Mining Mining developed in the Black Forest due to its ore deposits, which were often lode-shaped. The formation of these deposits (
Schauinsland Pit:
zinc,
lead, about 700–1000 g
silver/ton of lead;
baryte,
fluorite, less lead and zinc in the Kinzig valley;
BiCoNi ores near
Wittichen,
uranium discovered in the
Krunkelbach valley near
Menzenschwand but never officially mined) often used to be linked to the intrusion of Carboniferous granite in the para- and orthogneisses. More recent research has revealed that most of these lode fillings are much younger (
Triassic to
Tertiary). Economic deposits of other minerals included: fluorite in the Northern Black Forest near
Pforzheim, baryte in the central region near
Freudenstadt, fluorite along with lead and silver near Wildschapbach, baryte and fluorite in the Rankach valley and near Ohlsbach, in the Southern Black Forest near
Todtnau,
Wieden and Urberg. Small liquid magmatic deposits of nickel-magnetite gravel in
norite were mined or prospected in the Hotzenwald forest near Horbach and
Todtmoos. Strata-bound deposits include iron ores in the Dogger layer of the foothill zone and uranium near Müllenbach/Baden-Baden.
Stone coal is only found near
Berghaupten and
Diersburg, but was always only of local importance. Chronology:
Stone Age mining of
haematite (as red pigment) near
Sulzburg. By the 5th and 6th centuries B.C.
iron ore was being mined by the
Celts in the Northern Black Forest (for example in
Neuenbürg). Especially in the Middle Black Forest, but also in the south (for example in the
Münster valley) ore mining was already probably taking place in Roman times (
mining of silver and lead ore; evidence of this at Sulzburg and possibly
Badenweiler). Until the
High Middle Ages the High Black Forest was practically unsettled. In the course of inland colonisation in the Late High Middle Ages even the highlands were cultivated by settlers from the abbeys (
St. Peter's,
St. Märgen's). In the Late High Middle Ages (from about 1100) mining experienced another boom, especially around Todtnau, in the Münster and Suggen valleys and, later, on the
Schauinsland too. It is believed that around 800–1,000 miners lived and worked in the Münster valley until the end of the Middle Ages. After the Plague, which afflicted the valley in 1516, the
German Peasants' War (1524–26) and the
Thirty Years' War, mining in the region declined until just a few pits remained. An important mining area was the
Kinzig valley and its side valleys. The small mining settlement of
Wittichen near
Schenkenzell in the upper Kinzig valley had many pits from which miners dug
baryte,
cobalt and
silver of many kinds. A circular, geological footpath runs today past the old pits and
tips. Another boom began in the early 18th century after the loss of the
Alsace to France. It lasted until the 19th century. Many pits from this period may be visited today as
show mines; for example the Teufelsgrund Pit (
Münstertal), the
Finstergrund Pit near Wieden, the Hoffnungsstollen ("Hope Gallery") at Todtmoos, the mine in the
Schauinsland, the formerly especially silver-rich
Wenzel Pit in
Oberwolfach and Gr.
Segen Gottes ("God's Great Blessing") in
Haslach-Schnellingen. Non-ferrous metal mining in the Black Forest continued until the middle of the 20th century near
Wildschapbach and on the Schauinsland (to 1954); fluorite and baryte are still mined today at the
Clara Pit in the Rankach valley in
Oberwolfach. Iron ores of the Dogger formation was worked until the 1970s near
Ringsheim and was smelted in
Kehl. Compared with the
Harz and
Ore Mountains the quantities of silver extracted in the Black Forest were rather modest and reached only about ten percent of that produced in the other silver-mining regions. There are many
show mines in the Black Forest. These include: the Frischglück Pit near
Neuenbürg, the Hella Glück Pit near
Neubulach, the Silbergründle Pit near
Seebach, the Himmlich Heer Pit near
Hallwangen, the Heilige Drei Könige Pit near
Freudenstadt, the
Segen Gottes Pit near
Haslach, the Wenzel Pit near
Oberwolfach, the
Caroline Pit near
Sexau, the Suggental Silver Mine near
Waldkirch, the Schauinsland Pit near
Freiburg, the Teufelsgrund Pit near
Münstertal, the Finstergrund Pit near
Wieden and the Hoffnungsstollen Pit near
Todtmoos.
Forestry from
Gersbach hold up the largest unsupported wooden roof in the world at
Expo 2000. For several centuries logs from the Black Forest were rafted down the
Enz,
Kinzig,
Murg,
Nagold and
Rhine rivers for use in the
shipping industry, as construction
timber and for other purposes. This branch of industry boomed in the 18th century and led to large-scale clearances. As most of the long, straight pine logs were transported downriver for shipbuilding in the
Netherlands, they were referred to as "Dutchmen". The logs were used in the Netherlands, above all, as
piles for house construction in the sandy and wet ground. Even today in Amsterdam large numbers of historic building are built on these posts and the reforestation of the Black Forest with spruce
monocultures testifies to the destruction of the original
mixed forest. With the expansion of the railway and road network as alternative transportation, rafting largely came to an end in the late 19th century. Today, loggers harvest fir trees—especially very tall and branchless ones—mainly to ship to Japan. The global advertising impact of
Expo 2000 fuelled a resurgence of timber exports. The importance of the timber resources of the Black Forest has also increased sharply recently due to the increasing demand for
wood pellets for heating.
Glass-making, charcoal-burning and potash-mining The timber resources of the Black Forest provided the basis for other sectors of the economy that have now largely disappeared.
Charcoal burners (
Köhler) built their wood piles (
Meiler) in the woods and produced charcoal, which, like the products of the
potash boilers—further processed
inter alia for the
glassmaking industry. The Black Forest supplied raw materials and energy for the manufacture of
forest glass. This is evidenced today by a number of
glassblowing houses e.g. in the Hoellental in Todtnau and
Wolfach and the Forest Glass Centre in
Gersbach (Schopfheim), which is open to visitors.
Precision-engineering, clock and jewellery manufacture 's workshop in a sitting room (postcard from around 1900) In the relatively inaccessible Black Forest valleys,
industrialization arrived late. In winter, many
farmers made wooden
cuckoo clocks to supplement their income. This developed in the 19th century into the
precision engineering and watch industry, which boomed with the arrival of the railway in many of the Black Forest valleys. The initial disadvantage of their remote location, which led to the development of precision-engineered wooden handicrafts, became a competitive advantage because of their access to raw materials: timber from the forest and metal from the mines. As part of a structural support programme the Baden State Government founded the first clockmaking school in 1850 in
Furtwangen to ensure that small artisans were given good training and thus better sales opportunities. Due to the increasing demand for mechanical devices, large companies such as
Junghans and
Kienzle became established. In the 20th century, the production of consumer electronics was developed by companies such as
SABA,
Dual and
Becker. In the 1970s, the industry declined due to Far Eastern competition. Nevertheless, the Black Forest remains a centre for the metalworking industry and is home to many high-tech companies. Since the start of industrialisation there have been numerous firms in
Pforzheim that manufacture jewellery and work with precious metals and stones. There is also a
goldsmith's school in Pforzheim.
Hydropower , a typical Black Forest farming mill near
Herrischried, upper reservoir of the Wehr
pumped storage station (emptied, May 2008) Due to the large amounts of precipitation and elevation changes the Black Forest has significant
hydropower potential. This was used until the 19th century especially for operating numerous
mills, including
sawmills and
hammer mills and was one of the local factors in the industrialization of some Black Forest valleys. Since the 20th century, the Black Forest has seen the large-scale generation of electrical power using
run-of-the-river power plants and
pumped storage power stations. From 1914 to 1926, the Rudolf Fettweis Company was established in the Murg valley in the Northern Black Forest with the construction of the
Schwarzenbach Dam. In 1932, the
Schluchsee reservoir, with its new dam, became the upper basin of a pumped-storage power plant. In 2013 the association of the Southern Black Forest's
Schluchseewerk owned five power plants with 14 storage tanks. At the
Hornberg Basin topographical conditions allow an average head of water of 625 m to drive the turbines before it flows into the
Wehra Reservoir. In the 21st century, in the wake of the
Renewable Energy Sources Act, numerous smaller run-of-the-river power stations were re-opened or newly constructed. == Notable people and residents ==