Bad Friedrichshall, die Salzstadt an Neckar (the salt town on the Neckar) is a small town, incorporating several communities brought together in the 1930s. It is situated on the River Neckar, upstream from Heilbronn, and is now in the land of Baden-Württemburg.
Large-scale extraction of salt began between 1895 and 1899, and workings are now part of Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG, based in Heilbronn. The shaft named after King Wilhelm II of Württemburg, the centre of present-day visitor facilities, was completed in 1901. Films and interactive displays show how the mine is worked before visitors are taken on a tour underground which lasts for two hours, extends over 1.5 km and includes a 40 m slide. After descending 180 m in a lift visitors see a huge underground chamber, and pass through illuminated workings in some of which are reliefs carved from the rock salt. Some of the large machines used in mining are displayed. The Bergschänke restaurant is a particularly popular part of the visitor facilities on the surface. Since the mine is still operating the opening times are sometimes varied.
Forced labourers from a nearby concentration who were employed at the mine during the Second World War are commemorated in a permanent exhibition.
Saltworks
Bergat-Bilfinger-Strasse 1
74177 Bad Friedrichshall
Germany
+49 (0) 7131 - 9593303
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