View of Schacht 371 (Wismut) from Schafberg

The shaft complex 371 in Hartenstein is one of the few uranium ore mining facilities of the former SDAG Wismut that has largely been preserved. The daily facilities built from 1956 include
the shaft building with a 50 m high steel headframe, the machine house with the hoisting machine and a large functional and administrative building. On May 1, 1959, the shaft was handed over from object 11 to object 09. When it was officially commissioned on May 2, 1959, it went down in Wismut history as the “May 1 youth shaft”.Shaft 371 was one of the most important main shafts of the former Aue mining company. The shaft tube was approx. 1,000 m deep and had a diameter of 7 m. The mining in the world's largest urangeal deposit reached a depth of more than 1,800 m. The shaft, which employed up to 3,000 people, was thus at times one of the deepest mines in Europe and supplied more than 73,000 t of uranium by the time it was discontinued in 1990. In March 2011, the last large bismuth shaft was finally closed. The operating area 371 is still the seat of the Wismut GmbH redevelopment area.

View from the Schafberg

Extensive view from the Schafberg