UNESCO-World-Heritage-Site in the Harz region
Rammelsberg mine, the old town of Goslar and the Upper Harz water management system – they’re witnesses to the earliest industrial history. Rammelsberg documents around 1,000 years of mining on the outskirts of the beautiful old town of Goslar, once the largest interconnected copper, lead and zinc ore deposit in the world. The Upper Harz water management, the world’s most important preindustrial water management system for mining, generated energy for the mining industry.
World Heritage Site in the Harz region
The UNESCO-World-Heritage-Site »Rammelsberg mine, the old town of Goslar and Upper Harz water management« spans more than 200 square kilometers above and below ground. It’s a witness to what was once the largest and oldest mining region for silver, copper, lead and zinc in Europe. This is where the heart of the European financial economy beat in the Middle Ages. Important architectural buildings were created, from simple housing for miners to the imperial palace. Kilometer-long tunnel systems and the world’s biggest, preindustrial integrated energy network – the Upper Harz water management with numerous ponds characterize the Harz mountain landscape above and below ground. The landscape, architectural monuments and city ensembles as well as the industrial plants and objects in the wide array of museums all store the knowledge gained over 3,000 years of mining culture, power and technology in Europe.