Top 20 Caves in the Moselle Valley

There are many stations along the Way of the Cross.

Grotto on Allerheiligenberg.

At this point, the row of chapels that leads up the All Saints' Hill to the pilgrimage church interrupts the various decades of the rosary, and here we are shown the Madonna of Lourdes. This internationally famous Marian pilgrimage site is located in the French Pyrenees and is visited by many people every year, including many sick people who hope for healing. The devotional image of the Mother of God, as passed down by the visionary Bernadette, has found widespread popular piety - not only in France - and Lourdes chapels and grottos have been built by believers everywhere.

Allerheiligenberg

The mine path begins with Jupp, the miner carved out of wood, who is a symbol of the miners from Morshausen who mined ore in the lower Theresia mine from 1859 to 1886. The ores were brought to St. Goarshausen-Fellen for smelting. From the Theresia ore mine, the mouth hole of the lowest tunnel at Baybach level near the colliery house, which was built in 1860 for 12 miners and miners, has been preserved and one at the spoil heap level. The various tunnels extended from 250 meters to 20 meters into the mountain and were 10 to 15 meters wide.

Even before the hiker (or pilgrim) reaches the plateau of the All Saints' Hill with the pilgrimage church, there is this grotto with a figure of the Virgin Mary and a person kneeling to the side of it. The latter is Saint Bernadette, to whom the Virgin Mary appeared in Lourdes (in the French Pyrenees) in 1858. The small town on the banks of the Pau has developed into an important Marian pilgrimage site (if you are interested, see https://www.komoot.com/de-de/highlight/4296538 ).

Theresia ore mine From 1859 to 1886, lead, silver, copper and zinc ore were mined from the spoil dump of the lower tunnel sole of the former "Erzgrube Theresia" and transported to St.Goar-Fellen for smelting. The upper tunnel sole reached about 20m into the mountain, the deep tunnel bottom, from the Baybachtal, approx. 250 m. The passages in the mountain followed the ore veins and were in places 10 to 15 meters wide. Because of "impossibility" and inefficiency, the operators stopped mining ore after only 27 years During the Second World War, many Morshausen citizens sought protection in the abandoned tunnels from the artillery fire of the advancing American troops Murscher ores and their origin Around 400 million years ago, the rocks were sediment from the seabed. The layers of different materials (sand and clay) deposited and solidified over millions of years. During the mountain formation 400-200 million years ago, the solid layers were folded into a mountain range by the continental shifts. This folding resulted in deep cracks and cavities. Hot, highly mineralized water made its way up along this path, and over time various minerals crystallized from the water and filled the cavities. The minerals include iron, zinc and lead ores, which were mined as ore veins in the period from 1859 to 1886. Source: Text information board

Die Bekanntmachung aus dem Jahr 1855 vom Altdeutschen übersetzt Bekanntmachung eines Konzessionsgesuches des Anton Hammes, Müller zu Gastenmühle, Johann Peter Schmidt, Ackerer zu Morshausen und Anton Karl Gustav Wilberth, Bürgermeisterreisekretär zu Brodenbach zum Bergbau auf Blei, Silber, Kupfer und Zinkerze im Felde Theresia. Bekanntmachung eines Konzessionsgesuches des Anton Hammes, Müller zu Gastenmühle, Johann Peter Schmidt, Ackerer zu Morshausen und Anton Karl Gustav Wilberth, Bürgermeisterreisekretär zu Brodenbach haben durch ein Gesuch vom 20. November 1854, welches später vervollständigt worden ist , bei uns um die Konzession zum Bergbau auf Blei, Silber, Kupfer und Zinkerze in einem Felde nachgesucht, welches von ihnen Theresia benannt worden ist, und welches nach den beigefügten Rissen genau den Bann der Gemeinde Morshausen, in der Bürgermeisterei Obergondershausen, im Kreise St. Goar und Regierungsbezirk Koblenz mit einem Flächeninhalt von 1.068.601 Quadrat-Lachtern oder 2998 Morgen, 4 Ruthen, 75 Fuß umfaßt. Die Konzessionsbewerber erbieten sich, den Art. 6 und 42 des Bergwerksgesetzes vom 21 April 1810 gemäß, den Oberflächeneigentümern des Konzessionsfeldes eine Grundentschädigung von einem Pfg. pro Morgen zu zahlen und außerdem den Schaden, welcher durch den Betrieb der Oberfläche etwa erwachsen wird, nach den gesetzlichen Bestimmungen zu vergüten. Wir bringen dieses Konzessionsgesuch im Auftrag des Königlichen Rheinischen Oberbergamtes zu Bonn und nach Vorschrift der Art. 21 und 24 des Bergwerkgesetzes durch viermonatlichen Anschlag und Verkündigung zu Koblenz, Saarbrücken, St. Goar, Morshausen und Brodenbach, sowie durch Verkünden in den öffentlichen Anzeiger zum Amtsblatt der königlichen Regierung zu Koblenz zur öffentlichen Kenntnis und ersuchen alle diejenigen, welche etwa Einsprüche gegen dasselbe vorzubringen haben, dieses innerhalb der Verkündigungsfrist bei uns anzumelden. Saarbrücken, den 9. Februar 1855 Königl. Preuß. Bergamt. Quelle: Text Infotafel