Georoute Bergbaupfad Hohburg
The Georoute Bergbaupfad (mining trail) in the Geopark Porphyry Land leads along beautiful forest paths past two disused quarries on the Löbenberg and the partially active Zinkenberg quarry.
Information Boards „Mining Trail“
The small quarry on the south slope of the Löbenberg just below the ski slope (200 m south of here) is a reminder of the earliest attempts to extract natural stones in the region. Rough blocks were produced here and in many other places for building houses and barns. Many quarries also produced chippings for paving roads.
Stone production in the Hohburg Hills increased significantly from 1880 onwards. Apart from blasting powder, the quarrymen back then only used simple manual tools such as hammers, wedges, hand drills, pickaxes and wheelbarrows. Thus work in the quarry was extremely hard and physically demanding.
The Hohburg Hills were formed by volcanic activity during the Rotliegend age (Middle Permian) around 290 million years ago. They consist of quartz porphyry, which appears in different colours and structure depending on the relative proportion of enclosed minerals (quartz, feldspar, mica, pyroxene). This rock is extremely hard and frost resistant.
In many places, the exposures, heaps and holes created during stone production have changed the landscape. Today, these remains are geological natural monuments and reminders of the industrial and economic history of the region. In some cases the extraction of rocks has created valuable geotopes that enable a glimpse into the history of the earth.
More about the regional geology is available in the Geoportal Herrenhaus Röcknitz. For a deeper insight into stone production, visit the Museum Steinarbeiterhaus Hohburg
| March 1927 | completion of the railway line Wurzen – Eilenburg (21.8 km), effectively removing the transport problems associated with developing the Löbenberg massif |
| October 1927 | foundation of the stone production company PROVINZIAL Sächsischen Steinwerke GmbH in Röcknitz with the province Sachsen / Merseburg as principal shareholder |
| 1928 | construction of the railway siding with brake incline system and a 50 ton scale as well as von ballast works, transformer station, compressor system, forge and explosives house |
| September 1928 | start of the rock extraction operation; economic crises caused several production stoppages; a planned conversion of the plant could not be realised in 1937 because of the lack of material |
| 1940 | forced closure of the quarry to “free the workforce” for the war |
| after 1945 | raw stone is transported to the ballast works at the Zinkenberg on a narrow gauge railway |
| 1958 | final closure of the quarry |
open-cast mine area: 2.1 hectare
Water surface area: 1 hectare
average water depth: 8 meters with a natural drain to the river Lossa
For more information and exhibits related to the stone production industry please visit the museum Steinarbeiterhaus Hohburg. The museum also serves as a Geoportal for the Geopark Porphyry Land.
| 1890 | Begin of the systematic extraction of rocks for paving stones, base layer and broken stone for road and railway construction |
| 1896 | commissioning of the 8.5 km long railway siding to Doberschütz the mainline Leipzig-Cottbus |
| 1899 | foundation of the public limited company “Hohburger Quarz-Porphyr-Werke“ to continue operation of the quarries at Gaudlitzberg and Zinkenberg. Until then these were run by the owener of the Thammenhainer Estate, Baron von Schönberg |
| 1902 | Construction of a pneumatic drill plant; the rock crushing plant with a locomobile was constructed in 1904; the operation was electrified in 1912 |
| 1926 | construction of a ballast works with railway siding to the new railway line Wurzen-Eilenburg, 1932 extension of the rock crushing plant and in 1934, construction of a fine grade rock crusher |
| 1957 | mechanisation of stone production with the intruction of excavators, dump trucks and drill trucks and contruction of a new crushing unit. und Errichtung einer neuen Brecheranlage |
| 1990 | Sächsische Quarzporphyr-Werke GmbH take over the quarry and the production of riprap (10-40 cm edge lengths) for armouring river banks |
| 1992 | construction of a semi-mobile rock crushing unit |
| 2007 | end of stone production and demolition of all operational facilities in the following years |
| 2012 | Basalt AG Hartsteinwerke Bayern-Mitteldeutschland takes over the quarry |
Opencast area: 30 hectares
depth of the eastern face: 85 Meter
For more information and exhibits concerning the stone production industry, please visit the Museum Steinarbeiterhaus Hohburg. The museum is a Geoportal of the GeoparksPorphyry Land.