{"id":7228,"date":"2023-01-11T17:17:56","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T16:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jd-kielkowski.com\/story\/time-capsule\/"},"modified":"2023-04-03T11:04:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T09:04:17","slug":"zeitkapsel","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/jd-kielkowski.com\/de\/story\/zeitkapsel\/","title":{"rendered":"Zeitkapsel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Snow covers the coniferous forests of the quiet hillsides. It is spring 1945, German history writes the last days of their great winter. Below, between steep slopes, a convoy paves its way through the narrow valley. Passes a village, shrouded in black slate. Where the miner once took his daily journey, the convoy disappears between firs and pines. A series of thunderclaps breaks the silence. Today one of the old people from the village near by, still tells the story of that long past day. The young boy had to wall up the passage fifty meters into the tunnel. But the chance to glimpse into the darkness behind that point, and what would happen there after he was finished, he did not get.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The steel rope crunches like a guitar string during tuning. Nobody speaking. With each pull the tension rises. The rattling of small pebbles on our helmets can be heard sporadically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 2011, during a routine terrain reconnaissance, we step across a lonely mine dump in the forest. The age of the vegetation indicates that the site is abandoned for at least 50 years. Curiously, we start looking for the corresponding mine entrance. Even after a few hours of searching, there are no signs of a former access. If a tunnel is naturally broken, at least one ping can be detected. In this case, the former access must have been intentionally made unrecognizable. The curiosity rises. After further research in various archives and relevant literature, we find some traditions. A miner, who has seen several Wehrmacht trucks heading in the direction of the pit and who has then excavated a tunnel, residents who tell of unexplained explosions at the same time, and the report of a ministry worker who could not find any traces of the mine entrance after the war. Everything points to the fact that since 1945 the upper entrance of the former slate mine has been destroyed and has not been entered since then. 68 years after the last man left the mine, we set off on the way to open the door to the hitherto unknown galleries and chambers. During the exploration of the terrain, we discover, hidden in the thicket, a sinkhole below the mine dump. It gives access to another lower sole of the mine. In the end of one of the tunnels we find an original preserved crate with label from 1938 and remains of ammunition crates. A possible reference to military activities? The excavation chambers of this sole reach a height of up to 20 meters. Their celling\u2019s and walls are riddled with weather shafts which could be connected to the upper sole. Most of them empty into the chamber high above our heads and are not reachable. However, one shaft opening is located directly above an eight meter high wall made of slate slabs. We are able to climb up to the opening. Unfortunately, we soon discover the shaft is blocked after an additional two meters by a steel beam and masses of overlying rock. Its removal could create a possible pass. But the moving tons of gestated rock could also bury everything under itself. After appropriate preparation and safeguarding, we try to use a cable pull to remove the beam. The beam consists of an old rusted rail as used in narrow-gauge gullies and also in the mining industry. As our cable pulling device has a pulling force of four tons, we anticipate to be successful quite quickly. Dull sounds echo from the darkness. There are several small stones that trickle down on our helmets. We believe we stand right before our goal. But silence follows. The carrier continues to stand. Two further attempts to create access via the shaft remain unsuccessful. So we decide to dig up the submerged mine entrance to the upper sole itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In a further initiative several cubic meters of earth and rock are put aside. After two days, a small gap gives the first look inside. Water is reflected in the first ray of light that pierces through the darkness. The water masses accumulate up to the ceiling of the former entrance at the bottom of our excavation. We start digging a trench through the soil in front of the entrance, to drain the water from the mine. After more than half a century, however, the gravel covering the entrance is heavily compressed. Progress comes slow and with a lot of sweat. Another day and night of digging passes, but the way to the inner mountain is still blocked. For today the mountain keeps its secret, but we will return.<\/p>\n\n\n

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