Introduction and welcome @museum.de

Welcome to the Granite Mining Museum. All hell used to break loose here during the day. People hammered and blasted in the quarries, sawed and chiseled in the workshops, heavy wagons squeaked on the rails down into the valley, and the loud hammer blows of the men at the anvil could be heard from the forge. At night, however, when the workers lay in their beds, it became quiet in the Königshain mountains. Now the animals came out of their hiding places. They roamed the deserted quarries and looked in the workshops and canteen to see if there was anything left to eat.

When was that? Well, industrial granite mining began around 1880, when two companies dominated the local market: Königshainer Granitwerke C.C. von Thaden & Co. GmbH, on whose site today's museum stands, and the company C. Besser & Nachfahren, which had also secured overburden areas nearby. Production continued until 1976. Since then, the forests have been quiet again. On our tour, we tell the story of the place and the people who worked here. Animals also have their say and, last but not least, the granite stones that were once the focus of everything up here.