Rammelsberg

Useful Information

Location:	Bergtal 19, 38640 Goslar. (51.890483, 10.419710)
Open:	APR to OCT daily 9-18. NOV to MAR daily 9-17. Closed 24-DEC, 31-DEC. [2023]
Fee:	Day Pass, Museum: Adults EUR 9, Children (4-17) EUR 4,50, Students EUR 6, Disabled EUR 6. Day Pass, Museum + 1 guided tour: Adults EUR 18, Children (4-17) EUR 11, Students EUR 14, Disabled EUR 14. Day Pass, Museum + 2 guided tours: Adults EUR 25, Children (4-17) EUR 14, Students EUR 21, Disabled EUR 21. Day Pass, Museum + 3 guided tours: Adults EUR 29,50, Children (4-17) EUR 16, Students EUR 25, Disabled EUR 25. [2023]
Classification:	Copper Mine Lead Mine Zinc Mine Gold Mine Silver Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Weltkulturerbe Rammelsberg, Museum & Besucherbergwerk, Bergtal 19, 38640 Goslar, Tel.: +49-5321-750-0, Fax: +49-5321-750-130 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

968	silver mining first mentioned in documents.
9th to 10th century	oldest dating of mining.
Before 1150	1600 m long Rathstiefster Stolln is built to drain the mines.
1271	oldest written record of the Rathstiefste Stolln.
1376	Mining accident in which more than 100 miners were buried by falling rock masses and lost their lives.
1556	described by Georgius Agricola in the eighth book of De Re Metallica Libri XII.
1797-1805	modernized by Johann Christoph Röder.
1906	electrification of the mine, operation of a power plant.
1920s	owned by Preussag and Braunschweig-GmbH.
1936	inclined elevator put into operation for transporting material for the ore processing plant.
1988	ore mine closed.
1989	developed to museum.
1992	inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
2014	inclined elevator is available for visitor rides after extensive restoration.

Geology

The ore deposits of the Rammelsberg formed as a result of the deposition of minerals by hot metal-bearing thermal waters on the sea floor during the Devonian. This kind of deposits is called synsedimentary-submarine-exhalative, today mostly named with the abbreviation Sedex. As a result, two large ore lenses formed at the bottom of the Devonian sea, which were folded and overturned during the Carboniferous period. As a result, the older ore layers lie on top.

The ores are polymetallic, lead-zinc ore, copper ore, sulfur ore, mélange ores, brown ore, gray ore, banderite, and kniest. The main minerals are galena, chalcopyrite, sphalerite (zinc blende), barite, pyrite, and vitriols. Of particular importance, however, was the high gold and silver content, on which the wealth of the city of Goslar in the Middle Ages was based. Both metals were directly minted into money, and filled the coffers of the sovereign.

Description

The Rammelsberg is a ridge south of Golslar. Branching off from the B82 bypass, a road leads into a valley and eventually to the many buildings of the closed mine. These include the ore washing plant, the tracks for the mine railroad, and many workshops and administrative buildings. The buildings not only house a museum, they are part of the museum themselves. However, some buildings have also been converted into event venues, cafés, restaurants, and even the clubhouse of the Harz Club, Goslar chapter. Seven different underground mine tours are offered, as well as guided hikes and museum tours. The entrance tickets are day tickets in combination with guided tours. One can choose between a museum ticket only and combos with up to three different underground guided tours. Thus, one can visit the guided tours one after the other and in between either visit the museum, or take a break in a restaurant.

Feuer und Wasser (Fire and water) is a guided tour through the Roeder-Stollen (Roeder adit), named after its creator, the chief miner Johann Christoph Roeder. The theme is the so-called Harzer Wasserkunst (lit: Harz water art), which was one of the few ways to pump out mine water before the invention of the steam engine. Water power was used for this purpose, in other words water wheels drove pumps that pumped up water from the deeper parts of the mine. Of course, it was important to have a drainage gallery through which the water could flow away, both the mine water that had been pumped up and the water which had driven the water wheels. The Roeder gallery is such a so-called adit or drainage gallery and leads, following the path of the water, to the enormous wooden water wheels. They were installed in a so-called Radstube (wheel room). So the theme is mining and drainage before the Industrial Revolution.

The guided tour Mit der Grubenbahn vor Ort (With the mine train on site) has as its theme mining in the 20th century. The participants board the mine train, and enter the gallery with the triple ringing of a bell as a warning signal. In keeping with the theme, the tour also visits the site where ore was mined before the mine closed. The mine guide explains the biting, drilling, blasting and loading of the ore rock, and finally the transport by mine trains to the surface. This tour impresses with the many mining machines that can be seen in operation. A special feature of this tour is also the so-called „Rolli-Mobil“, which has been converted for wheelchair users and thus enables their participation on the tour.

The guided tour Vom Erzbrocken zum Konzentrat (From Ore to Concentrate) deals with the further processing of the ore. This is therefore a guided tour of the above-ground facilities and begins with a ride in the inclined elevator, 40 meters up to the top of the plant. From here you follow downhill the path of the ore as it is processed. Rammelsberg has one of the last preserved ore processing plants in Germany. Moreover, it is still functional in large parts and will be presented in operation during the guided tour.

The Schicht am Schacht (shift at the shaft) is dedicated to the end of mining and the transformation into a mining museum and show mine. Copper, lead and zinc ores were mined continuously for more than 1,000 years. But in 1988 the last mine car left the mine on a regular shift. Here, the transformation process from mining to museum is explained at specific places above and below ground.

The name Perspektivwechsel (change of perspective) is literal, this is not a real guided tour, but a ride on the inclined elevator. In 30 minutes you are transported 100 m up the mountain by the inclined elevator and enjoy the view of the Harz Mountains and the mining facilities of the Rammelsberg. The inclined elevator for transporting material for the ore processing plant was put into operation in 1936. It was decommissioned with the mine in 1988. After extensive restoration, it has been available for visitor rides since 2014.

The tour Aus Klein wird Groß (From Small to Great) is a special tour for children, a family tour. Together with the family, the Roeder adit and the surface facilities are discovered. The special feature of the tour is a family game called "Tracing the Mine", in which the children learn about mysterious places and objects. Questions are expressly encouraged.

Another special tour is the Abenteuer Mittelalter (Adventure Middle Ages) tour, where participants use medieval miners clothes and lamps to experience the day’s work of medieval miners as authentically as possible. The Rathstiefste Stollen (Rathstiefste gallery) dates back to the 12th century and has traces of hammer and chisel everywhere. At the end, the participants are rewarded with a hearty miner snack. The tour requires endurance, as it lasts four hours. For the participation, not only the personal data, but also the clothing sizes are recorded. The groups are very small and the tours are not suitable for younger children.

The Feierabendführung (evening tour) is more on the cultural-historical or literary side. Many famous people, poets and thinkers have visited the Rammelsberg and the Harz over the centuries. Stories of trips to the mountains come from Hans-Christian Andersen, Goethe and many others.

Mining activity at Rammelsberg as early as the 3rd century is documented by finds of Rammelsberg ores in excavations in the southern Harz region. The mining is probably first documented in 968 in Widukind von Corveys Res gestae Saxonicae. There it is mentioned that Otto the Great in Saxonia venas argenti aperuit (opened silver veins in Saxony). However, since the Rammelsberg is not mentioned by name, this is the subject of an ongoing scientific debate.

The oldest find from Rammelsberg is a piece of leather dated to the 9th-10th century with C14. It was found in a crosscut of the Rathstiefsten adit and is probably much younger than the adit. The latter, in turn, is an adit with a water wheel. A special feature is certainly that mining was described in detail by Georgius Agricola in his book De Re Metallica Libri XII (Twelve Books on Mining and Metallurgy), published in 1556. The techniques used here were bleeding edge and, together with miners from the Harz, were exported worldwide.

The Rammelsberg was originally in imperial possession, and the reason why the Pfalz was moved from Werla to Goslar. From 1360, the town came into leasehold possession of the Rammelsberg mines. However, with the Riechenberg Treaty of 1552, the Dukes of Brunswick reclaimed ownership of the mines. Preussag AG Metall operated the mine in the 20th century until its closure in 1988. Around 27 million tons of ore are said to have been mined by the time of closure. The Rammelsberg museum and show mine are anchor points on the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH).