Schieferschaubergwerk Raumland


Useful Information

Location: At Raumland, near Bad Berleburg. In the Edertal, from Raumland follow L553 towards Frankenberg.
Open: APR to OCT Wed 15, 16, Sat 14, 15.
Groups after appointment.
[2010]
Fee: Adults EUR 2, Children EUR 1.
[2010]
Classification: MineSlate Mine
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: T=6 °C.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Schieferschaubergwerk Raumland, Im Edertal, 57319 Bad Berleburg.
Georg Dickel, Tel: +49-2751-51384.
Jutta Plaschke, Tel: +49-160-3510221.
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

1563 slate from Raumland first mentioned.
1850 start of underground mining.
1860 a ministerial order prohibits straw roofs.
1860 Grube "Delle" opened.
1923 Grube "Delle" closed.
1980 documentary "Schiefer in und um Raumland".
1983 show mine opened to the public.

Geology

The slate was formed about 350 to 400 Million years ago during the Middle Devon. It is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of clay, which was deposited slowly on the floor of a calm sea. Transported deeper and deeper by subsidence, under pressure and high temperature the clay was tranformed into rock. Slate is easy to split, which allows to produce thin plates, which are good to cover roofs. This slate is sedimentary, but it does not split along sedimantary layers. The rock was folded during the variszian orogeny, which created the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge (Rheinian Slate Mountains). The stress of the rock created a secondary weakness, which is used to produce the thin plates.

Description

For more than 400 years slate was mined in small village Raumland. At the heyday of slate mining, 450 men were working in 12 pits. The slate was sold all over Germany, and even abroad. One of the slate mines, called Grube "Delle" is now restored and open to the public. It shows the underground mining, the tools, and the technology.

Slate was quarried since the 16th century in open pits. Much later, around 1850, underground mining started. At first only slate for local needs was produced. Many roofs were still made of straw, which was less durable but much cheaper. But in 1850 a ministerial order prohibited straw, probably because of the danger of fire. Subsequent the slate mining boomed, and the heyday of mining with 450 miners working here, began.