The Fell Exhibition Slate Mine (), also known as the Barbara-Hoffnung Exhibition Mine, is a former slate

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

located about 20km east of

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

and about 60km east of

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

near the villages of

Fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...

and Thomm. The exhibition mine is open to visitors every day from April to October. It consists of two roof

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

mines from the early 20th century that are situated one above the other, a slate mining trail, and a mining

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

Special attractions

Mine underground

The Barbara-Hoffnung Exhibition Mine in the Nossern Valley, between Fell and Thomm, consists of two typical roof

mines from the turn of the century, situated one above the other. The upper gallery, ''Hoffnung'' ("Hope"), was first mentioned in documents dating from 1850, and the lower gallery, ''Barbara'', in documents dating from 1908. Both

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

are connected by 100 meters of

stairwell A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway. ...

. Beginning in 1994, the

community, aided by public support (including grants from the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

), has worked to restore two former roofing slate mines in Fell and convert them into an exhibition mine. In the course of these developments, two mines, the Barbara Mine, which is situated approximately 25 meters higher than the second, ''Hoffnung'' (Hope), were connected by a sloped tunnel. Driving was initiated from the Barbara stoping level and leads to the fourth chamber of the Hope Mine. The exhibition mine was opened to the public in 1997. Visitors can extensively tour tunnels, drifts, imposing chambers, chutes and pack walls. Figures on display in the mine illustrate the difficult and dangerous work of slate miners. Image:bergwerk-fell-arbeit.jpg, Fell slate mine Image:bergwerk-fell-hoffnung.jpg, Fell slate mine - Hoffnung Pit Image:Bergwerk-fell-steinbruch.jpg, Vogelsberg Quarry Image:Besucherbw-fell.jpg, Fell slate mine (upper left) and the formerly concrete block work (down)

The slate mining trail

The trail leads through the Nossern Valley, past relics of historic slate mining such as terraced dumps, antique mine cars, trails formerly used to transport the slate, and entry tunnels, now almost completely overgrown. The layout of the Slate Mining Trail is designed to allow individuals to plan a route best suited to their interest and physical fitness. In front of the entry

tunnels A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

to the mines, ten roofed slate information boards can be found. The slate roofing was donated and completed by the Rathscheck Schieferbergbau company, Mayen. With the mine

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

on the information board, visitors can learn about the size and complexity of each mine system, information on the history mine operations, and galleries.

Museum mine and wine

Adjacent to the exhibition mine, there is a small documentation centre, "Mine and Wine", which exhibits rare slate mining and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

-making tools. A continuous

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

presentation about modern slate mining in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

taking place in the Rathscheck slate mine near

Mayen Mayen () is a town in the Mayen-Koblenz, Mayen-Koblenz District of the Rhineland-Palatinate Federal State of Germany, in the eastern part of the Volcanic Eifel Region. As well as the main town, additional settlements include Alzheim, Kürrenberg, ...

. The small

has statue of Saint Barbara from 1897 on display.

Traditions

The most important bearer of the mining

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

in the former mining towns of Fell and Thomm are the Fell Miners’ Band and the Glück-Auf Thomm Miners' Band, 1927 e.V., both established in 1955, but with a traceable history going back to 1871. The Fell Buglers have maintained the tradition of bugling for the hunt for years. If weather and time permits, the buglers practise on Sunday mornings at the Fell Exhibition Mine and signal for the hunt. Anyone interested in listening to the ''Hubertus Marsch'' ("St. Hubert's March"), the ''Jäger aus Kurpfalz'' ("Hunter from the Palatinate") or the ''Parforce March'' is welcome to join the morning pint on Sundays at the Fell Exhibition Mine. The traditional airs ''Sau tot!'' ("Boar Dead!"), ''Hirsch tot!'' ("Stag Dead!"), ''Hase tot!'' ("Hare Dead!"), ''Begrüßug'' ("Welcome"), ''Sammeln der Jäger'' ("Gathering of the Hunters"), ''Jagd vorbei'' ("The Hunt is Over") and other melodies from the hunt are part of the ''Fell Buglers'' repertoire. Every year on the second Sunday in

Advent Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

(the Sunday following the Saint's Day of Saint Barbara on 4 December) a traditional parade of the Fell Miners’ Band, the '' Bergparade'', takes place. Every two years in the time leading up to

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

the Friends of the Exhibition Mine organise a matins in the mine for their members. Participants descend into the mine by the light of candles and pit lamps alone. At specific points in the mine, ex-miners describe their hard work while contemporary witnesses talk about their wartime experiences. They relate to a time, when the mines were bunkers and homes for the citizens of Fell and Thomm. Musical contributions, prayers and poems are presented in honour of

St Barbara Saint Barbara (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the original recension of Sai ...

References

External links

* {{coord, 49, 45, 21.17, N, 6, 47, 56.70, E, type:landmark_region:DE-RP, display=title Slate mines in Germany Museums in Rhineland-Palatinate Underground mines in Germany Mining museums in Germany Show mines Articles containing video clips