from Michaela Meier , Michaela Meier
Since 4 December 2024, the small special exhibition "Grubenwehr" has been showing a small insight underground. Visitors can immerse themselves in the scene and look over the shoulder of a mine rescue team during a rescue operation.
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With the closure of the mining exhibition in 2022, the Deutsches Museum lost one of its most popular exhibitions. But the Deutsches Museum without the “Bergwerk” (the mine) is almost unthinkable. That's why a new special exhibition on the mine rescue team has been created in a small space over the past few months. It is located in the new entrance building on the Museumsinsel on level 1 (cloakroom area) between the lockers and the admission control.
The mine rescue team is taking care of the injured miner. Photo: Deutsches Museum, München | Reinhard Krause
Alarm! An elevated reading for carbon monoxide was registered in a mine, and a miner also reported the development of smoke. Since then, there has been no contact with him and he is missing. The mine rescue team is alerted, equips itself and enters the mine. A standby centre is set up. From there, a team consisting of a team leader and four mine rescue team members set off in search of the missing miner. They have the rescue equipment with them, including a drag basket for transporting injured persons. The team leader keeps in contact with the rescue centre via a voice line. And suddenly: they discover the missing miner, who is wearing his filter self-rescuer to protect him from toxic substances in the air. The mine rescue team now take care of him and get him to safety as quickly as possible.
The mine rescue service, in German “Grubenwehr”, is a combination of rescue service and fire brigade for underground areas. Because the conditions here are so special, specially trained people are also needed to rescue and recover people and preserve property in an emergency. These people are members of the mine rescue services, most of whom are miners themselves and some of whom even work on a voluntary basis. In Germany, as long as people are working underground, it must be possible to rescue them. To this end, the mine rescue team members must regularly train and carry out exercises.
Safety lamp manufactured by Wilhelm Seippel Grubensicherheitslampen- und Maschinenfabrik GmbH. Inv. No. 4266 Photo: Deutsches Museum, München | Christian Ferstl
The development of the mine rescue services dates back to the second half of the 19th century. At this time, the mines were getting bigger and deeper. More and more miners were employed underground. More and more deposits were being mined, which were contaminated with hazardous gases, for example. All this meant that mining accidents became more frequent. The combination of firedamp and coal dust explosions was particularly devastating.
At a certain concentration of oxygen and the gas methane, a spark is enough to ignite the gas mixture abruptly - a firedamp explosion. A coal dust explosion is similar to a flour dust explosion: if the particles are dispersed finely enough in the air, they can also ignite with a spark.
In order to prevent mining accidents, attempts were initially made to prevent ignition. Various companies developed safety lamps for this purpose. The previously open flame was now protected behind glass or a close-meshed wire net. Ventilation (air supply and extraction) in the mines was also improved. It was not until 1896 that research results showed that most of the miners did not die from the explosion itself (which had been assumed until then), but suffocated after the explosion because they inhaled toxic substances. A rescue operation in the first few hours after an explosion could therefore save lives. This important realisation heralded the beginning of organised mine rescue.
And so, on the one hand, the development of rescue equipment began so that rescuers could move around the affected mine areas without inhaling the toxic substances from the air themselves. On the other hand, the first rescue teams were formed for the mines, which were available in an emergency.
Over the course of the 20th century, the mine rescue service became more professional thanks to continuous research into the causes of accidents and the further development of protective equipment. Thanks to well-trained mine rescue teams and improved occupational safety measures, mining accidents were reduced and more lives were saved.
Die Grubenwehr-Inszenierung im „Modernen Bergbau“. Photo: Deutsches Museum, München | Reinhard Krause
Because the topic of mine rescue plays an important role in mining, the new special exhibition is also not the first presentation in the Deutsches Museum. In the "Modern Mining" section, a mine rescue operation was shown until 2015. This was not about rescuing people, but about inspecting a closed-off part of the mine.
The mine rescue team staging by the mining department in 1925. Photo: Deutsches Museum
And in the exhibition from 1925, when the museum opened on the Museum Island, there was already a staging of the mine rescue team with figurines wearing the breathing apparatus of the time. One of these devices, the Dräger rescue apparatus model 1910/11, has been restored and can now be viewed in the special exhibition in comparison with current breathing apparatus.
Michaela Meier is curator for mining and raw materials and is delighted that the mine rescue team is now bringing a piece of mining back into the museum. The geoscientist is enthusiastic about the diversity of raw materials and is working on the concept for a new exhibition.
Michaela Meier is curator for mining and raw materials and is delighted that the mine rescue team is now bringing a piece of mining back into the museum. The geoscientist is enthusiastic about the diversity of raw materials and is working on the concept for a new exhibition.
