Mining Calendar 2019 – Saxon Mining

English translation of the original 2019 introduction. References to the present day refer to its year of publication.

Saxon Mining

The Saxon Mining Calendar 2019 once again takes the viewer on a journey through Saxony’s mining history, presenting its many facets through contemporary and HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS. Ore mining aimed to extract metals, among which silver played an important role as a metal for coinage. Early Saxon issues included thin silver COINS struck on one side only: bracteates.

Numerous TRACES OF THE MINERS’ WORK can still be found underground. The seemingly endless mine workings of the Erzgebirge often reveal the regular marks left by hammer-and-chisel work, known as Prunen. They can be discovered in adits and levels as well as in extensive STOPES, which are only rarely accessible.

Mine workings and SHAFTS were often provided with permanent SUPPORT. Timber and dressed stone were used, followed later by concrete. Natural-stone support is particularly varied, including gneiss and sandstone.

Mine SURVEYING was an important task. It provided direction when driving workings underground and also formed the basis of mining PLANS. Boundaries measured by the mine surveyor often had significance under mining law. They were marked with INSCRIPTIONS or inserted tablets and shown on mine plans.

A wide range of mining DOCUMENTS has survived, including mine files, reports and mining accounts. Mining distribution statements were particularly important. They provided binding information on whether, and in what amount, a dividend or an advance could be paid.

Mining in the Erzgebirge would not have been possible without a suitable water-management system. Water supplied energy for ORE-PROCESSING PLANTS, hammer mills and smelting works. It was diverted from rivers and streams and conveyed through ARTIFICIAL CHANNELS and WATER TUNNELS to the water-powered machinery. Water stored in MINING RESERVOIRS helped during periods of low water.

The enormous water-powered machines installed underground required spacious MACHINERY CHAMBERS, such as wheel chambers containing mining MACHINERY, including pumping wheels and reversible waterwheels. Water used underground flowed through ADITS and their PORTALS into the receiving watercourses.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE were of fundamental importance as conditions in the mining industry continued to develop. Active mining was also always linked to scientific questions in geology, MINERALOGY and the study of mineral deposits.

The mining industry, present throughout the Erzgebirge, also left its mark on religious and secular buildings and on numerous WORKS OF ART. Preserving MINING TRADITIONS remains highly valued in this region.