
The Saxon Mining Office (german: Sächsisches Oberbergamt) is the executive authority for
mining rights in the German state of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
. It is also responsible for all non-metallic mineral resources on the terrain of the former East Germany.
History

Based on discoveries of
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
in 1168,
Freiberg
Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.
Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage ...
developed into the centre of
Ore Mountains and Saxon ore mining. A mining office (''
Bergamt A ''Bergamt'' or mining office is a mining supervisory authority in German-speaking countries below the level of the state. It exercises immediate supervision of all activities, facilities and equipment associated with mining. This includes the prom ...
'') and master miner (''
Bergmeister'') were mentioned here in 1241. Freiberg mining law (''
Bergrecht''), first laid down in writing in 1307, was subsequently adopted in many other European mining regions.
In 1470 rich silver finds in the Ore Mountains (at
Schneeberg Annaberg-Buchholz
Annaberg-Buchholz () is a town in Saxony, Germany. Lying in the Ore Mountains, it is the capital of the district of Erzgebirgskreis.
Geography
The town is located in the Ore Mountains, at the side of the ''Pöhlberg'' ( above sea level).
Hi ...
and
Marienberg
Marienberg is a town in Germany. It was the district capital of the Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis (Central Ore Mountains district) in the southern part of Saxony, and since August 2008 it has been part of the new district of Erzgebirgskreis. As of ...
) resulted in a new (the second) ''
Berggeschrey''(silver rush). The mining industry expanded rapidly, and in the wake of this growth a single mining administration was gradually set up in
Albertine Saxony during the early 16th century. The Annaberg mining regulations (''
Bergordnung
The Bergordnung were the mining regulations or law enacted in order to exercise the royal mining rights or ''Bergregal'' in central Europe in medieval times.