Weltkulturerbe Rammelsberg

Current exhibitions

About the museum

For more than a thousand years, ore was mined at the Rammelsberg above Goslar almost without interruption. Lead, copper, zinc and above all silver made the town wealthy, and in the Middle Ages it frequently hosted emperors and kings. Underground works such as the Feuergezäher Gewölbe and the Rathstiefste Stollen date from that era. In the early 19th century, chief mining officer (Oberbergmeister) Johann Christoph Roeder had a system of watercourses and large waterwheels built that supplied the mine with power for almost a century, until the Kraftzentrale (power station) went into operation in 1906.

In the 1930s, the surface facilities were rebuilt as part of the Nazi rearmament program to designs by Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer, including the ore processing plant terraced into the hillside and the Rammelsberg shaft. During World War II, forced laborers, both women and men, were also made to work in the mine. On June 30, 1988, Preussag ended production; by then, around 27 million tons of ore had been extracted.

A friends' association founded back in 1985, together with the commitment of many local citizens, prevented the planned demolition, so the mine and its traces of operation were preserved as a museum and show mine. In 1992, UNESCO added the Rammelsberg, together with Goslar's old town, to the World Heritage List as Germany's first industrial site; in 2010 the site was extended to include the Upper Harz Water Management System (Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaft). A large permanent exhibition on cultural history was added for EXPO 2000.

Today the site comprises the museum buildings Magazin, Aufbereitung, Kraftzentrale and Waschkaue as well as several underground guided tours. The Rammelsberg is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage and part of the network of the Stiftung Welterbe im Harz.

Highlights

• Ride the mine train into the mountain to see mining machinery from the 1950s and 1960s
• Roeder-Stollen with large 19th-century reversible and pump-driving waterwheels
• Ore processing plant terraced into the hillside, designed by Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer
• Ride on the historic inclined lift across the mine site
• Medieval Rathstiefster Stollen with colorful vitriol crusts
• Mineral exhibition among the original processing machines

Permanent exhibitions

• Kulturhistorische Dauerausstellung im Magazin – Housed in the former storehouse (Magazin), the exhibition shows how mining shaped the lives of the miners as well as the economy, technology and culture of the Harz over centuries; a "Schatzkammer" (treasure chamber) presents special pieces from the collection.
• Dingwelten: Anfassen – Ausprobieren – Staunen – On the second floor of the Magazin, selected collection objects that visitors can touch and try out tell how everyday things become museum exhibits.
• Geologie und Mineralogie in der Erzaufbereitung – The lower levels of the processing plant display the Rammelsberg's minerals among the original machines; the upper levels can be visited on a guided tour.

Operated by

Weltkulturerbe Erzbergwerk Rammelsberg Goslar GmbH (Stiftung Welterbe im Harz)

Director

Oliver Kasties und Dr. Nadine Panteleon (kommissarische Geschäftsführung/Museumsleitung)

Admission & discounts

Prices without a guided tour apply only to the museum buildings above ground. Admission with one guided tour €21 (children €14, reduced €17), with two tours €30 (€19/€24), with three tours €37 (€23/€30); admission with the inclined-lift tour €15 (children €8.50). The four-hour special tour through the Rathstiefster Stollen (ages 14 and up, 5–9 people, booking required) costs €115 or €103 per person. Members of the Deutscher Museumsbund and ICOM as well as HarzCard holders receive free admission and one guided tour. A ticket gets you a 10% discount for 7 days at other World Heritage museums in the region (including Kloster Walkenried, Grube Samson, Oberharzer Bergwerksmuseum, Goslarer Museum and Kaiserpfalz).

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

According to the museum, the site has been assessed and certified as accessible for people with walking disabilities ("Reisen für Alle" initiative); around 70% of visitor areas are wheelchair-accessible. Wheelchair-accessible entrance with intercom at the Werkstraße gate, two accessible parking spaces directly in front of it, three loaner wheelchairs. The restaurant, the event rooms and the ride on the inclined lift are wheelchair-friendly; the special exhibition area in the Aufbereitung is about 50% accessible. Underground, only the mine train tour is wheelchair-accessible: a converted car ("Rolli-Mobil") takes up to two wheelchairs plus companions. The Roeder-Stollen has more than 100 steps, and the Rathstiefster Stollen is unsuitable. As of September 2026, the elevator in the Magazin museum building is out of service due to a fault. Guided tours in sign language (Roeder-Stollen, mine train) on request, without an interpreter; information in Easy Language (Leichte Sprache) online. Assistance dogs are allowed ("Assistenzhund willkommen" label), other dogs are not.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Baby changing facilities
• Kids’ birthday parties

Family tour "Aus Klein wird Groß" (approx. 90 min., on Saturdays and, outside winter, on Sundays) with a trail of clues across the site and into the Roeder-Stollen; museum kids' club "Die neugierigen Bergzwerge"; children's birthday parties for ages 5 to 10 (90 min.). Underground only from age 4; the inclined lift ride has no age limit. Baby changing table in the accessible restroom.

Getting there & parking

GPS address: Bergtal 19, 38640 Goslar; access via the A7 (exit Rhüden, then B 82), A36/B6 or B 241.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant
• Museum shop
• Lockers

On-site restaurant "Casino Rammelsberg" serving Harz and seasonal dishes as well as coffee and cake (daily 10:00–17:00). Museum shop Tue–Sun 11:00–16:00. Lockers for backpacks and bags. Underground temperatures are around 10–12 °C, so sturdy shoes and a jacket are recommended; helmets are mandatory underground (provided).

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events

Up to 500 guests.

Conference and event rooms above and below ground for 5 to 500 people, including the wheelchair-accessible former locksmith's and blacksmith's workshop; suitable for conferences as well as birthday, company and Christmas parties. Catering by Casino Rammelsberg. Guided tours can also be booked for special occasions and outside opening hours.

Plan your visit