In the Miners’ Footsteps

Some 1500 miners toiled below ground digging for silver, lead, copper, cobalt, nickel and zinc in the early part of the 16th century. The Anna Mine and the Nickel Museum are a legacy of that time. Tours through the mine  are offered from enod of May until mid October.

Guided Tour of Bromriesen Mine:

The tour starts at the car park in Hopfriesen near the bus stop. Together we walk up the mountain for about 25 minutes to the entrance of the former silver mine tunnel. Visitors are given a helmet, protective jacket, torches and some carbide lamps in the entrance parlour. Relics from the mining era are on display in the narrow tunnels.

Passing beautiful backfill walls and ore passages, visitors use ladders to reach the higher parts of the tunnel system. The mining methods used over the centuries, such as fire-setting, chiselling and blasting, can be seen everywhere. The very brave choose the path through the air shaft to get back out into the open on all fours at the slightly higher mouth hole.

On the way back to the starting point in the valley, the path leads us to the only ruins of a nickel smelting furnace in Europe. The museum is open every Friday morning from 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. during the summer (June to August).