With the remediation of contaminated uranium mining sites in Saxony and Thuringia, many structures such as winding towers and shafts have disappeared from the landscape. The situation is different in Hartenstein, south-east of Zwickau, where the steel headframe still rises 50 meters into the air, along with the historic shaft building and engine house. From May 1, an exhibition will open the doors to part of the plant and the technology of the past. Information will be provided about everyday working life, the global political context of uranium mining in the GDR, its consequences for people and the environment and the remediation of contaminated sites since reunification.
One of the deepest mines in Europe
Shaft 371 was put into production on May 1, 1959 as the "Youth Shaft May 1". With a depth of up to 2,000 meters, it was once said to be the deepest mine in Europe. More than 3,000 people worked here at times, extracting more than 80,000 tons of uranium until the mine was closed in 1991. Today, the site is part of the Unesco World Heritage Site Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region
In addition to the historical technology with generators and winding machines, the new show also features exhibits such as drill cores, equipment and miners' tools, as well as a humpback mine that was created for the move to celebrate Berlin's 750th anniversary in 1987. In addition, historical photos and film footage as well as eyewitness accounts provide an insight into the former working day. It also deals with the serious health consequences for the miners and the enormous environmental damage that uranium mining left behind in the region, which led to costs of around 7.3 billion euros by the end of 2024.
The exhibition is also aimed at people who know little about this chapter of German history - especially younger generations, explains Julia Dünkel, Managing Director of the Wismut Foundation. At the same time, it is intended to give a foretaste of the future presentation of Wismut's legacy.
Forecast of future presentations of the Wismut legacy
While the majority of the legacy has now been remediated, other material and immaterial legacies of this period are increasingly coming into focus. These include extensive files, geological archives including a collection of minerals, the traditions of the miners, works of art created during this period and the memories of contemporary witnesses. The foundation's task is to process and maintain this heritage. In future, it will be presented in Hartenstein and in Ronneburg in Thuringia.
The "No Secret" exhibition will open on May 1 on the anniversary of Shaft 371. It will be open to visitors on the first weekend of every month up to and including October, as well as on Open Monument Day (September 14). At the same time, more than 200 works of art from the Wismut collection - the most extensive art collection of a GDR company - are currently on display in the historic cotton mill in Zwickau under the title "Sonnensucher" (Sun Seeker).
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