Drei Kronen & Ehrt
Entrance of the Upper Mill Valley Gallery (Oberen Mühlentalstollen)
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Elbingerode (Harz) |
| Production | |
| Products | calcite |
| History | |
| Opened | 1530 |
| Active | Grube Himmelsfürst, Grube Einheit |
| Closed | 31 July 1990 |
| Owner | |
| Company | VEB Bergbau- und Hüttenkombinat Freiberg |
Drei Kronen & Ehrt is a former mine in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. It is located in the parish of Elbingerode in the county of Harz (Saxony-Anhalt). The mine extracted pyrite. Since 1992 it has been used, albeit not continuously, as a visitor mine.
The mine lies in the Lower Harz mountains between Elbingerode and Rübeland (both villages in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken) on the B 27 federal road. It is located on the northeastern flank of the Bodenberg hill (491.1 m above NN) at an elevation of about 445 m above NN. North of the road, in the direction of the Galgenberg, is the limestone opencast mine of Fels-Werke. The Rübeland Railway runs past the site, parallel to the B 27, from which an industrial siding branches into Fels-Werke.
In the area around the present-day iron ore was mined in earlier times. A Grube Himmelsfürst was first mentioned in 1530 in the records. In the immediate vicinity of the present day visitor mine the Großer Graben, an opencast mine, was mentioned for the first time in 1582. By the mid-19th century mining activity had reached a depth of about 40 metres. The hitherto natural drainage was no longer possible at this depth, so that water had to be pumped out with hand pumps. From 1867 to 1871 the Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode had the so-called Gräflichen Stollen ("Comital Adit") built to drain the water. Its name was changed in 1890 after the elevation of the count to a prince into the Fürstlicher Stollen ("Princely Adit"). In driving the adit a hitherto unknown deposit of pyrite was discovered that, initially, was not mined. In order to be able to transport the iron ore from the Großer Graben better, a second gallery was built from 1887 to 1889 seven metres above the Fürstlicher Stollen; this was the Oberer Mühlentalstollen. It ran to the deepest point of the open mine.
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Wikipedia