Sculpture trail "Traces of famous visitors"
On the historic site of the Dorothea and Caroline mines in Clausthal-Zellerfeld (around today's Sympatec company), the new sculpture trail is a reminder of the region's great mining history.
Oversized white feathers by artist Sina Heffner, donated by Sympatec GmbH, refer to famous personalities who once worked or visited the town - including Oberbergrat Julius Albert, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, James Watt Jr, Heinrich Heine and Alfred Nobel.
Clausthal-Zellerfeld as the centre of mining in the Harz Mountains
As early as the 18th century, the Harz Mountains were a magnet for study travellers from all over Europe. In addition to climbing the Brocken, a visit to a mine was one of the highlights of a trip to the Harz - and made the region famous far beyond its borders. Clausthal-Zellerfeld was the centre of mining in the Upper Harz region for centuries and was known as such. The Dorothea (1656-1886) and Caroline (1711-1867) mines were productive extraction sites and places of significant innovation - the first wire rope was tested here in 1834, for example. With the Clausthal Mining Academy, one of the oldest technical universities in Europe, the town also developed into an internationally recognised research location that was frequently visited.
Art meets mining history
The feathers symbolise thinking and documentation in mining and at the same time pay tribute to the people whose work shaped technical progress.
The sculpture trail is embedded in the Upper Harz Water Management System, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At around 200 metres, it invites you to pause, marvel and discover - in the middle of a landscape in which history, art and technology merge in a special way. An ideal starting point for hikes into the pond landscape - right next to the Sympatec company premises.
