Kalkwerk Lengefeld

Useful Information

photography — Kalkwerk Lengefeld, Erzgebirge, Deutschland. Public Domain.

Location:	Kalkwerk 4A, 09514 Pockau-Lengefeld. (50.700809, 13.175079)
Open:	closed for renovation. [2023]
Fee:	closed for renovation. [2023]
Classification:	Limestone Quarries and Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Klaus Hoth, Frank Alder, Wolfgang Schilka, Torsten Heckler (2012): Lagerstätte Lengefeld/Erzgebirge In: Klaus Hoth, Norbert Krutský, Wolfgang Schilka: Marmore im Erzgebirge (= Bergbau in Sachsen. Bd. 16). Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie – Oberbergamt, Freiberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-9812792-2-1, S. 81–90. pdf Martin Preiß, Jane Ehrentrau (2011): Umsetzungsstudie Kalkwerk Lengefeld Festlegung und Definition der Welterbebereiche und Pufferzonen im Rahmen des Projekts Montanregion Erzgebirge. Veröffentlichungen des Fördervereins Montanregion Erzgebirge. Band 11. Saxonia, Freiberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-934409-53-8.
Address:	Kalkwerk Lengefeld, Kalkwerk 4A, 09514 Pockau-Lengefeld, Tel: +49-37367-2274. E-mail: Knappschaft Kalkwerk Lengefeld e. V., Postfach 28, 09512 Lengefeld, Tel: +49-37367-83966 E-mail: 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

1515	first written mention of Lengefeld limestone in the feudal charter of Elector Moritz to Heinrich von Guentherode.
1568-73	Lengefeld limestone is used for the construction of the Augustusburg Castle.
1853	construction of a lime kiln powered by hard coal.
1872	construction of the Hilke kiln.
1922	chimneys for coal firing added.
1925	underground limestone extraction begins.
1927	end of open-cast mining operations.
27-APR-1945	storage of Dresden art treasures underground.
MAY-1945	transportation of the artworks to the USSR.
1969	start of mining in the "Neues Lager".
1975	closing of the lime kilns, end of mining at the "Altes Lager".
1978	Restoration and preservation as a technical monument and museum.
07-OCT-1986	Opening as a technical monument and museum.
1995	Knappschaft Kalkwerk Lengefeld e. V. founded.

Geology

Actually, the limestone here is not limestone, it is dolomite marble. Chemically, of course, it is almost the same, but the other minerals in the limestone are much more significant. The limestone is very old, it was deposited between 530 and 540 Ma ago in the Keilberg group of the Lower Cambrian. About 50 to 90 m of limestone was deposited on feldspar-bearing muscovite schist. The limestone contains amphibolite lenses, garnet-bearing and quartzitic muscovite schist and intercalated quartzite schist beds. The sediments have been metamorphosed by Variscan mountain building, but also split into blocks. The five blocks have their own names, Altes Lager, Neues Lager, Tiefes Lager, Lößnitz Lager, and Weißer Ofen.

Description

The Kalkwerk Lengefeld (Lengefeld Limestone Quarry) is a special feature of the Ore Mountains with its large number of show mines and other mining relics. The main raw material used to be silver, later baryte and other gangue rocks, and during the Cold War uranium. But the resource of this mining museum is limestone. later is of course needed everywhere, but the occurrence of limestone in the Ore Mountains is a great exception. The mining of limestone began as early as the 16th century.

The museum is located on the B101 between Annaberg-Buchholz and Freiberg. A large quarry is located at the junction to Lauterbach and the quarry includes a miners building, guard building, winding shaft and winding tower II, blasting agent storage as well as mining machines and equipment. The limestone was crushed in the limestone mill and transported to the limestone kilns via connecting bridges. The limestone was burnt in four limestone kilns, three so-called Rumford kilns and one Hilke kiln. The fuel was supplied by the wood and coal store. Overall, it is an industrial complex and most of the buildings are accessible.

A special feature was the underground mining of the limestone. While limestone is important for many things, it is still a rock and nowhere near as valuable as an ore. Mining is complex and expensive and is only done when it is necessary and profitable. Here, a major factor was that underground mining was possible all year round, previously mining had stopped in winter.

The story of the end of the Second World War is also very unusual. Various mines can tell a similar story, and yet here it is something special. Due to the increasing bombing of the cities by the Allies, one of the questions was how to protect valuable art. So museums were cleared out everywhere and the works of art were stored in suitable mines. The movie Monument Men explained this particularly well a few years ago. And so underground mining was used to store Dresden's art treasures. In this case, however, the Soviet Monument Men turned up after the end of the war, the Trophäenkommission (trophy commission) cleared the depot completely and the art objects were shipped to the USSR. In the 1950s, they were partly returned to the GDR.