600 years of mining history can be experienced in Ehrenfriedersdorf Tin Mine, where tin and silver were mined.
The visitor mine Zinngrube Ehrenfriedersdorf is part of the Saxon Industrial Museum and represents the mining of tin and silver ore in the Ore Mountains from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.
A former miner from the Zinngrube Ehrenfriedersdorf operates his air-powered tool at a deafening volume; for demonstration purposes only, of course. What is almost unimaginable today was part of the everyday working life of every miner underground in the former GDR for 42 years. When mining ceased on 3 October 1990, 9.75 million tons of tin ore were mined from the Sauberg to the surface.
Today, the former mine is home to the Saxon Industrial Museum, Tin Mine Ehrenfriedersdorf, which not only preserves unique, fully functional mining machinery originals from the modern era; the historical witnesses date back to the beginning of the 13th century and allow visitors to look back on 800 years of tin ore mining history in Ehrenfriedersdorf. Here you can experience and learn about history at first hand, from the beginnings of placer mining, to the arduous work with hammer and iron, to modern driving and extraction methods.
