The Graben Tour () is a
mining
Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
history
footpath
A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as Motor vehicle, motorized vehicles, bicycles and horseback, horses. They ...
in the north of the former district of
Freiberg
Freiberg () is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the Elster and ...
in the German
Free State of Saxony
Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
. It follows the course of an old mining water channel, in the valley of the
Bobritzsch, from
Krummenhennersdorf to
Reinsberg.
History
The name of the walk is derived from the artificial water channel or ''
Kunstgraben
A ''Kunstgraben'' is a type of man-made Canal, water channel that was once used by mines to drive the water wheels needed for power, mine drainage and a host of other purposes. The term is German (plural: ''Kunstgräben''). Similar ditches su ...
'' that was laid here between 1844 and 1847 to supply water for the mining industry, ''Graben'' being German for "ditch". The channel was used to make water available for
overshot wheels (''
Kunsträder
The flatrod system ( or ''Stangenleitung''; {{langx, sv, italic=yes, Konstgång or ''Stånggång'') was an invention of the mining industry that enabled the mechanical movement generated by a water wheel (German: ''Kunstrad'') to be transferred o ...
'') and
reversible wheels (''
Kehrräder
A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...
'') at the 4th Shaft (''IV. Lichtloch'') and the two Schwamkrug turbines at the 5th Shaft (''V. Lichtloch''), which were used to transport the rock extracted from the ''Rothschönberger Stolln'' mine and for water management.
[Lysann Petermann: ''Der Rothschönberger Stolln.'', In: Reihe Bergbauhistorie der Klosterregion Altzella., Reinsberg, 2005., pp. 7 – 24]
File:Grabentour.jpg, The Graben Tour walk. Left: the old water channel
File:Mundloch.jpg, Oberes Mundloch der Reinsberger Rösche
File:RSSt IV.Lichtloch Treibehaus Radstubenkaue (05-1).jpg, Pithead stocks (''Halde''), engine house (''Treibehaus'') and wheelhouse (''Radstubenkaue'') of IV Shaft of the Rothschönberger Stolln mine.
Literature
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*
References
External links
IV Shaft Society (''Verein IV. Lichtloch''){{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625094210/http://www.gupf.tu-freiberg.de/geologie/grabentour.html , date=2012-06-25
Hiking trails in Germany
Culture of Saxony
Ore Mountains
Freiberg
Mining in the Ore Mountains
Protected landscapes in Germany
Kunstgraben
History of mining in Germany