Adventure Shift. This last tour takes 10 hours and requires physical fitness and the ability to hike a full day in the mountains. It is recommended only for people who actually do mountaineering regularly. Both tours are offered only during summer depending on the actual snow situation and the weather.