Bergbauschaustollen Pölfing-Brunn

Useful Information

Location:	Schulstraße 12, 8544 Pölfing-Brunn. (46.728296, 15.299725)
Open:	Reservation mandatory. [2025]
Fee:	Adults EUR 3.50, Children (5-15) EUR 1.50, Children (0-4) free. Groups (10+): Adults EUR 2.50. [2025]
Classification:	Coal Mine Replica Underground Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Bergbauschaustollen Pölfing-Brunn, Schulstraße 12, 8544 Pölfing-Brunn, Tel: +43-664-594-87-56, Tel: +43-3465-3000. E-mail: Ing. Franz Haindl, Tel: +43-67761-25-3492. E-mail: Marktgemeindeamt, Pölfing-Brunn: Tel: +43-3465-3000-0. E-mail: Karl Sommer, Tel: +43-664-59-48-756. 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

1870	The Bohemian miner Wenzel Radimsky opens the Brunner shiny coal mines.
1871-1873	Workers' housing estate "Kolonie" built based on the English model.
1976	The last mine, Pölfing-Bergla, closes.
1987	The cultural association and the market town of Pölfing-Brunn establish a show mine.
1988	Show mine opens.
2005	A school project leads to the creation of the main shaft memorial site.
2015	The exhibition gallery and memorial site are renovated.

Geology

Description

The Bergbauschaustollen Pölfing-Brunn (Pölfing-Brunn mining exhibition gallery) is a replica mine in a museum, which is located in a mining village. Mining of the coal deposits began in 1879. The Bohemian miner Wenzel Radimsky not only developed the Brunner Glanzkohlengruben coal mines, he also expanded them into one of the most modern coal mines in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. To do this, he needed workers, and so Pölfing-Brunn was built between 1871 and 1873 as a large workers' settlement based on the English model. At that time, this settlement was still called a colony and provided accommodation for 1,000 miners. Mining was successful for about a century. It was not until 1976 that the last mine, Pölfing-Bergla, closed.

A decade later, the cultural association and the market town of Pölfing-Brunn decided to build an exhibition mine in memory of the area's important industrial history. With the help of retired miners and an experienced foreman, a coal mine was recreated in the cellar vaults of the former factory school. The tunnel is both a replica of a mine tunnel and a museum that illustrates the hard work of the miners underground. Via a wooden ramp, visitors pass the small Barbara Chapel and enter the tunnel. In the dim light of the miner’s lamp, you can see mining and conveyor equipment, coal buckets and pins, and the heavy tools used for the work. The highlight is a simulation of an explosion with sound and light. There is also a showroom and a video room. An exhibition in the showroom with maps, exhibits, photos and documents provides information about the formation of coal and the history of the mines. In 2005, a school project to commemorate deceased miners led to the creation of the main shaft memorial. This memorial was renovated and redesigned in 2015, together with the exhibition tunnel, and converted into a dignified memorial.