Himmlisch Heer

Bergwerk Hallwangen

Useful Information

Location:	Am Bergwerk, 72280 Dornstetten. (48.489737, 8.503064)
Open:	MAY to OCT Tue 16, 1st+2nd Sun 14-17. [2024]
Fee:	Adults EUR 8, Children (6-16) EUR 5, Children (0-5) free, Students EUR 5, Family (2+2) EUR 20. Groups (12): Adults EUR 80, Children (6-16) EUR 50. [2024]
Classification:	Silver Mine Copper Mine Baryte Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	T=8 °C
Guided tours:	D=75 min, L=400 m, Max=12.
Photography:
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Tourist-Information Dornstetten, Tel: +49-7443-9620-30, Fax: +49-7443-9620-99. E-mail: Besucherbergwerk Himmlisch Heer, Förderkreis Historischer Bergbau Hallwangen e.V., Silberwaldstraße, 72280 Dornstetten-Hallwangen, Tel: +49-7443-962030, Fax: +49-7443-962099. 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

1498	Herzog Ulrich grants privileges to the silver and copper mines of his country.
1558	Herzog Christoph renews the privileges.
1564	mine closed down due to water ingress.
1723	beginning of silver and copper mining under the name Himmlisch Heer.
1726	closed due to water ingress.
1850	mining of barite.
1860	mine closed.
1908	mining of barite by the Irmgardglück company from Gotha.
1912	end of mining.
1955-1971	backfilled with excavated material.
1995	founding of the Förderkreis Historischer Bergbau Hallwangen e.V. (Society for the Promotion of Historic Mining Hallwangen).
1996	start of restoration work.
27-MAY-2000	show mine opened to the public.
2017	connection between the "Himmlisch Heer" and "Irmgardsglück" galleries opened to the public.

Geology

The Freudenstadt Graben is a 15 km long and 7 km wide graben structure that was formed in the Upper Miocene 25-10 million years ago. The trench has a fault zone on both sides where the interior sank downwards, one near Freudenstadt and one near Hallwangen. The resulting fissures were filled in again at about the same time by hydrothermal convection currents. They were mainly filled with quartz and barite, but sulphide ores were also deposited. The main vein is 1.5 to 2 m thick and almost vertical.

The main ore of the district is the pale ore, silver-rich, bismuth-bearing ores with varying antimony and arsenic contents, i.e. tetrahedrite. The most important minerals are tetrahedrite (Cu, Fe)₁₂Sb₄S₁₃, tennantite (Cu, Fe)₁₂AS₄S₁₃, and annivite (bismuth-bearing pale ore) Cu₃SbS₃+Bi. The minerals occurred nest- and case-wise and as narrow cords intergrown in the Ganges rock. Chalcopyrite CuFe₂ and emplectite Cu₂SBi₂S₃ also occurred in small quantities. Covellin CuS (copper indigo) occurred as a decomposition product of copper-bearing ores.

Economically uninteresting was the proportion of iron ores. There were the iron oxides limonite, goethite and haematite, as well as the carbonates malachite, azurite and siderite.

Description

The Bergwerk Hallwangen (Hallwangen mine) is a historic silver, copper and barite mine. The village of Hallwangen was first mentioned in a document in 1075, but without any mention of mining. In 1498, however, the mine already existed. It is mentioned in a document in which Herzog Ulrich grants privileges to the silver and copper mines of his country. In 1558 Herzog Christoph renewed the privileges. Around 1560, the mine was certified to have rich ore deposits, especially copper and silver. The information on the silver content corresponds to 1.25 g of silver per kg of ore. However, mining ended during the 30 Years' War, due to several water intrusions and, of course, the effects of the war.

Mining was later reactivated, between 1723 and 1726 yields of 3.1 g per kg of ore and 15 pounds of copper in a hundredweight of ore are mentioned. From 1850 to 1860 barite, previously considered waste rock, was mined and copper and silver ores were extracted as a by-product. It was used for the manufacture of white pigment, in the chemical industry and for the production of fireworks. According to the geologist Sandberger, the ore contained a proud 33.89% copper and 1.37% silver in 1891. Mining was resumed in 1910 and stopped for the last time in 1912, with up to 10 tonnes of barite being mined per day. Several attempts to restart it failed. After the attempts ended in 1954, work began in 1955 to backfill the mine with excavated building material. By 1971, the mine was backfilled.

In 1995, the newly founded Förderkreis Historischer Bergbau Hallwangen e.V. began to excavate the mine again. In May 2000, the Himmlisch Heer exhibition mine was opened. But the association works steadily on the mine, and so the connection between the Himmlisch Heer mine and Irmgardsglück was established. In 2017, the guided tour was extended to include Irmgardsglück. This gallery is located below Himmlisch Heer and the extension made the guide trail a 400 m long circular trail.