Rabensteiner Stollen Mining Experience

Rabensteiner Stollen is a former coal mine in the Harz region of Germany. It has been open to visitors for underground guided tours since 1981. Coal was mined here for a short time starting in 1737 and then began again in the 1830s. The mine was never very successful and after several attempts to improve production no more coal was mined after 1949. On the surface, visitors can see a collection of equipment, including a working railway, conveyors, the waste dump (where people often find fossils), and a café. On the mine tour visitors see the cable-hauled underground railway, the coal seams and the different practices for holding up the roof with timber and steel. Passengers can ride on the underground miners’ train pulled by an electric locomotive.