12 Pingen and Pingen Trains – Traces of Historical Mining

Die  Abbildung nach  L. Ecker  aus  dem Jahre 1565 zeigt die Befahrung eines dem steilen  Erzgang  folgenden Schachts.

Pits are evidence of earlier mining activities. The miners in the Middle Ages and early modern times usually dug their shafts directly in the ore and followed the course of the ore vein into the depth. At certain intervals, further shafts were added and the sections of the vein in between were mined (Fig. top left).

Shafts that were no longer needed and excavated cavities were left to themselves. Nobody cared about them any more, and so they collapsed at some point. Often decades were enough and all that remained of the mines on the surface were trenches with individual, funnel-shaped hollows from the collapsed shafts.

The pits you are standing in front of are part of the large pits on the Bastenberg Gang. It runs up the eastern slope of the mountain and can be followed impressively on the northern side above the Venetian gallery. The ping train traces the line where the Bastenberg Gang comes to the surface, or bites out as the miners say (Fig. bottom left).