The Röhrigschacht in Wettelrode is one of the few industrial monuments of the once important Mansfeld copper slate mining industry - one of the most important copper producers and largest silver producers in Germany. Its striking landmark is the steel shaft hoisting frame from 1922, the oldest operational frame in Germany with a hoisting machine.
More than 1,000 shafts are attested in the 800-year history for the Mansfelder Mulde between Eisleben and Hettstedt. The Sangerhausen mining district counts another 270 shafts. Recent archaeological research even dates the beginning of copper mining as early as the Bronze Age.
The mining museum was founded in 1987 and expanded in 1991 to include an underground exhibition mine. Visitors ride down 283 meters in a pit cage and are transported to the show mine by a mine train. On original tracks from the 1880s, they learn about the difficult working conditions of Mansfeld mining.
Expeditions lasting several hours into the depths of the old mine are ready for adventurers today.
Enter the impressive world underground!
As they say down there: "Glück auf!".