Erzberg adventure

Brief information:

• Where is the Erzberg? Address: In Styria near Eisenerz, just before the Lake Leopoldstein (Sat nav address: Vordernberger Straße 55, 8790 Eisenerz)
• What is there to see here? A tour of the mine, a ride on the hauly and an open-air exhibition.
• How much is the entrance fee? From the age of 4 onwards it costs money, depending on the tour. Here you can find all prices.
• When is it open? open on April 30th and close on October 31st. Tours start at 10:00 a.m.
• How high is the Erzberg? 1,466 metres

The Erzberg in general

Iron ore has been mined at Erzberg since the 11th century. Today, it is the largest iron ore open-cast mine in Central Europe and the largest siderite deposit in the world. A total of 12 million tons of rock is produced annually. If filled into wagons, the annual mining would stretch from Vienna to Paris. The main customer is Voestalpine in Linz and Leoben.

The distinctive pyramid shape The Erzberg began to develop in 1890, when open-cast mining was introduced. Mining continues to this day, although the uppermost levels of the mountain have not been worked for some time.

Every year, various Sports events such as a mountain run or the Erzberg Rodeo, one of the toughest enduro races in the world. There are also plenty of other adventures to experience at Erzberg. Here you will find all upcoming events.

We want to test the Erzberg ourselves and have a Combined tour with hauly ride and show mine reserved, takes about 3 hours. During holidays and weekends you should reserve in advance!

Hauly ride

The “Hauly”, as the converted heavy goods vehicle at Erzberg affectionately called, brings children and parents to his still active colleagues at Erzberg.
15 minutes before departure we are given our helmets (cleaned and disinfected). The huge Hauly arrives right on time. The operators themselves describe the Hauly as the largest taxi in the world. In fact, the tires of the 860-hp Hauly are gigantic. A close-up experience of the open-cast mine with insights into the everyday work of the miners and a glimpse into the future is guaranteed.

The Hauly is fully reserved, except for the last of its 62 seats. Unfortunately, we are not among the first to enter the vehicle, so we have to sit in the middle, from where you unfortunately can't see much of the surroundings.

During the bumpy ride, the friendly guide tells us interesting facts about the Erzberg. Fortunately, there are on the tour also 2 stops, where you can go up to the Hauly's platform at the front, from where you can still get a beautiful view of the Erzberg and an insight into the ore mining.

After about 50 minutes the ride is over. Now we have a break of about 20 minutes before continuing on to the show mine.

Show mine

This tour is also only possible with a guide. The bus takes you to the entrance of the mine. From there you get on a small, original train that transported workers into the mountain decades ago. The journey takes about 10 minutes. The journey is quite loud in the dark carriage (you might want to prepare small children for this). Don't forget to dress warmly!

On the tour through the underground labyrinth (it is also quite dark here) you get to know the underground working world of the miners. You learn a lot about the history of the Erzberg. The working conditions from then until today are visualized by many devices and means of transport. At a small pond, the Aquarius legend told and portrayed.

According to legend, the discovery of iron deposits at Erzberg is due to the knowledge of a waterman. He lived in a grotto northwest of Eisenerz and was visited by the residents near the Lake Leopoldstein He was captured with the help of a coat soaked in pitch. To buy his freedom, he offered "gold for ten years, silver for a hundred years, or iron forever." The clever people of Eisenerz are said to have chosen the latter, whereupon the waterman showed them the Erzberg. After they had convinced themselves of the ore deposits, they released the waterman, who disappeared into a karst spring that has since been called the Wassermannsloch.

Towards the end, an explosion is also staged audiovisually. Then, after about 1.5 hours, the journey back is made by train and bus.

In addition to the Hauly ride and the show mine, a visit to the Open-air exhibition possible. But since we have already been here for 3 hours, we save ourselves these additional 90 minutes

Conclusion: The Erzberg is definitely worth a trip. You learn a lot about the mountain and there is entertainment for young and old. However, the fun is not cheap at €32 per person 😉 (as of 2022)