Kongsberg Silver Mines
The Kongsberg silver mine (Norwegian Kongsberg Sølvverk ) is a former mine and a silver mine in Kongsberg, Norway, which was opened in 1623 and founded. At the same time, it is Norway's oldest mine and is one of the most famous mines in the country. The mine is also regarded as the largest Norwegian companies in the pre-industrial era - the tunnel or pit -holes had a length of 1000 km and had 300 wells - and had between 1500 and 2000 prospecting. The Kongsberg silver mine was, from the beginning until its closure in 1958, continuously in operation. The silver mine is now protected as a cultural monument and registered under number 87890 when Riksantikvaren.
The ore production in the mine complexes of silver mine Kongsberg, under and above ground, on average, scored a total of results from 2-12 tons of silver per year. The total ore mining in Kongsberg silver mine was officially around 1350 tons of silver, but it is now thought that the actual yield was probably greater. The deposits of silver ore were mainly in the rock of the mountain as a mineral rock.
History
The first silver mine was discovered in 1623 at Numedalslågen, which led to a lively settlement near the mine in 1624 and the founding of Kongsberg by the King of Denmark-Norway Christian 7.
The mining industry in Kongsberg was in the beginning dominated by German miners who had enlisted Christian IV in order to develop the deposits. The miners worked previously in other silver mines and mining, and came mostly from Saxony, among others, as from Freiberg, Erzgebirge or from the resin. Some German miners who came to Kongsberg were previously employed in other Norwegian mines. A native of Saxony Bergmann Adolf Friedrich von Grabow from Saxony was appointed in Kongsberg for the first Captian.
The silver mines in Kongsberg got for these reasons, therefore, mostly German names. The German miners in Kongsberg wore their own mountain man costume, worked by the German mining regulations and time-honored German mining traditions and were organized in a German Miners. The interaction of the German Miners in the local mines, led at that time to the fact that in Kongsberg, a German -speaking island in Norway originated. So even church services were in the early years were held in German and until many centuries in Danish and Norwegian.
At the beginning of mining in Kongsberg was mined rock by fire setting, so that the mineral could then be recovered by means of hammer and chisel. From 1659 we experimented with ore mining with gunpowder and 1681 continued to use it regularly in Kongsberg one. At the same time they greatly invested in the mine, the mines expanded considerably and we put more new techniques. So they put among other things, artificial dams in order to get enough water to drive water wheels of the conveyor systems.
To gain access to the storage facilities for the ore - promotions, had the pits, shafts and tunnels are driven deeper and deeper into the rock. At the same time other new pumps, pumping stations and drainage and ventilation shafts for the fireplaces and gases had to be created.
The development of mining was an important center of gravity of the Danish- Norwegian state, as is the development of the infrastructure required for this purpose and the road network. For the mining company and the mine in Kongsberg Norway built first continuous navigable by Hokksund.
The silver mining in the mines of Kongsberg reached until the 1770s, its highest phase, where more than 4200 people were directly employed in the mining of ore. In particular, the 1750s, 1760s and 1770s are among the heyday with the highest yield. The Silver Mine also led to a steady growth and recovery in the Kongsberg region. So they founded in 1757 in Kongsberg, a mountain seminar and the first technical university of Norway. Furthermore, we moved the royal mint of Akershus to Kongsberg and 1802, the city was given the right market.
From 1805, however, the mine recorded for the first time after several years of declining revenues, despite significant investments, as well as dried up some silver deposits. 1810 came in the mining town of Kongsberg to a great fire, which devastated the city in ruins and the mining had to be stopped first.
1816 was opened for new silver discoveries in Kongsberg, the mine again, but in a much smaller scale than before. We said goodbye to the idea of a wide catchment area with many mines and decided to advocate to focus on a few, but safe, effective and more profitable silver mines. With the precise knowledge of the location of the deposits and the technical progress of the silver mining designed again profitable. Furthermore, there was significant new ore discoveries, especially in the 1830s and 1860s. So could only be achieved inter alia through revenues from the silver mines in the 1830s about 10 percent of the Norwegian national budget. The particularly erzreiche Kongens Gruve ( King mine ) was driven at this time to a depth of over 1000 meters.
Lower income and falling silver prices after the Second World War gradually caused annual deficits in Kongsberg. This was then the last rash, for a final decision of the Parliament to the closure of the mine as of 17 March 1957., The company earned last several years, more money, with its vast forests, as with the actual main business in mining. However, the state Silbergwerksunternehmen built from right to the end, nor silver.
The mining industry in the silver mine was subsequently retracted and adjusted and as a result some entrances were bricked in part. A small portion of the mine was converted into a museum and transformed as a tourist attraction in the current Norsk Bergverksmuseum at Kongsberg. The former silver mine is accessible to the public of the location of Saggrenda, which is 8 km from the center of Kongsberg. The route of the mine train that can be navigated by visitors to the mining museum, leads 2.3 kilometers into the mountain.
Geology
Through active volcanoes to prehistoric times in this area, it came with liquefaction of minerals to various secretions, causing the silver layer Places in Kongsberg have emerged on the edge of Oslofeltet.