Into the Mountain by Mine Train

Into the Mountain by Mine Train Visiting the Markus-Röhling-Stolln in Frohnau

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Our visit to the Markus-Röhling-Stolln visitor mine in Frohnau started in a very special way. This was not just walking into a museum. First, we entered the mountain by mine train.

On 600 mm narrow gauge tracks, we drove about 600 meters into the tunnel. Darkness, narrow walls, damp air and the sound of the train made it clear immediately. Now we were really underground. After the ride, we were a little over 80 meters below the surface .

The Markus-Röhling-Stolln is located in Frohnau, a district of Annaberg-Buchholz. Mining has a very long history in this region. After the first silver discovery at the nearby Schreckenberg in 1491, mining also spread into the later field of the Markus Röhling mine.

Around the year 1500, the Orgelstolln was started to drain the mines in the area. Shortly after that, the deeper St. Anna Stolln was built. This tunnel is known today as the Markus-Röhling-Stolln. In 1733, the main ore vein was discovered. Until mining stopped in 1857, about 15 tons of silver and almost 2600 tons of cobalt ore were extracted here.

When you walk through these tunnels today, it is hard to imagine how tough this work must have been. No modern light, no machines like today, no comfortable workplace. Just rock, water, darkness and hard physical labor.

What really stood out to us were the irregular shapes of many tunnels. They do not run straight like a modern tunnel. They follow the ore vein. The hard surrounding rock was only removed where it was really necessary. That is why many passages look so uneven and natural.

One very interesting spot was an old inscription in the rock. The year 1796 can still be seen there. At this place, a smaller water wheel with a diameter of about 4 meters was once installed. The space for it was carved out of the rock by hand, using hammer and chisel, the classic tools and symbol of miners.

Later, a much larger wooden water wheel with a diameter of 10 meters was installed in the tunnel. For this larger chamber, black powder was also used for blasting. In total, three water wheels were in operation inside the Markus-Röhling-Stolln. That shows how complex the technology underground really was.

The guided tour also includes the period after 1945. At that time, the Soviet Aktiengesellschaft Wismut started mining activities again. The goal was to search for uranium ore, which was strategically important for the Soviet atomic program. In this area, however, only very little uranium was found, so the search was later stopped.

So the tunnel does not only tell the story of silver and cobalt mining. It also tells a part of postwar history.

Our guide, Steiger Michael, did a really great job. You could feel that he knows this place well and that the history of the mine matters to him. He did not just tell dry facts. He made the history come alive.

The tour lasted about 1.5 hours . Underground, we also walked quite a bit, including three short stairways. The temperature inside the tunnel is only about 8 to 10 degrees Celsius , so a jacket is definitely useful.

For us, the visit to the Markus-Röhling-Stolln was a real experience. The mine train, the depth of more than 80 meters, the old tunnels, the water wheels and the explanations made this trip very special.

It is not a shiny museum. It is history you can feel. Directly inside the mountain.

Glück auf!

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Deutsche Kurzfassung

Wir waren im Besucherbergwerk Markus-Röhling-Stolln in Frohnau bei Annaberg-Buchholz. Schon der Start war besonders, denn es ging mit der Grubenbahn etwa 600 Meter in den Berg hinein. Danach befanden wir uns etwas über 80 Meter unter der Erde .

Der Stolln erzählt über 500 Jahre Bergbaugeschichte. Hier wurden früher Silber und Kobalt abgebaut. Bis 1857 kamen etwa 15 Tonnen Silber und fast 2600 Tonnen Kobalterz zusammen.

Besonders beeindruckend waren die unregelmäßigen Gänge, die der Erzader folgen. Das harte Nebengestein wurde nur dort entfernt, wo es wirklich nötig war. Auch die alte Inschrift von 1796 , das frühere 4 Meter Wasserrad und das große hölzerne Wasserrad mit 10 Metern Durchmesser waren starke Eindrücke.

Nach 1945 suchte die Sowjetische Aktiengesellschaft Wismut hier nach Uranerz. Viel wurde in diesem Bereich aber nicht gefunden, deshalb wurde die Suche später wieder abgebrochen.

Unser Steiger Michael hat die Führung sehr lebendig gemacht. Man bekam ein gutes Gefühl dafür, wie hart das Leben und Arbeiten unter Tage gewesen sein muss.

Für uns war der Markus-Röhling-Stolln ein echtes Erlebnis. Kein Hochglanzmuseum, sondern Geschichte zum Anfassen. Direkt im Berg.

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