Discovery tour in a medieval mining area
700 years ago, people could not hear the birds’ twittering in the area “Ehrenstetter Grund”, but the hammering and knocking noises of the mineworkers. At that time, the air was filled with smoke emitted by melting furnaces, charcoal piles and forging furnaces along the mountain slopes and in the valley “Ahbachtal”. Most parts of the slopes were deforested and the mountains were full of holes just like a Swiss cheese. You wonder why? In the middle age mineworkers from far and near sought after the desirable iron ores. The mined silver was used for the minting of coins in Freiburg and Breisach. Following the mining path (Bergbaupfad) in the Ehrenstetter Grund, you can discover unique medieval findings being in good condition and testifying for the existence of the silver mining industry; for example, the big “Radstube” (wheel chamber), a dam, three existing mining shafts and numerous chutes of collapsed mining galleries or portals.
The hiking or cycling tour starts with the information boards placed on the starting point at the car park “Schopbachhütte” (79238 Ehrenkirchen-Ehrenstetten, Schopbachgasse) or at the “Schützenhaus” (79238 Ehrenkirchen-Ehrenstetten, Schwarzwaldstraße) and leads to the Ehrenstetter Grund via a forest path of about 3.2 km. You can cycle until the sign “bicycle parking”. From that point a circular trail of about 2 km brings you to the highlights of the former mining area.
Well, we wish you much fun when discovering this medieval mining area!
Glück auf! – That’s the traditional miners’ greeting.
The sledgehammer & iron, the symbols of the mining industry, show you the way.
