Besucherbergwerk Ypsilanta

Useful Information

Location:	35688 Dillenburg. From Oberscheld towards Eisemroth, turn left at the end of the village towards the Waldschwimmbad, then turn right. Signposted. (50.7419306, 8.3699005)
Open:	APR to OCT 1st Sun 14-17. [2025]
Fee:	free, donations welcome. [2025]
Classification:	Iron Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	T=10-12 °C.
Guided tours:	L=280 m.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Charlotte Redler, Heiner Flick, Joachim Hartmann, Dieter Nesbor, Holger Adelmann (2021): Grube Ypsilanta bei Oberscheld - die Geologie im Besucherstollen Geologisches Jahrbuch Hessen, 140, pp 151-165, 20 Abb., Wiesbaden 2021. pdf R. Georg, R. Haus, K. Porezag (1985): Eisenerzbergbau in Hessen Förderverein Besucherbergwerk Fortuna, Wetzlar 1985, ISBN 3-925619-00-3 U. Thewalt, U. Klusmann (2019): Exkursion 5 und 2, 8. u. 7.9.2019: Kupfer- und Eisenerzbergbau Dillgebiet Aufschluss, Aktuell, Jg.69, H.6, S.15-16.
Address:	Bergbau- und Feldbahnverein Schelderwald e.V., Hans-König-Weg 1, 35688 Dillenburg-Oberscheld, Tel: +49-2771-23681. E-mail: Hartmann, Tel: +49-2771-21193.
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

1839	Ypsilanta mining district awarded to Ludwig Seibel from Oberscheld on iron ore.
31-MAR-1873	registered to the company J. C. Grün.
1885	Shafts I and II sunk.
1885	operations cease due to water ingress.
1886	Schacht II was sunk to a depth of 18 metres and the water was pumped out.
31-MAY-1886	operations cease again.
1904	sinking of a new machine shaft.
1905	engine and boiler house built and winding machine installed.
1906	shaft 146 m deep.
1907	adit completed.
1909	low ore prices and lack of sales lead to closure.
1934	closed for good.
1990	the association decides to excavate the gallery and make it accessible to the public.
1992	opened as a show mine.

Geology

The Lahn-Dill region is part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. The mountain ranges around the Scheldt Valley contain the largest iron ore deposits in the Lahn-Dill region. The ore mined was red ironstone or haematite. In addition to haematite, there is also goethite and limonite.

The mine has outcrops of pillow lavas, followed by volcanic flow lavas after a bend in the tunnel. The flow lavas have internal shear zones with conspicuous horizontal slickensides. These metabasaltic lavas are part of the Lower Carboniferous Deckdiabas Formation. They end at a fault, followed by rock from the Dillenburg Formation from the Frasnian, followed by volcanic sediments from the Givetian Diabase-Schalstein Formation. The Dillenburg Formation consists of silicate red shales enclosing a small iron ore vein and several tuff bands.

The walls of the tunnel are covered with calcite sinter, which was precipitated by seepage water from crevices, along with small stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Calcite also covers pebbles in concentric shells, which were precipitated from flowing water in the drainage channels along the walls and underwater in a basin at the end of the tunnel.

Description

The Besucherbergwerk Ypsilanta (Ypsilanta Show Mine) is the adit of a disused iron ore mine. The beautifully restored entrance is particularly beautiful. The 140-metre-long gallery is used as a mining museum, with demonstrations of lighting and gear, as well as the conditions under which miners had to work underground at that time. The exhibition shows the typical tools used by the miners and a collection of different ores. The visitor gallery is a GeoPunkt of the Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus Geopark.

The show mine is run by the Bergbau-und Feldbahnverein Schelderwald e.V. (Schelderwald mining and light railway association). As the name suggests, the association has various other interests, all of which relate to local mining. The association offers guided mining history walks in the Schelderwald. The association’s light railways are located at the Altes Stellwerk (old switch tower) of the former blast furnace in Dillenburg-Oberscheld. These are narrow-gauge railways that were used above and below ground during mining operations. On a section of the old railway embankment of the former Scheldetal railway, they are building a light railway line that will be used for trips. The clubhouse is also located in the Altes Stellwerk.

Another object they look after is the mining bunker in Dillenburg-Niederscheld. This tunnel was driven into the mountain in 1943 as an air-raid shelter for the approximately 400 employees of the Schelderhütte. The inhabitants of Niederscheld also sought refuge here, so that at times 800 people stayed here day and night, sitting on primitive benches. By March 1945, the village had been almost completely destroyed, but thanks to the tunnel, only 40 people died. The entrance was bricked up in 1948 and reopened by the association in 2005. It now houses a mining museum and an exhibition on air raids and the destruction of Niederscheld.

The Ypsilanta mine field was opened in 1839 and iron ore was mined there with reasonable success for around 60 years. This was also due to the Industrial Revolution and the associated demand for iron. However, towards the end of the 19th century, there were sales difficulties on the one hand, and on the other hand, the ore above the valley floor had been mined and there were several instances of water ingress during mining below the valley floor. The mine had to be closed several times and drainage became increasingly costly. Around 1900, two water shafts were sunk in quick succession, and by July 1906 the shaft was 146 metres deep. A new machine and boiler house contained a hoisting machine and a steam pump with a capacity of 1,000 litres per minute. However, this was short-lived, as low ore prices and a lack of sales led to its closure again in 1909. Nevertheless, the mine remained in operation until 1934, when it was finally closed. This is particularly curious, as during this period the Nazis were actually promoting local mining on a massive scale in order to become independent of imports.