Kropfmühl Mine, Kropfmühl, Hauzenberg, Passau District, Lower Bavaria, Bavaria, Germanyi

Regional Level Types
Kropfmühl Mine	Mine (Active)
Kropfmühl	Town
Hauzenberg	Municipality
Passau District	District
Lower Bavaria	Administrative Region
Bavaria	State
Germany	Country

A graphite mine owned by the Graphit Kropfmühl AG.

Production ceased in December 2005 and the mine was subsequently operated as a museum and a tourist mine.

In early 2009, production was resumed at a small scale, and since 21st June 2012, the mine is fully operational again.

The Kropfmühl graphite visitor mine is a museum in Kropfmühl, Lower Bavaria, a district of the town of Hauzenberg in the Passau district. Here it is located in the immediate vicinity of the production facilities of the listed company Graphit Kropfmühl GmbH.

Today the museum presents the history of regional graphite mining and the only graphite mine in Germany in Kropfmühl.

After the discovery of graphite deposits, this mineral has been mined in the Bavarian Forest since the 18th century, initially in landowner mining on farmers' fields in open-cast mining, and later also in underground mining. However, it has been proven that Celtic settlers already used the local graphite for their ceramic products.

The so-called Hauzenberg graphite has been extracted industrially in Kropfmühl since 1870. Local mining quickly grew in importance. As early as 1877, a patent was filed for a process for purifying graphite (flotation). In 1916, Graphitwerk Kropfmühl Aktiengesellschaft was founded, a now global mining company with locations in China and Sri Lanka, among others. After graphite mining was temporarily shut down for economic reasons in 2006 as a result of the sharp drop in the price of the raw material, operations were resumed in part of the mine in 2012.

In order to clearly illustrate the history of regional mining, the graphite visitor mine was founded in Kropfmühl in 1983. Parts of the historic mine and individual tunnels were made accessible to visitors. The Graphit Kropfmühl Visitor Mine Association was founded in 2010 and has been working to preserve this cultural heritage ever since.

Funded by, among others, the district of Passau, the city of Hauzenberg, the municipality of Untergriesbach and AMG Mining AG, the tunnel building and the winding tower were put into use in 2015. In spring 2016, an interactive adventure world, the Graphiteum, was put into operation, which, however, had to be closed again due to flood damage due to severe storms in June 2016.

Guided tours are offered on site by experienced miners, which extend down to the 4th level at a depth of 45 meters. Beforehand, visitors are informed about the history of local mining with an image film. In the museum itself, historical mining machines and miners' memorabilia are on display. On a 4.5 kilometre long geo-educational trail, the local geology and mining are presented using various display boards.

Since March 2016, the Graphiteum has also been offering a modern interactive experience world that illustrates graphite mining on 350 square meters of exhibition space.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphit-Besucherbergwerk_Kropfm%C3%BChl
Wikidata ID:	Q28045030

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References