Morassina is an

inactive mine An abandoned mine is a mine or quarry which is no longer producing or operational and, there is no responsible party to finance the cost to address the remediation and/or restoration of the mine feature/site. Terms and definitions vary though the ...

Schmiedefeld (Lichtetal) Schmiedefeld is a village and (with the municipal section Taubenbach) a former municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany close to the Thuringian Rennsteig. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Saalfeld. Befor ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, Germany. Today it is a tourist attraction known for its

stalactite A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble an ...

History

The first recorded mention of the mine dates to 1683, as a source of

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...

, iron and copper vitriols (sulfates),Morassina Mine, Schmiedefeld, Reichmannsdorf, Thuringian Forest, Thuringia, Germany
Mindat.org

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

, and colored clay. The colours of the stalactites are produced by the minerals in the mine. In 1717 the merchant Johann Leonard Morassi bought the mine and named it Morassina. In 1750 the

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

trading firm of Frege bought it and became extremely wealthy from it; in 1816 they were able to buy back the Crown Jewels of Saxony, carried off by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, from Amsterdam. However, the bottom fell out of the market after chemical methods of synthesizing alum and

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...

were introduced around 1850. The mine was not worked after 1860,Ulf Hausmanns, Sabine Lubenow and Rudi Stallein, ''Thüringen'', HB-Bildatlas 261, 2nd ed. Ostfildern: HB, 2008,
p. 90
and was closed up and forgotten. In 1851, miners seeking

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

discovered it and the stalactite formations, but because of its location near the

Inner German Border The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the ...

, the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

authorities refused until 1998 to allow it to be opened to visitors. It was finally opened in 1993. There is a mining museum (opened in 1995) and the St. Barbara licensed

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

(opened in 1997);

radium Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather t ...

cures are offered.Geschichte, Entwicklung und Perspektiven des Bergwerkes in Kurzform
, Schaubergwerk Morassina, retrieved 6 March 2011

References

Sources

* S. Köhler and S. Schmitz. "Minerale des Schaubergwerkes Morassina". Bergakademie Freiberg June 10, 1995 (unpublished) * B. Ullrich ''et al''. "Sekundärmineralbildungen des Alaunschieferbergwerkes Morassina bei Schmiedefeld am Rennweg (Saalfelder Höhe) im Thüringischen Schiefergebirge". ''Beiträge zur Geologie Thüringens'' Neue Folge 12 (2005) 41–69 * B. Ullrich and B. Ullrich. "Schwertmannit in den Verwitterungsprodukten des Alaunschieferbergwerkes 'Morassina' bei Schmiedefeld im Thüringer Schiefergebirge". ''Der Aufschluss'' 61 (2010) 75–79

External links

Schaubergwerk Morassina
(English available)
Grube Morassina
at Mineralienatlas Lexikon - Deutschland {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Saalfeld-Rudolstadt Grottoes Tourist attractions in Thuringia Museums in Thuringia Mining museums in Germany Show mines

History

See also

References

Sources

External links