Hallstatt -- Salt Mountain

Salzberg Hallstatt

We are well informed about the prehistoric salt mining in Hallstatt, as the modern excavation "Heidnisches Gebäu" was driven through. The first archaeological investigation underground was carried out in 1849. The mine inspector Johann Georg Ramsauer set up a shotcrete plant with the explicit goal of securing prehistoric finds. Ramsauer had been observing for several "years the occurrence of the greenish salt," from which he concluded the presence of "Bronze Age objects," which were then actually found.

It is generally believed that as early as 1000 BC, regulated mining began at the Hallstatt salt mountain, about 500 meters above the district of Hallstatt-Markt. The steep inclined shafts of low height, very wide and deep driven, resemble those of the Mitterberg in Salzburg, where copper had already been mined earlier. From these facilities, the so-called North Group, any size of Haselgebirge was extracted.

From the find sites of the East Group — horizontal tunnels mainly working the roof — only chunks of a certain size were mined from the eighth century BC onward in a standardized manner. The well-known heart-shaped mining figures are preserved as a real find in the Stügerwerk. After a landslide in the fourth century BC destroyed the mine workings, Hallstatt lost its dominance in salt production. From that point on, reliable evidence is missing.

It was only in the Middle Ages that regulated salt production aimed at trade resumed. The decisive improvement in salt mining, to open salt-bearing rock layers in a stoping manner and establish works, can be traced back to the 12th century. The infiltrated freshwater in the mine becomes saturated with salt. The resulting brine was skimmed, led over the brine separator to the surface, and evaporated there.

The first Hallstatt mine survey was conducted in 1523. The surveyors were still unfamiliar with scaled representations; the routes were mapped on the frozen lake at a 1:1 scale. Only in the second half of the 16th century did the "mapping of the shafts in reduced measure" become known in the Salzkammergut.

Around the time of the first Reformation pamphlet of 1524, salt production was already increasing so strongly that a second, continuously operated pan was set up. Due to a shortage of wood, this pan was abandoned again in 1615. The excess brine was transported via the brine separator from Hallstatt to Ischl since 1596 and from 1607 to the salt works in Ebensee.

This forty-kilometer pipeline originally consisted of about 13,000 drilled larch logs with uniform knot sizes. The brine workers had long rats in several calibers available for pre- and post-drilling. To produce the sturdy connections "Manndel in Weibel," flat planes and cone cutters were used. An important rationalization effect was achieved around the mid-16th century with the introduction of the "Ablass workers." The brine was no longer pumped into bulges but directed into the next lower main shaft and from there to the surface via an outlet pipe.

From about 1770, explosive powder was used for the extension driving, which was obtained from the artillery district command in Linz. The production of blasting boreholes was still carried out manually until about 1850.

The technological achievements of the late 19th century and the early 20th century, such as internal combustion engines and electrical energy, were applied in the areas of advance and extraction.

In 1942, a material cable car was built from Hallstatt-Lahn to the Salzberg-Hochtal, where until 1957 the salt miners were garrisoned from Monday to Saturday.

Since 1957, the entire mining operation has been run from the valley, with the connection between the heritage tunnels established in 1947 at about 500 m above sea level and the horizons in the Salzberg Hochtal reaching up to about 1000 m above sea level through the Beust shaft.

"The restrictive personnel policy amid continuously increasing production demands the introduction of personnel-saving methods," such as borehole brine extraction, so that in the salt production sector, largely automated procedures will soon be implemented.