Former silver, copper, lead, and zinc ore mine at Goslar, the only mine in the world to have operated continuously for over a thousand years, closed in 1988 and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and museum, with the original 1930s processing plant, Schacht
The Bergwerk Rammelsberg is an ore mine at the foot of the 635-metre Rammelsberg, on the southern edge of Goslar in the northern Harz, Niedersachsen. Mining on the Rammelsberg — for silver, copper, lead, and zinc — was first recorded around 968 by the Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey, who described Emperor Otto the Great ordering the opening of silver ore deposits. The resulting wealth sustained the Goslar Kaiserpfalz, built by King Heinrich II from 1005, and shaped the medieval city.
Nearly thirty million tonnes of ore were extracted over the mine's history, making it the largest coherent copper, lead, and zinc deposit in the world. After over a thousand years of nearly uninterrupted working, the mine was closed by Preussag on 30 June 1988 as the ore deposits were largely exhausted. In 1936–37 the mine had been greatly enlarged under the Rammelsbergprojekt, commissioned by the National Socialist government as part of the Four-Year Plan to increase domestic metal production, with the present-day hillside ore processing plant and the Rammelsberg shaft designed by architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer.
Together with the medieval Altstadt of Goslar, the Rammelsberg was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992; the designation was extended in 2010 to include the Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaft. The Weltkulturerbe Rammelsberg Museum und Besucherbergwerk is now open daily, offering underground tours by adit and Grubenbahn, the ore processing plant, the historic Roederstollen with its original water wheels, and the Rathstiefste Stollen, one of the oldest preserved mine adits in German mining history.
Ore extraction on the Rammelsberg, a hill at the southern edge of Goslar, has one of the longest documented mining histories of any site in the world. The Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey recorded around 968 that Emperor Otto the Great had silver ore deposits (venas argenti) opened and extracted from the Rammelsberg. A foundation legend tells that the site was discovered during a hunt, when a knight's horse pawed the ground and exposed a gleaming vein. The mining settlement of Goslar was not mentioned until 979. Attracted by the silver wealth, King Heinrich II had the Kaiserpfalz of Goslar built at the foot of the Rammelsberg from 1005, and held his first Imperial Assembly there in 1009; the palace was subsequently extended by the Salian emperors. The mines remained a Reichsgut directly belonging to the Holy Roman Emperor, and their revenues drove the growth of medieval Goslar into one of the wealthiest and most politically significant cities of the empire.
The ore body of the Rammelsberg is a massive sulphide deposit, consisting principally of Bleiglanz (galena), Zinkblende (sphalerite), Kupferkies (chalcopyrite), and Pyrit. It constituted what was once described as the largest coherent copper, lead, and zinc deposit in the world. The mine's principal products across its history were silver, lead, copper, zinc, and sulphur, with the balance shifting as metallurgical capabilities and market demand changed.
The mine survived the medieval period through a succession of administrations and conflicts. When Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1175 refused to enfeoff Welf duke Heinrich the Lion with the Goslar mines in exchange for support against the Lombard League, it precipitated a lasting political breach. Throughout the medieval and early modern periods, the mine served as the economic foundation for Goslar's participation in the Hanseatic League and for successive rulers' military and commercial ambitions.
With Goslar, the Rammelsberg passed to the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814 and to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866. In the nineteenth century, the mine underwent progressive technical modernisation as deeper workings became accessible. One of the most significant monuments to its medieval water-power heritage is the Rathstiefste Stollen, described as one of the oldest and best-preserved mine adits in German mining history, dating to the twelfth century. The Feuergezähe Gewölbe is the oldest masonry-lined underground chamber in Europe, dating to the thirteenth century. The Maltermeisterturm is identified as the oldest surviving surface building in German mining, dating to the fifteenth century. The Roederstollen, an eighteenth- to nineteenth-century drainage adit, still contains two original operational water wheels.
Under the Rammelsbergprojekt of 1936–37, the National Socialist government — needing to increase domestic production of non-ferrous metals for rearmament under the Four-Year Plan — ordered a comprehensive modernisation and expansion of the mine. The present hillside ore-processing plant (Erzaufbereitungsanlage) and the Schacht Kaiser Wilhelm II headframe were constructed in this programme to designs by the architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer, the same team responsible for the iconic Zeche Zollverein in the Ruhr. The froth flotation method (Flotationsanlage) was introduced, which for the first time made the complex mixed ore economically treatable on a large scale. This expansion was responsible for a dramatic increase in output in the late 1930s and 1940s.
After the Second World War, the mine continued under the ownership of the Preussag (Preußische Bergwerks- und Hütten-AG). After more than a thousand years and the extraction of approximately 30 million tonnes of ore in total, the ore reserves were largely exhausted and Preussag closed the mine on 30 June 1988.
Following closure, the mine was converted into a museum and visitor attraction. The full surface complex — the ore processing plant, the Schacht Kaiser Wilhelm II installation, the Kraftzentrale, and the museum buildings — was preserved, as were the principal underground structures including the Roederstollen, the Rathstiefste Stollen, the Feuergezähe Gewölbe, and the Maltermeisterturm. Visitor routes operate underground by adit (Stollenbegehung) and by Grubenbahn. In 1992, the Bergwerk Rammelsberg, together with the medieval Altstadt of Goslar, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2010 the World Heritage designation was extended to include the Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaft — the historic system of reservoirs, channels, and ponds that supplied water power for the Harz mines — together with Walkenried Abbey and the Grube Samson at St. Andreasberg. In 2008 the Goslar Altstadt and the Rammelsberg Mine formed the motif for Germany's annual 100-euro gold coin from the UNESCO World Heritage series. The Weltkulturerbe Rammelsberg Museum und Besucherbergwerk is operated daily by the Stiftung UNESCO-Welterbe im Harz and is a core destination of the Welterbe im Harz visitor network.