''Radstube'' means something like "wheelhouse" or "wheel room" and is the German

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

term for a surface or underground structure designed to house a

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...

in order to drive a flatrod system. The fast-developing

mining industry Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

in Europe in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

led to big increases in the quantities of materials used, mineshafts being sunk to ever increasing depths and, in particular, sharply rising demands on the

water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightl ...

of mines, all of which required suitable sources of power. One option for fulfilling these requirements was hydropower and the construction of

s. These were enclosed in buildings, or ''Radstuben'', to protect them from the weather. The name ''Radstube'' was later also applied to underground chambers designed to accommodate a water wheel. The installation of underground ''Radstuben'' was particularly difficult and expensive.

Literature

* Alfred Nehls: ''Aller Reichtum lag in der Erde.'' Verlag Gronenberg, Gummersbach, 1993, {{ISBN, 3-88265-180-6 Water management in mining Water wheels