Mining at the Rammelsberg 300 years older than previously assumed

The mining history of the Harz needs to be rewritten: the mining activities at the
Rammelsberg Ore Mine go back around 300 years further than has been scientifically
assumed up to now. This and other exciting research results were announced in a press
conference at the World Cultural Heritage Rammelsberg on 3rd June 2021 by a research team
led by Dr. Katharina Malek from the Office for Mining Archaeology of the State Office for
Historic Monuments of Lower Saxony. The occasion marked the conclusion of the project
„Historic Mining 3D. An interdisciplinary project for researching the historic mining heritage in
the Harz“.

This sensation for mining history was an unexpected discovery during the project, as Malek
and her colleague Georg Drechsler reported in their presentation. Their work was mainly
aimed at looking for metal ore, with the intention of investigating it further. Shortly before
the completion of the project they discovered that a shaft that had been thought to be
blocked was in fact accessible. Malek reported: „We were nervous because it immediately
became clear that the mine workings must be an extremely old area that no one had entered
for centuries.“ It was not only the form and appearance of the passage that helped in
determining its age. Drechsler got goose bumps when he suddenly discovered a piece of
leather: „The situation underground made it look like a working area that the miners had left
just a short time ago. The piece of leather had been casually discarded in an alcove. For me it
was as if the past and the present had melted together at this moment.“ With the help of this
find, the area of the mine could be dated to the 9th/10th century, thereby providing the
oldest direct archaeological evidence of mining in the Rammelsberg. In other words: this is the oldest area of a mediaeval mine in Germany that is still accessible today. This has farreaching consequences for the Rammelsberg. The well-known „Rathstiefste Stollen“, which
up to now could only be dated to the 13th century on the basis of written sources, was
already regarded as one of the oldest water drainage galleries in Europe that is still accessible.
The newly discovered system of passages was constructed by tunnelling sideways from the
Rathstiefste Stollen. This means that the Rathstiefste Stollen must be older than the previous
scientific evidence suggested. At the same time, the newly discovered areas provide an
insight into the working methods of the old miners. They demonstrate that there were
particular conventions when tunnelling new passages in the search for ore.
Gerhard Lenz (General Manager of the World Cultural Heritage Rammelsberg and Director of
the Foundation for UNESCO World Heritage in the Harz), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Busch
(Working Group on Geo-Information for Mine Surveying, Institute of Geo-Engineering at
Clausthal University of Technology) and Dr. Henning Haßmann (State Archaeologist, State
Office for Historic Monuments of Lower Saxony) first introduced the project and its context.
Lenz emphasized the relevance of the new discoveries: „Punctually for the UNESCO World
Heritage Day 2021 we are able to tell the world that our mutual heritage at the Rammelsberg
is even richer as a time store than was previously thought. We are therefore pleased to
rewrite the history books for this historic place on the conclusion of this project.“
Other areas of the research project also brought important new information to the surface.
Dr. Astrid Schmidt-Händel and Dr. Hans-Georg Dettmer – both from the World Cultural
Heritage Rammelsberg – were able to use historic documents (mediaeval certificates, letters
and invoices) to show that the use of various technical machines at the Rammelsberg started
significantly earlier than was previously assumed. As an example they mentioned
bi-directional water wheels, which were already in operation in the mine in the second half of
the 15th century and not first in the 16th century. They were used to lift seepage water out of
the lower areas of the mine. Correspondingly, the Herzberger Teich pond, which provided
water to drive the underground water wheels, can be assumed to be much older than the
previously stated year of construction 1561.
The evaluation of modern era written sources also made it possible to create a „biography“
for one of the parts of the mine studied, the Upper Wheel Chamber. It was constructed in the
middle of the 17th century and, together with other installations, was used until the
beginning of the 19th century to pump water from the mine out of the mountain. Various
modifications and extensions could be shown to have taken place such as the installation and
repair of the water wheels, and even the names of the responsible personnel are recorded.
The things that happened in this part of the mine, including occasional damage such as
broken components, provide a general insight into the day-to-day operations at the
Rammelsberg. The newly gained information changes current understanding of historic
mining practices.

Dr. Tanja Schäfer and Wilhelm Hannemann from the Working Group on Geo-Information for
Mine Surveying of the Institute of Geo-Engineering at Clausthal University of Technology were
particularly concerned with 3D models. The layout of the Rammelsberg Mine in its current
state was documented virtually using modern technology and thereby made accessible at any
time. For the 3D modelling alone they used around 50,000 photos and more than 1.5 hours of video material from which individual pictures were created. The intricate historic models of
traditional mining technology were given a new, even extended, comprehensibility by turning
and rotating them on the computer. To do this, various methods of three-dimensional
compilation such as the structure from motion procedure and laser scanning were combined
to achieve the optimal depiction of each of the models.
The research project „Historic Mining 3D. An interdisciplinary project for researching the
historic mining heritage in the Harz“ was carried out by the Office for Mining Archaeology of
the State Office for Historic Monuments of Lower Saxony, World Cultural Heritage
Rammelsberg and the Working Group on Geo-Information for Mine Surveying of the Institute
of Geo-Engineering at Clausthal University of Technology. Further partners were the
Foundation for UNESCO World Heritage in the Harz as well as the company Bergbau Goslar
GmbH. The project, which started in March 2018, was fully financed by the Federal Ministry
of Education and Research (BMBF) with around half a million euros. It ended on 31st May
2021.

As the research team emphasized, the results were only possible through the interaction of
the three disciplines: photogrammetry with 3D modelling, history and mining archaeology.
The central aim of the project focused on two aspects: firstly, the underground areas of the
Rammelsberg were recorded three-dimensionally and were researched historically and in
terms of mining archaeology. Secondly, mining models from the 18th century in the collection
of the Upper Harz Mining Museum in Clausthal-Zellerfeld were digitalized, animated and put
into their historic context. The result is a collection of extremely detailed digital data that is so
far unique and can be used for scientific comparisons with historic mining objects in other
regions worldwide and as a focus for research. The compiled data can also be used in
museums, for example for virtual mine tours, and also for teaching in universities.
The research project thereby brought new information to the surface regarding things which
were supposedly already well-known. But it also clearly showed how many scientific treasures
are still hidden in the mountains of the Harz, waiting to be discovered and thereby making
further research necessary.

Photos and animations:
Downloadable at: https://we.tl/t-zYFlBhkL67
Archaeology 1: Newly discovered prospecting tunnel in the Rammelsberg from the 9th/10th century.
Sitting in the background: Katharina Malek. (Photo: Georg Drechsler/State Office for Historic
Monuments of Lower Saxony)
Archaeology 2: Georg Drechsler and Katharina Malek after the discovery of the prospecting tunnels in
the Rammelsberg from the 9th/10th century. (Photo: Torsten Schröpfer/State Office for Historic
Monuments of Lower Saxony)
Archaeology 3: Overview of the newly discovered prospecting tunnels from the 9th/10th century
adjacent to the previously known mine workings. (Graphic: Georg Drechsler/State Office for Historic
Monuments of Lower Saxony)
Archaeology 4: Rendering of the 3D model in the area of the newly discovered prospecting tunnels in
the Rammelsberg from the 9th/10th century. (Graphic: Georg Drechsler/State Office for Historic
Monuments of Lower Saxony)
Archaeology 5: View into the side tunnel with traces of old workings in the upper half. The first part of
the prospecting tunnels in the Rammelsberg from the 9th/10th century. (Photo: Georg
Drechsler/State Office for Historic Monuments of Lower Saxony)
Archaeology 6: Characteristic form of the newly discovered prospecting tunnels in the Rammelsberg
from the 9th/10th century. (Photo: Georg Drechsler/State Office for Historic Monuments of Lower
Saxony)

Photogrammetry TU Clausthal 1: Wilhelm Hannemann working on a 3D image of a 19th century
functional model of the Rosenhof man engine in a laboratory at the Clausthal University of
Technology. (Photo: Tanja Schäfer/Clausthal University of Technology)
Photogrammetry TU Clausthal 2: Textured digital 3D model of the safety system of the Rosenhof man
engine, created from 1190 images with the image positions and directions shown in blue (left) and
detail of the safety chains (right). (Graphic: Wilhelm Hannemann/ Clausthal University of Technology)
Photogrammetry TU Clausthal 3: Jessica Meyer making a 3D image underground in the Rammelsberg.
(Photo: Wilhelm Hannemann/ Clausthal University of Technology)

History 1: Astrid Schmidt-Händel transcribing a mediaeval document (Photo: Jessica Meyer/ Clausthal
University of Technology)

Animation archaeology: 3D video animation of the newly discovered prospecting tunnels in the
Rammelsberg from the 9th/10th century adjacent to the known mine workings. (Animation: Georg
Drechsler/State Office for Historic Monuments of Lower Saxony, model basis Wilhelm
Hannemann/Clausthal University of Technology)Animation photogrammetry TU Clausthal: 3D animation of several historic mining models blended
together. (Model basis and animation: Tanja Schäfer and Wilhelm Hannemann/Clausthal University of
Technology)

Press contact
Dr. Falk Lauterbach
Head of Marketing and Communication
Stiftung UNESCO-Welterbe im Harz
Bergtal 19, 38640 Goslar
Tel. 05321 750135
Fax 05321 750130
lauterbach@welterbeimharz.de
https://www.welterbeimharz.de/en/world-heritage-harz