Dorotheastolln

Useful Information

Location:	Dorotheenstraße 8, 09456 Annaberg-Buchholz Cunersdorf im Süden von Annaberg. (50.5582458, 13.0018208)
Open:	All year Mon-Fri 9-14, last tour 14, Sat 10, 14. [2024]
Fee:	Kleiner Rundgang: Adults EUR 8, Children (6-16) EUR 6. Führung mit Bootsfahrt: Adults EUR 8, Children (6-16) EUR 6. Große Runde: Adults EUR 30. [2024]
Classification:	Silver Mine
Light:	LED
Dimension:	L=50 km.
Guided tours:	Kleiner Rundgang: L=1.100 m, D=1,5 h. Erweiterter Kleiner Rundgang: L=1.700 m, D=2 h. Führung mit Bootsfahrt: L=1.500 m, D=1,5 h.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	IG Altbergbau Dorotheastollen Cunersdorf e.V., Dorotheenstraße 8, 09456 Annaberg-Buchholz, OT Cunersdorf, Tel: 03733-66218. 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

1530	First silver mines in the Dorothea Stolln on the easternmost bank of the Sehma south of Annaberg.
1536/37	9000 kg of pure silver mined at the ‘Himmlisch Heer Stehenden’.
1853	The ‘Himmlisch Heer’ guide shaft is sunk.
1853	The mouth of the Dorothea adit and 25 metres of the adit are lined with quarry stone because the entrance area was constantly prone to collapsing.
1855	Large drift cross is permanently preserved with the installation of a quarry stone vault.
1870	‘Himmlisch Heer’ shaft completed.
1900	Water pipeline opened to supply the town of Buchholz with drinking water.
1946	Mining of uranium ore by Wismut on the Unbenannten Flachen.
1946	Water pipeline shut down.
1958	End of uranium mining.
1994	Show mine opened.
1999	Boat route established.
2018	Lighting converted to LED.

Geology

The Himmlisch Heer Stehende is, as the name suggests, a vertical hydrothermal vein containing mainly quartz, fluorite and barite, as well as silver ores. It extends over a certain distance in the course of which there were several mines. The Dorotheaflachen is, as the name suggests, a rather horizontal hydrothermal vein with similar contents. Silver was probably the most economically important, but the polymetallic ores contain many other metals, such as cobalt, nickel, copper and uranium bearing pitchblende. Fluorite was mined as a by-product for smelting, and mineral specimens were also sold.

Description

The Dorotheastoln was discovered by a small association and made accessible to the public through voluntary work. The guided tours are also run by the members of the association. They have been supported several times by the foundations of the Erzgebirgssparkasse, which helped to finance a new aluminium boat and LED lighting. The entire tunnel system is probably around 50 kilometres long. A large number of tunnels are located above and below the level of the Dorothea tunnel. The ‘Himmlisch Heer’ shaft was sunk in the second half of the 19th century.

The show mine is located in Dorotheenstraße in Cunersdorf, a suburb in the south of Annaberg-Buchholz. The tour begins in front of the mine in the Huthaus (mine building), where every visitor is given rubber boots, oilskins, a helmet and a headlamp. You can already see here that this is not a high-end show mine. Suitable footwear is strongly recommended. The tunnel is then travelled, about 350 m along the Dorothea Flachen to a crossroads, the Große Streckenkreuz (Big Crossing), the intersection between the Dorothea Flachen, the Dorothea Morgengang and other corridors. In 1855, a quarrystone vault was installed to permanently stabilize this important junction. From here, a number of different tour options are available.

The Kleiner Rundgang (Small Tour) leads to the left into the Dorothea Morgengang. On the right-hand side is the former Wismut SDAG explosives store, the youngest and largest part of the mine. There is also a somewhat larger room here which is used for celebrations and Mettenschichten, an underground miners meal which is traditionally held before Christmas. In other rooms, mining technology from old and new times is exhibited, some of which is in working order and is demonstrated. A 20 m long connecting corridor leads back to the Dorothea Morgengang and you return the same way.

There is also the Erweiterter Kleiner Rundgang (Extended Small Tour), which continues further along the Dorothea Morgengang at this point. You reach the Himmlisch Heer Stehende and can see a water pipe that supplied the town of Buchholz with drinking water from 1900 to 1946. The Himmlisch Heer Stehende is the most productive ore vein of the 16th century. In 1536/37, 9000 kg of pure silver were mined from this vein, and this was not an isolated event. Turn right, and after 80 metres the filling point and the Himmlisch Heer directional shaft, which was sunk between 1853 and 1870, are reached. It was equipped with a 20 HP steam engine for hoisting and dewatering. This point of the shaft is 110 metres below the surface, and the shaft goes a further 125 metres deeper. Here you are over 800 metres away from the mouth, so this tour requires a certain amount of stamina. The extended tour is not a guided tour in its own right; it is extended at the request of visitors and only if time and organisational constraints permit. The members of the association are pleased when visitors are actually interested, and so this extension is offered free of charge. We think so much commitment would be worth a small donation to the organisation.

The other main tour is the Führung mit Bootsfahrt (guided tour with boat trip). The passage from the Großes Streckenkreuz straight ahead is unlit, so you will need your headlamp here. After about 80 metres, a corridor, Crosscut 1, branches off to the right at a right angle, which leads to a dam after 120 metres. After the dam, the passage is filled with dammed water. Here, visitors change into a flatboat and are pulled through the passage by the guide on a line. This 125-metre-long underground boat trip is probably the highlight of the show mine. At the end, you get out and follow the crosscut for another 100 metres to its end. Here there is a spectacular formation of manganese and iron sinter, stalagmites that have grown over the centuries since the crosscut was created. You can admire the clearly visible ore and mineral veins at several points along the way. The visitors return on the same route.

Finally, there is the Große Runde (Grand Tour). This shows all the above parts of the mine and many more. The tour goes through much less comfortable parts of the mine, narrow and low corridors, requires stooping and, due to the length of 5 kilometres, some stamina. This tour is only available by appointment.