Zinnwald - Technical & Mining Heritage

The Altenberg-Zinnwald Mining Landscape is located close to the German-Czech border in the high mountain area of the Eastern Erzgebirge, 32 km south of Dresden. It is the most easterly mining district in the Saxon Ore Mountains and the landscape is characterized by a gently sloping plain with occasional rolling hills and deep river valley dissections that gradually descend to the north. Outstanding example of a multi-layered tin mining landscape that gives evidence to the extraction of different types of tin ore deposits pioneering water management structures, and pioneering technologies in ore processing from the 15th century onwards. Altenberg contained the largest deposit of tin ore in Central Europe. The mining region is considered a pioneering place in ore processing, from the 15th to the late 20th centuries. Although mining ceased in 1991, the landscape still documents the relationship between the long lasting mining activities, the development of agriculture and mining settlements as well as environmental impact of mining. The ore crushing and concentration facility Wäsche IV is located at the head of the Tiefenbach valley, some 250 meters southeast of the rim of Altenberger Pinge. The technical monument is exceptional testimony to the technology of wet stamping: pounding as opposed to grinding, with the innovation of introducing water to the ore during crushing. This process was developed in the Ore Mountains in the 16th century, and became the principal method applied to profitably treat high-volume/low-grade tin ores of the Altenberg-Zinnwald Mining Landscape. The invention was rapidly adopted in the rich tin mining fields of Cornwall, UK, where it revolutionized ore recovery and output. The method subsequently diffused worldwide and could be applied to other ores. The facility, in addition to its stamp mill, contains a complete system of ore concentration. Following the end of operations in 1952, Wäsche IV was opened as a museum in 1957. The Vereinigt Zwitterfeld zu Zinnwald mine was exploited from the 15th century onwards, and large mine structures are preserved underground documenting the mining technologies of the 18th and 19th centuries. The mine is publicly accessible and its preserved underground workings provide excellent examples of processing methods used in the 16th and subsequent centuries together with a range of structural geological and mineralogical exposures that reveal the nature of the tin deposit and the way it was exploited. The mines and structures are components of the recently inscribed World Heritage Erzgebirge Mining Region. This cultural landscape provides the setting for this year’s European Heritage Volunteer’s project, which also forms part of the World Heritage Volunteers initiative for Europe Leisure time: The project will take place in a small village of rural Saxony, so the participants should not expect busy places and normal city activities for the leisure time during the working days. Small trips and hikes within walking distances are possible in the afternoons. There will be a free day where an excursion to nearby places of interest may be planned. Usually average temperatures in Germany during the summer time are about 20º C to 30º C; during the night it will get colder. It is possible that there may be three weeks of non-stop sunshine, but every day rain is not impossible either.