The mining museum in Oelsnitz / Erzgeb. is a mining museum located in the former “Karl Liebknecht” coal mine in the Erzgebirge town of Oelsnitz and will be reopened in 2024 after extensive renovation.

In addition to the buildings in museum hands, the mine area in the hinterland included other structures, of which the city of Oelsnitz/Erzgeb. has already been able to put some new uses to use in recent years.

A building that had not yet been developed was Hall 18, a listed three-aisled facility that was unfortunately in a severely damaged condition due to the long period of vacancy, which no longer allowed for adequate subsequent use.

In close cooperation with the monument preservation department, a joint concept was developed to dismantle the hall shell, but to secure, restore and reinstall the protected steel structure with the various crane systems. At the same time, the conceptual possibility was opened up to build a hall construction within this structure that plays with the old cubature and in which an artistic light installation by the American artist James Turrell with the necessary installations is inserted. This project is part of the Purple Path flagship project of the European Capital of Culture 2025 in Chemnitz.

Dismantling work is currently underway on site as well as reconstruction work on the steel structure. Civil engineering work is scheduled to begin in June this year.

More about the draft and the project will be published here from mid-June - together with the official press conference of the European Capital of Culture 2025 in Chemnitz.


Hall 18 | James Turrell
Transformation of Hall 18 as part of sustainable urban development

Category: Public, Industrial, Interior, Free Space
Client: City of Oelsnitz/Erzgeb.

Design: Hendrik Heine

Services: Property planning phase I + II, phases 1 – 9; Structural planning phase I, fire protection, sound insulation, thermal insulation, safety and health protection
Project partners: cdf sound insulation, Schälzky civil engineers, engineering office for occupational safety Rolf Sattler
Start of services: 2023
Completion: 2025