EifelSchleife Mining History Hiking Trail (City of Mechernich)

Dive into the history of mining in the Eifel! At various locations, you can learn all about the elaborate logistics required to extract ore from the ground.

On this path, you can hike the history of one of the once largest lead mines in the world. At the end of the 19th century, about 4500 people worked at the Bleiberg. The plant was unexpectedly closed in 1957, but the remains of this gigantic complex can still be admired everywhere along the path. Due to the harsh working conditions, work in the Bleiberg mine was compared to the conditions of a Prussian prison near Berlin. The miners said they were going "Up Spandau." Besides the hard work, enormous logistics were also necessary to extract the ore from the mountain.  

The Baltesbender Weiher and Buchholzer Weiher were intended to secure the huge water consumption. Today, Buchholzer Weiher is a unique biotope where a variety of frogs and toads make a real racket. Other industrial monuments, such as the “Große Eindicker”, the opencast mine on the Bleiberg and the Malakovturm, make you eager to enter the mountain in the visitor mine after the hike.