A mining district in the European context denotes a specific geographically-defined area under the control and administration of a single mining authority.[1] This district includes the mines,[2] saltworks and smelters located within it.[3]

Regional names

In the former Holy Roman Empire and in German-speaking countries today, various terms were used including Bergrevier,[4] often shortened to Revier,[1] Bergamtsrevier,[4] Bergdistrict,[2] Bergamtsbezirk,[3] or Bergwerksdistrikt.[5]

Background and history

Until the Middle Ages, mining in Europe was only practised on a small scale. There were relatively few mines that were subordinated directly to their respective sovereigns. Their administration was instead carried out by an official appointed by the sovereign on his or her behalf. Mining was regulated by the applicable mining ordinances in the respective states.[6] When mining increased in scope and more and more mines were built, it was no longer possible for a single person to manage the mines. For this reason, in countries where mining was carried out, the operations were divided into several smaller mining districts.[7] Each individual district was under its own mining office, which was only responsible for its assigned mining district.[8] The head of each mining district was the Bergmeister ("Master Miner").[9] The town which was home to the headquarters of the mining authority was the so-called Hauptbergstadt ("main mining town") of the mining area.[8] Sometimes several mining districts combined formed a major mining district, the Hauptbergwerksdistrikt[10] or Oberbergamtdistrikt,[4] which was subordinate to the Higher Mining Office (Oberbergamt).[10] The overall head of mining operations in this case was the Berghauptmann ("mining captain").[3] In countries where there were very many mines, there were several higher mining authorities (Oberbergämter), each of which had its own district. These higher authorities were in turn subordinate to the responsible ministry of state.[11]

Size

The size of a mining district is regulated differently depending on the country. There are countries in which the geographical location is decisive for the size of the individual mining districts.[9] In other countries, such as Austria, the size of the mining district was dependent on the number of mines and the size of their mining areas (Bergreviere). Here, the mining authority determines the number of mines per mining area in agreement with the mining operators involved.[12] The size of a mining area was not always fixed. Changes within the respective mining districts could lead to changes in the demarcations of the associated mining areas.[13] It sometimes happened that two previously independent mining districts were combined into a new, larger mining district.[14] It was also possible that parts of another mining district from another country were assigned to a particular mining district.[15]

Naming

Each mountain district is assigned a specific name.[12] As a rule, the individual districts were named after the main mining town within it.[2] For example the Bergrevier Wetzlar,[16] or the Freiberger Bergrevier.[17] However, sometimes they were named after a region such as e.g. the Ruhr mining district, which retained its name, even though the main mining activities took place north of the Emscher.[18] It was also possible for mining districts to be renamed, e.g . the Bergrevier St. Goar was renamed Bergrevier Coblenz II.[15] If districts were combined, the newly formed mining district also received a new name. This might consist of the names of the merged districts, as with the merger of the Brühl and Unkel mining districts to form the Brühl-Unkel mining district.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 Heinrich Veith: Deutsches Bergwörterbuch mit Belegen. Verlag von Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn, Breslau 1871, p. 78, 291–293.
  2. 1 2 3 Carl von Scheuchenstuel: IDIOTICON der österreichischen Berg- und Hüttensprache. k. k. Hofbuchhändler Wilhelm Braumüller, Wien 1856.
  3. 1 2 3 Carl Hartmann (ed.): Handwörterbuch der Berg-, Hütten- u. Salzwerkskunde der Mineralogie und Geognosie. Vol. 1 (A to F), 2nd fully revised edn.,, Buchhandlung Bernhard Friedrich Voigt, Weimar 1859.
  4. 1 2 3 Carl Hartmann: Handwörterbuch der Mineralogie, Berg-, Hütten- und Salzwerkskunde. Part 1 (A to K), printed and published by Bernhard Friedrich Voigt, Ilmenau 1825.
  5. ↑ Georg Schreiber: Der Bergbau in Geschichte, Ethos und Sakralkultur. Springer Fachmedien GmbH, Wiesbaden 1962, ISBN 978-3-663-00242-0, S. 397.
  6. ↑ Adolf Arndt, Kuno Frankenstein (ed.): Hand- und Lehrbuch der Staatswissenschaften in selbständigen Bänden. Erste Abteilung Volkswirtschaftslehre XI. Band, Bergbau und Bergbaupolitik, Verlag von C.L. Hirschfeld, Leipzig 1894, pp. 32–37.
  7. ↑ Friedrich August Schmid (ed.): Deutsche Bergwerks-Zustände, eine Charakteristik der Bergwerks-Verfassung Deutschlands mit Hinweisung auf ihre Mängel und ihre Bedürfnisse. In Commission der Kori'schen Buchhandlung, Dresden 1848, pp. 132–154.
  8. 1 2 Swen Rinmann: Allgemeines Bergwerkslexikon. Part 1, Fr. Chr. W. Vogel, Leipzig 1808.
  9. 1 2 Christian Heinrich Gottlieb Hake: Commentar über das Bergrecht mit steter Rücksicht auf die vornehmsten Bergordnungen, verbunden mit der für den Juristen nothwendigen Technik. Kommerzienrath J. E. von Seidel Kunst- und Buchhandlung, Sulzbach im Regenkreise Baierns 1823, S. 74–80.
  10. 1 2 Berg- und hüttenmännischer Wegweiser durch Ober-Schlesien: Ein Handbuch sowohl für gebildete Reisende aller Art, als zum Selbststudium zunächst für Berg- und Hüttenleute, besonders vom Eisenhütten-Fache, dann aber auch für Technologen, Kameralisten, Staatswirthe und Freunde der Industrie; Part 1, in der Hande- und Spenerschen Buchhandlung G. J. Joseephy, Berlin 1828, pp. 1–4.
  11. ↑ Ministerium für Handel, Gewerbe und öffentliche Arbeiten (ed.): Zeitschrift für das Berg-, Hütten- und Salinenwesen in dem preußischen Staate. Verlag der königlichen geheimen Ober-Hofdruckerei R. Decker, Berlin 1858, pp. 1–8.
  12. 1 2 Rudolph Manger (ed.): Das Oesterreichische Bergrecht nach dem allgemeinen Berggesetze für das Kaiserthum Oesterreich vom 23. Mai 1854. Verlag der k. k. Hof-Buch- und Kunsthandlung F. A. Credner, Prag 1857, S. 20–23.
  13. ↑ Gesetzgebung und Verwaltung. In: Glückauf, Berg- und Hüttenmännische Zeitschrift. Verein für die bergbaulichen Interessen im Oberbergamtsbezirk Dortmund (publ.), No. 17, 49th Year, 26 April 1913, p. 674.
  14. 1 2 C. Heusler: Beschreibung des Bergreviers Brühl-Unkel und des niederrheinischen Braunkohlenbeckens. Bei Adolph Marcus, Bonn 1897, p. 1.
  15. 1 2 Wilhelm Dunker: Beschreibung des Bergreviers Coblenz II.. Adolph Marcus, Bonn 1884, p. 1.
  16. ↑ Wilhelm Riemann: Beschreibung des Bergreviers Wetzlar. Adolph Marcus, Bonn 1878, pp. 86–88.
  17. ↑ Otfried Wagenbreth, Eberhard Wächtler (eds.): Der Freiberger Bergbau. VEB Deutscher Verlag für Grundstoffindustrie Leipzig 1986, S. 363.
  18. ↑ Ernst Jüngst: Die Bergwerksproduktion des niederrheinisch-westfälischen Bergbaubezierks im Jahre 1912. In: Glückauf, Berg- und Hüttenmännische Zeitschrift. Verein für die bergbaulichen Interessen im Oberbergamtsbezirk Dortmund (Hrsg.), No. 17, 49th Year, 26 April 1913, pp. 660–668.

Literature

  • Hans Grothe, Hermann Franke, ed. (1962), "Lexikon des Bergbaus", Lueger Lexikon der Technik (4th fully revised and expanded ed.), Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, vol. Band 4 Bergbau, p. 431
  • Günther Beck (2010), Wolfgang Ingenhaeff, Johann Bair (ed.), "Die Bildung von Bergrevieren in der Salzwirtschaft (dargestellt an Beispielen aus Mitteleuropa)", Bergbau und Berggeschrey. Zu den Ursprüngen europäischer Bergwerke (8. Internationaler Montanhistorischer Kongress Schwaz / Sterzing 2009), Hall in Tirol/Vienna: Berenkamp, pp. 39–58, ISBN 978-3-85093-262-2
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