Oelsnitz Coal World Museum renovated - opening in October

After five years, the "KohleWelt - Museum Steinkohlenbergbau Sachsen" in Oelsnitz has been completely renovated. At a ceremony on Sunday to mark the completion of the construction work, the Erzgebirgskreis (Ore Mountain District) as the sponsor gave an insight behind the scenes and into the new exhibition, which has doubled in size to 2,500 square meters. It will open on October 26, said museum director Jan Färber.

The extensive refurbishment of the museum, which was built in 1986 in the listed building of a former coal mine, cost almost 30 million euros and has therefore become significantly more expensive than planned - due to increased construction costs and unexpected difficulties with renovations to the historic structure. The original estimate was around 18 million euros.

New technology and connecting architecture

According to Färber, ventilation systems were installed, the electronics renewed and staircases created to connect the individual exhibition areas. In future, there will be space for around 450 of the collection, which comprises around 60,000 exhibits in total. The Free State of Saxony is funding the exhibition on the history of coal mining in Saxony and coal in general with around 2.9 million euros. The historic winding tower, which has been closed since 2015, will also be accessible again via a kind of glass staircase - including a panoramic view from above.