Mining For over 700 years,
silver,
lead and
zinc were mined from the Schauinsland. In the Middle Ages, mining was very productive, so much so that in the 14th century a number of contractors of the Dieselmuot mine could afford to donate glass windows to the
Freiburg Minster. The miners lived right next to the mines on the Schauinsland in two settlements, which were abandoned during the 16th century. The silver obtained was traded and used for minting coins. The mining tunnels are spread over 22 levels and amount to a total of about . At the beginning of the 20th century, about 250 miners were employed in the Schauinsland mines. Production ceased in 1954 due to the mine not yielding enough economy.
Kapplerstollen There is a tunnel, the so-called Kapplerstollen, which connects the villages Kappel and Hofsgrund. It is also referred to as "midwife's tunnel" due to the fact that around the end of the 19th century midwives, as well as the children of Kappel, used it as a shortcut to Hofsgrund. The tunnel still exists, however, its entries are no longer accessible. Since 1975, the Barbarastollen, a reconstructed part of the mine, has been used by the
Federal Office for Civil Protection and Emergency Aid as a storage facility for Germany's archived materials. The tunnel is Europe's largest long-term archive.
Mining museum The research team Steiber, founded in 1976, cleared and surveyed several old parts of the mine. A part of an old
ore mine has been transformed into a museum that has been open to the public since 1997. On tours, visitors are shown a wide range of medieval tunnels and shafts from the final stages of when the mine was in operation.
Schauinsland Race Between 1923 and 1984, a legendary hillclimb race called the "ADAC Schauinsland-Rennen" took place on the Schauinslandstraße. The long route winds its way up public roads from
Horben over the Holzschlägermatte to the cable car station at the top of the mountain. Since 2000, this traditional motorsport event has taken place on a shortened route up to the Holzschlägermatte, but only as a parade for classic cars. Since 1984, the Schauinslandstraße has been shut for motorcyclists between 1 April and 1 November, as well as at weekends and on public holidays.
Schauinslandkönig (Schauinsland King) Since 2007, there has been a hillclimb event on the L-124- "race course" from Horben to the chairlift station. It attracts over 1,000 participants a year, including racing cyclists, but also bikes with the capacity to tow children,
tandem bikes,
unicyclists, handicapped riders,
inline skaters and
roller skiers. They climb the so-called Schauinslandkönig (Schauinsland King) which is a distance of 11.5 km (7¼ miles) with a climb.
Berghaus (Mountain House) In 1936, a hotel with 26 rooms and 74 beds was built on the mountain. This was used by the French Commandant from the end of the war to 1952. In 1958, it was used as a children's recreation centre and later as a halls of residence building for the town of
Pforzheim. In 1989, it was used by the town of Freiburg as a home for refugees up until 1992 when it was used as a student halls of residence. A doctor from the
Groddeck Hospital then tried to convert the building into a 48-bed rehabilitation centre, but this failed due to changes in health legislation and lack of credit. This led to its bankruptcy in late 2000. The building was empty from 2001 and the new doors and windows were vandalised. In 2011, the Berghaus was acquired by three couples from Freiburg, who wanted to convert the building into a conference centre and holiday home in the spring of 2015. They were supported in this endeavour by members of the
Service Civil International. However, the project did not find enough support and the house is now due to be sold again.
Mountain hotel In 1869, the stage manager of the
municipal theater in Freiburg built and ran a cottage to the south-west of the peak. After various changes, the guest house "Zur Friedrichsruhe" emerged, also known as "Berghotel Schauinsland" (mountain hotel Schauinsland). After a fire in 1926, the house was reconstructed to its current form. From 1936 to 1982, Heinrich Sauerer ran the mountain hotel together with his family. Afterwards, the workers' welfare union ran the guesthouse as a conference and meeting place for groups for thirteen years. As of 2006, the house, including 50 beds, can be fully rented. It is also the location of a detective novel. == Protected areas ==