LM2 Neu 2007 English - Geopark Harz

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Selected hotels
1 2
3 4
Hotel „Goldene Krone“
Clausthal-Zellerfeld
www.goldenekrone-harz.de
: 0049 - 5323 - 9300
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2
3
4
Waldhotel Untermühle
Clausthal-Zellerfeld
www.untermuehle.harz.de
0049 - 5323 - 983098
Waldhotel Café-Restaurant
Pixhaier Mühle
Clausthal-Zellerfeld
www.pixhaier-muehle.harz.de
0049 - 5323 - 2215
Harzhotel zum Prinzen
Clausthal-Zellerfeld
www.zum-prinzen.de
0049 - 5323 - 96610
Geopark “Harz . Braunschweiger Land . Ostfalen” was founded
in 2002. “Regionalverband Harz e.V.” has taken sponsorship
for the Harz Mountains area. The general map tells you where
to find landmark 2 – Pulley Frame of Ottiliae Mine Shaft
Clausthal-Zellerfeld. Just like this flyer all the others, covering
a total of 17 landmarks, will help you plan your next visit to
Nature- and Geopark Harz.
Landmarks of
the
Geopark Harz
Goslar
Halberstadt
3
1 2
8
Wernigerode Quedlinburg
4
Osterode a.H.
9 Aschersleben
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13
5
15
association area
16 6 10 17
of the
Regionalverband Harz
Nordhausen
7 Sangerhausen
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®
Schönebeck
Bernburg
Eisleben
Authors: Dipl.-Geol. Friedhart Knolle, Dr. Volker Wrede & Dr. Klaus George
Translator: Dorothee Kahla
Photos: George, Upper Harz Mining Museum
Compilation: Dr. K. George, Ch. Linke
Editor: Regionalverband Harz e. V., Hohe Straße 6, 06484 Quedlinburg
( 0049 - 3946 - 96410, Fax: 0049 - 3946 - 964142, Internet: www.harzregion.de,
Email: rvh@harzregion.de)
2nd edited run, © Regionalverband Harz e. V., Quedlinburg 2007
All rights reserved
Conception & design: Design Office Werbeagentur, Wernigerode
Print office: Koch-Druck, Halberstadt
Kindly supported by:
Niedersächsisches Ministerium
für Wissenschaft und Kultur

Excursion to the Innerste Valley
Stamp Mill Sand Hills
We now leave Clausthal heading
towards Bad Grund on B 242,
following the course of Zell
Creek down the valley. After
approximately 2 km we reach
the site of the former Clausthal
lead mine, which goes back to
Frankenscharrn Mill (founded in
1554). The lead mine was in operation
as late as 1967. After its
closure the buildings were
demolished. The melting of
sulfurous ores for centuries was
Valley of quarries and mines
Greywacke quarries in the
Innerste Valley
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Smoke-damaged area near the
former lead works
responsible for an emission that polluted the vicinity of the
mine and destroyed the vegetation to an extent that its
recovery has been very slow. The bloom of the Calluna heath
thriving on the contaminated hillsides may be considered
“the most attractive inheritance” of the past. The high
concentration of heavy metals of the stamp mill sand hills
have polluted the floodplain sediments, since loose
materials of the waste rock piles are washed into the
Innerste river by heavy rains – this, too, is a legacy of the
mining procedures in the Harz Mountains.
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We leave B 242 at the confluence of the Zell Creek and the
Innerste and drive towards the colliery house “Untere Innerste”.
After about 500 meters ( N 51° 47,800’; E 010° 17,922’ ) on the
right hand side there is a small quarry in which we find steeply
inclined, coarse-grained to conglomeratic Culm Greywacke
beds intercalated with layers of shale. The greywacke beds are
interpreted as the result of submarine suspension currents
which ran like avalanches from higher regions of the sea floor
into deeper basins. This process produced impressive groove
casts, which are preserved at the lower surfaces of the
greywacke layers. The groove casts were caused by pebble
stones or other objects carried along at the sea floor.
Back on the country road we follow the course of the Innerste
and drive towards Wildemann. Soon we see the head gear of
the formerly independent mine “Bergwerkswohlfahrt” on the
left hand side. We stop at
the intersection to Wildemann
and visit the
“Jung’schen Steinbruch”
(Jung’s Quarry), located
on the right hand side of
the road. Embedded in
the greywacke and
especially in the intercalated
shales there are
remains of Carboniferous
plants, mainly horsetails
(calamites).
Jung's Quarry ("Jung’scher Steinbruch")

Show Mine I
“19-Lachter-Stollen“ Wildemann
Heading for Langelsheim in the
Innerste Valley, we reach Wildemann.
The local mines worked the western
section of the “Zellerfelder Gangzug”
(Zellerfeld Lode), the “Spiegelthaler
Gang” and its westward extension,
the “Hüttschentaler Gang”. In the
latter, mining practically came to an
end around 1760 and in 1803
respectively. The mining of the
“Zellerfelder Gangzug” continued
approximately up to 1930. The “19-
Lachter-Stollen” (gallery), which got
started as early as 1551 and was used Ore car at “19-Lachter-Stollen”
for both draining water and mining
ore, is worth visiting. The mine and the gallery were operated
until 1924; in 1970 a show mine was established in their
place. The gallery with a length of 8.8 km was carved out by
manual labour alone, merely by using hammer and chisel.
You can explore 500 m of its effective length and get as deep
as 100 m.
Guided tours: daily at 11 am
www.harztourismus.com
Show Mine II
Mine “Lautenthals Glück”
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We keep on driving down the
valley to Lautenthal, a small
mining town, which used to serve
as the seat of the “Königliches
Hüttenamt” (Royal Bureau of
Metallurgy), subordinate to the
“Oberbergamt Clausthal” (Chief
Inspectorate Clausthal).
Mining the “Lautenthaler Gangzug”
continued until 1945. After
that no other profitable ore bodies
could be mined. The last mining
activity, the recycling of stockpile
materials with a high percentage
of zinc, lasted until the late 1970s.
The “Lautenthaler Silberhütte” (silver mine), where the silver
of the lead ores processed at Clausthal was utilized, was
operated until 1967.
“Lautenthals Glück” with its show mine and mining museum
is on the right hand side as you enter the small town. The
“Lautenthaler Gangzug”, which the local mines were based
upon, is an important fault. In the area of the Lautenthal
deposits the lode was divided into several parallel veinlets,
the so-called “Trümer” (stringers) which were heavily
mineralized with galena and zinc blende. The whole
sequence from the Middle Devonian to the Lower
Carboniferous is well-visible along one of the hiking trails at
the eastern bank of the Innerste river. Markers provide
additional information.

Outcrop rich in fossils
Quarry at the “Großen Trogtaler
Berg”
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We leave Lautenthal in a northward
direction (towards Langelsheim)
and take a left turn, following
the country road towards
Seesen. When the road reaches its
highest elevation we drive onto
the parking site “Sternplatz”. On
foot we follow the hiking trail
towards the “Luchsstein”, which
commemorates the shooting of
the last autochthonous lynx in the
Harz Mountains. Before we reach
it, we arrive a small abandoned
quarry, seated in the southern
slope of the “Großen Trogtaler
Berg”. It exposes a section rich in
Lower Carboniferous fossils,
called “Posidonia Shale”. Among
the fossils there are certain
Quarry at the “Trogtaler Berg”
bivalves (Posidonia becheri),
goniatites and numerous other
fossils. Gathering them from the
solid bedrock is prohibited,
whereas picking them up from
the stockpile of the quarry is
permitted. The strata are approximately
335 million years old. The
extensive folding of the Lower
Carboniferous strata is unrecog-
Fossil bivalves
nisable in the quarry itself, but is visible about 100 m down
the trail towards the “Luchsstein”.
Inn on the shaft
Maaßener Gaipel
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Back to Lautenthal, in its
centre we turn left to
Hahnenklee-Bockswiese.
The street leads uphill and
is bounded by a large
stockpile area. Where the
stockpiles end we turn right.
This curved road takes us
back to a forest inn high
above Lautenthal. From
there we enjoy a lovely
scenic view over the town.
Right now we are standing Water wheel
amidst an impressive mining scenery with adit entrances,
waste heaps and perforated stones which are explained by
markers next to the hiking trails. On the waste heaps you will
mainly find zinc blende; but on some of them gathering is
prohibited in order to avoid damage caused by erosion and to
protect the rare vegetation growing on the heavy metal waste
heaps.

Responsible for all of Northern Germany
State Mining Inspectorate Clausthal-
Zellerfeld
The State Mining Inspectorate has its office
at the old “Amtshaus” (originally seat of the
Royal Hanover Mining and Forestry Inspectorate,
later office of the Royal Prussian
Mining Inspectorate and from 1943 – 1945 it
accommodated the Reich Mining Inspectorate)
in Clausthal, diagonally opposite the
main building of the University (see No 5 ). It
was this very building the king or his
Landesbergamt
ministers frequented when visiting the Harz
Mountains. On special occasions the Chief Inspector of Mines
or his highest-ranking guest were paid respect by the miners.
At dusk the dignitaries watched a procession from the
building’s balcony: miners and workers paraded along the
street, illuminating the area with their torches and pit lamps.
After the great fire in 1725 the building was reconstructed
from 1726 – 1730, and from 1904 – 1912 a wing was added
to accommodate the inspectorate’s library and the invaluable
450-year-old mining archive. Later it became the Mining
Archive Clausthal and today it is a sub-office of the Main
State Archive Hanover; for that purpose, a new, modern
building was erected in the year 2000. In 2001 the oldestablished
office was named “Landesbergamt” (State Mining
Inspectorate). It is responsible for Lower Saxony, Schleswig-
Holstein, Hamburg and Bremen, including the oil and gas
production in the continental shelf of both the North Sea and
the Baltic. As long as Germany was divided, it was even
responsible for West Berlin.
Geology of the Area
The “Clausthaler Kulmfaltenzone” (Clausthal Culm Fold Belt)
covers the largest part of the northwestern Upper Harz
Mountains (around landmark 2 ) and mainly consists of an
interbedded sequence of greywacke and slates of the Lower
Carboniferous Culm facies. They evolved without gap from
the older Devonian sediments and were deposited in a marine
basin; this was filled by submarine suspension currents
originating from the neighbouring mainland. The cyclic grainsize
grading of the sediments – the graded bedding – shows
this process very clearly: first the heavier coarse material was
deposited, gradually followed by lighter fine material,
whereas clay minerals (which built up the shales) finished the
cycle. Groove casts on the sea floor preserved over millions of
years let us to reconstruct the direction of the turbidity
currents. They came from a continental area south to southwest
of the Harz Mountains. Remains of fossil plants in the
sediments document the vegetation during the Lower
Carboniferous.
In the north-east the “Kulmfaltenzone” is cut by the Northern
Boundary Fault of the Harz Mountains (landmark 3 ); in the
south and in the west Upper Permian Zechstein unconformably
onlaps the steep sequence of the “Kulmfaltenzone”, as to
be seen at Geosite “Fuchshalle” (landmark 11
).
The “Kulmfaltenzone” was intensively folded during the
Variscan Orogeny, i.e. about 300 million years ago. Tectonic
faults run right across this folded zone parallel to the
northern slope of the Harz Mountains, which are mounted by
the mineral veins of the Upper Harz Mountains. The metal
content of these veins was the base of intensive mining in the
area of landmark 2 . Here mining and forestry have created
a striking cultivated landscape.

Landmark 2
Pulley Frame of
Ottiliae Mine Shaft
Clausthal-Zellerfeld
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Upper Harz Mining Museum
Ottiliae Mine Shaft
Approaching Clausthal-Zellerfeld
on B 242 from the west
you will suddenly come across
a steel pit head gear on your
left hand side. It is the pulley
frame of Ottiliae mine shaft,
which is one of the bestknown
mining monuments in
the area. In 1876 it was
manufactured in the Royal
Central Forge at Clausthal and
today it is one of the oldest Old mine railway
still-existing shaft towers in
Central Europe. Up to 1930, when mining in Clausthal-
Zellerfeld came to an end, Ottiliae mine shaft was the central
hoisting shaft in the district. Today the surface installations of
this mine, named after “Berghauptmann” (Chief Inspector of
Mines) Ernst Hermann Ottiliae, serve as a sub-office of the
Upper Harz Mining Museum. The reinstalled hoisting engine
and other mining machinery give evidence of the Harz
Mountains’ industrial history and document the mining
technologies from about 1880 to the present day. You start
your tour of the surface installations with an adventurous ride
along the rebuilt 2.2 km haulage road on the mine railway with
the help of which ore was transported from mine shaft “Kaiser
Wilhelm II“ to mine shaft “Ottiliae“ during a period of
underground reconstruction between 1900 and 1905. In the
summer months, on weekends and public holidays, the train
leaves from the old railway station “Alter Bahnhof“ (public
library) to mine shaft “Ottiliae“ (N51°48.504’; E010°18.794’).
Germany’s Oldest
Mining Museum
As early as 1892 Lower Saxony’s oldest and most important
mining museum was founded. Located in Zellerfeld it gives you
a complete idea of the development of mining in the Upper
Harz Mountains from the Middle Ages to the end of the 19th
century. The replica of a mine consists of an approximately
250 m long gallery and original surface installations in the
museum’s outdoor area. Germany’s last remaining horsecapstan,
the only ore dressing plant with a stamp mill and the
shaft house built in 1787 are impressive monuments of the
history of mining. The main building with its 30 showrooms
houses a collection of mining and
cultural artifacts among which there are a
number of famous models, an extensive
collection of minerals and coins and a
special exhibition of pit lamps. A display
of mining tools and objects of everyday
use add to the picture of a population
whose sole source of subsistence for
centuries consisted in mining. The
museum offers a variety of educational
and cultural programmes.
Opening hours: 10 am to 5 pm
0049 - 5323 - 98950
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View of the museum’s
outdoor area

Mine Shaft “Kaiser Wilhelm II”
Clausthal
At the outskirts of the campus grounds of
Clausthal University of Technology, mine
shaft “Kaiser Wilhelm II” with Central
Europe’s second oldest preserved iron
head gear is situated close to “Erzstraße”.
The tower was erected as a traditional twopost
headframe in 1880. In 1930 “Kaiser
Wilhelm II” was the last mine to be
abandoned in Clausthal-Zellerfeld. Today,
the surface installations are part of the
depot of the “Harzwasserwerke”. Apart
from the restored machinery storage
building, the shaft house, the pithead bath
and various other supply buildings you
can view photogenic replicas of wooden Pulley frame of mine shaft
"Kaiser Wilhelm II"
water wheels on the pit grounds. An
exhibition informs you about the water
management in the Upper Harz Mountains.
For further information see:
www.oberharzerbergwerksmuseum.de
The Complex Water Supply System in the Upper
Harz Mountains
Sperberhai Dam
Without the sophisticated water management
for mining in particular there would never
have been any ore mining in the Harz
Mountains. The complex water supply system
of today’s cultural monument called
“Kulturdenkmal Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaftssystem”
originated around Clausthal-
Zellerfeld, Hahnenklee and Sankt Andreasberg
in the year 1530. It consists of a network of
approximately 700 kilometres of trenches,
120 lakes and 30 kilometres of tunnels which
served as an elaborate system for collecting,
storing and transporting water, e.g. to operate
both water wheels, hoisting loads, or pumping
installations, which were needed to drain
the pits.
Sperberhai Dam
Due to this complex network, water could even be transported
over long distances, e.g. from the “Bruchberg” or the
“Brockenfeld”, to Clausthal-Zellerfeld’s elevated areas. For
that purpose, “Sperberhaier Damm” with a length of 940
metres and a maximum height of 16 metres was built
between 1732 and 1734. It parallels B 242 between the
intersections of B 498 coming up from Osterode and leading
to Altenau.
“Harzwasserwerke GmbH” preserve and maintain this cultural
monument. We can explore the lakes and trenches of the
“Kulturdenkmal Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaftssystem” on our
own, either by bike or on foot.
For further information see:
www.harzwasserwerke.de
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Clausthal University of Technology
GeoMuseum
Research in the fields of
geosciences has been an
established tradition since the
foundation of the former
mining school (1775), which
was later named Mining Academy
(1864) and is now called
Clausthal University of Technology.
Its mineralogical collection
of more than 120,000
specimens has an international
reputation. Among these, the
collections of ores and nonmetallic
minerals are outstanding
– they provide the basis
for comparative studies and are available for scientists all
over the world. The part of the mineralogical collection which
is open to the public is of interest not only to specialists; a
visit can be recommended to everyone. The paleontological
part of the exhibition shows important major steps within the
evolution of life; the three-dimensional reconstructions of the
largest fossil flying insects in life-size are unique. Another
main focus is laid upon selected important fossils (e.g.
ammonites and trilobites) found in the Harz Mountains area
and its foreland. The exhibits regarding the Natural History of
the Harz Mountains show parts of the entire 480 million years
of geological development in this region. The GeoMuseum is
housed in the main building of Clausthal University of
Technology, Adolph-Roemer-Straße 2a.
Opening hours:
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9.30 am - 12.30 pm
Thursday 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm
Sunday 10.00 am - 1.00 pm
(except public holidays)
Having left the main building of Clausthal University of
Technology you will come across a monument on your left
that commemorates “Bergamtsprofessor”
Friedrich Adolph Roemer (1809-1869). In
1882 it was dedicated to the famous paleontologist
and founder of the Mining
Academy by his students. Its base contains
minerals and rocks characteristic of the
Harz Mountains. A walk through the university’s
campus grounds along “Feldgraben”
takes you to the library which
includes the so-called “Calvör’sche
Bibliothek” (“Calvör’s Library”) – one of the
academic libraries of the baroque era – and
belongs to the most valuable cultural
possessions of the Harz Mountains area.
The “geological path” in front of the
Institute of Geology and Paleontology
Monument for A. Roemer
gives you an impression of the main rocks
of the Harz Mountains and, if desired, the paleontological
and geological collections can be visited after prior
arrangement.
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Life-sized three-dimensional reconstruction
of a giant insect of the Carboniferous
period in Central Europe

Mining until 1812
Lake Schalke ("Schalker Teich")
Oberschulenberg
We drive down to the Schalke Valley and park
our car in Oberschulenberg (N51°49.812’;
E010°23.928’). An information-board reveals
that in this place the border between the
Clausthal Culm Plateau and the Devonian
Anticline of the Harz Mountains is cropping
out. This border is marked by a mineralised
tectonic fault, the Bockswiese Lodes, that
runs over distance of 12 km from the Innerste
Valley in the west to the Oker Valley in the
east. Locally, there were ores in the fault, which were
mined until 1907. South of the fault Lower
Carboniferous sedimentary rocks, mainly slates, crop
out as to be seen in sections along the gravel road
parallel to the rivulet down to the “Mertenstal”. North of the
fault you will see Devonian rocks such as sandstone, slates
and a few limestone beds on your short walk around the
“Schalker Teich”. The lower “Schalker Teich” was built between
1729 and 1733 in order to supply the surrounding mines and
stamp mills with water. On December 26, 1733 the dam
broke; the resulting flood wave killed nine people and caused
severe damage all over the Oker Valley. Shortly after the
disaster the dam was quickly repaired. In case you do not
want to spend too much time exploring the countryside you
should follow the path leading to the right at the upper end
of the row of houses. It takes you to two historical perforated
stones which marked the border of the mining claims. A little
ahead we reach the ore lode; next to this sterile lode
consisting of quartz, fault pits indicate the course of the ore
bodies. In the east the site is adjoined by the extensive dumps
of Oberschulenberg. They became known for their secondary
minerals yielding copper, zinc and lead, of which
Schulenbergit was named after this collecting site.
The convex dam
Oker Valley Reservoir
In the course of our excursion down
into the valley we reach the Oker Valley
Reservoir (N51°51.051’; E010°27.510’).
On your left the bank of the road is
partially formed by thick layers of Culm
slate with well-exposed bedding planes.
The dam is about 260 m long and
represents an unusual construction: a
Oker Valley Reservoir
solid wall of 13 m height was erected on
top of the convex dam, which is 55 m high and absorbs the
pressure of the collected water towards the flanks of the
valley. The geological situation made this construction
necessary, because the greywacke in the higher parts of the
flanks of the valley cannot withstand such forces, in contrast
to the subjacent hardened contact-metamorphic slate.
The amount of water which the reservoir can hold runs to a
maximum of 47 mio m_. The water is released through either
the bottom outlet or through a 1.7 km-long pressure tunnel
which leads to the power station at Romkerhalle. A pleasure
boat invites you to a trip on the reservoir.
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Lower “Schalker
Teich“
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Wild river valley
Unteres Okertal
The river has carved its meandering
stream bed through a
granite massif, thus forming
characteristic gorges and a
tremendous number of cliffs.
The Oker Granite is a separate
intrusive body and not the
direct extension of the Brocken
Pluton (landmark 4 ). At the end
of the Variscan Orogeny
during the Upper Carboniferous,
the intrusion penetrated
the folded complex.
Granite, an extremely solid
rock under unweathered conditions,
is very resistant to the
erosive power of water. Mainly
caused by the heat of the
magmatic body, the older De-
Rabenklippe
vonian and Lower Carboniferous sediments (which were penetrated
by the intrusion, too) were altered and hardened
through contact metamorphic reactions. Slate and limestone
as well as the Lower Carboniferous greywacke were
transformed into hard and splintery hornfels. The wide
variety of rocks in the Oker Valley can be studied in a large
number of outcrops.
The steep western slope of the “Romkerhall“ syncline crops
out well in the “Rabenklippe” (“Raven Cliff”)
(N51°51.526’; E010°28.025’). In order to get to the cliff we
follow the path starting at the parking site close to the power
station at Romkerhalle. We reach our destination after a 300
m walk uphill, parallel to B 498.
Fantastic rock formations
Granite cliffs of the “Käste”
From the parking at the power station we
climb the steep path on the left hand side
of the Romkerhalle Cascade and take
“Schöppenstedter Weg” – “Romkerkopfweg”
– “Klippenweg” in direction towards
the mountain inn “Käste” (about 3 km).
Having passed a treeless section of
“Klippenweg” - overgrown with broom and
heath - we first reach the “Feigenbaumklippe”,
where we encounter a cave formed
by piled-up granite blocks.
From the “Feigenbaumklippe” we enjoy a
scenic view up to the Northern Harz
Foreland. Erosion has exposed the top
layers of the Oker Granite. As typical of
granite in our climate, spheroidal
weathering gradually reduces the rock to
smaller and smaller blocks which look like
woolsacks and which are characteristic of
Spheroidal
weathering
the Oker Granite, too. Weathering along the granite clefts has
produced bizarre formations like the “Mausefalle” (Mousetrap),
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which is the next cliff we
reach walking along
“Klippenweg”. Here a huge
granite block keeps its
balance on top of a
relatively tiny rock. After we
have passed the “Hexenküche”
(Witch’s Kitchen) we
finally reach the “Käste”
cliffs (605m above sea
level), which are located
right next to the mountain
inn. An exceptional rock
formation is named “Der
„Der Alte vom Berge“
Alte vom Berge” (Old Man from the Mountain; N51°52.101’;-
E010°28.985’)). A convenient path then leads us back to the
Oker Valley via the so-called “Treppenstein” (Stair Rock) (ca. 5
km). On top of the “Treppenstein” we find the ruins of a castle
which can be compared to the one on the “Ilsestein” near
Ilsenburg (landmark 4
).
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Verwaltungs-Verlag München, Lizenz-Nr. 03/09/92. Weitere Stadtpläne unter www.stadtplan.net
This map will help you to plan your individual Georoute. Competent
guided tours can be arranged, too (contact: Dr. STEIGER, Managing
Director of the team of the Harz Mountains regional association’s
geoguides, 0049-03944-369085 or e-mail: T_Steiger@gmx.de).
“Regionalverband Harz e.V.” wishes you relaxing holidays and
interesting insights into the geology and history of that part of
Nature- and Geopark Harz which you have just been introduced to.
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