Roter Bär Pit

The Roter Bär Pit in Sankt Andreasberg in the Upper Harz is an iron ore mine that was worked from about 1800 until the 1860s. Today it is operated as a show mine under the name of Roter Bär Pit Educational Mine by the Sankt Andreasberg Society for History and Archaeology . The name Roter Bär means "Red Bear".In line with historical practice the funds required to restore the historic mine were raised through the formation of a mining trades union and issue of share certificates.HistoryThe former iron ore mine situated in the Bären valley at the foot of the Knöchel, east of Sankt Andreasberg forms the heart of the educational Roter Bär Pit today.The mining of brown iron ore, which occurs here as lens-shaped inclusions in a Middle Devonian shale-limestone series, began around 1800 and ended in the mid-1860s. The pit, which was operated by private individuals (Eigenlehnern), produced about 50-60 tons of ironstone annually with a workforce of just 4-6 men. The very soft, often clayey, ore was won using picks (Keilhauen) without the need for drilling and blasting. Simple hand picking enabled it to be enriched by up to 35-40% Fe content. Its only customer was the Hanoverian state's Königshütte smelting works in Lauterberg (founded 1733).Despite only moderate levels of iron content, this ore was in great demand because of its good smelting properties and high proportion of manganese. Blended with red iron ore from the Sieber valley enabled good wrought iron and cable iron (Seileisen) to be produced. During this period a network of relatively shallow pits with a total length of more than 1,000 metres were dug. Today these pits have largely been filled in or collapsed and are only accessible in a few places.