Hausach

General

Hausach is a small town (5,800 inhabitants) in the central part of the Kinzig valley, about 30 km to the east of Offenburg.

It can be reached via federal road B 33 from Offenburg (highway A 5) or Villingen-Schwenningen (A 81) or via B294 (east of Hausach you get to the crossing with B 33, but take the road to Hausach).

In contrary to the nice old inner cities of the neighbouring towns of Wolfach and Haslach, Hausach is of far less interest to tourists expecting medieval houses. At a closer look there are some nice places: The old pharmacy at the eastern end of the inner city, south of the railroad bridge/road tunnel, the church and the ruins of the tower of Husen Castle (husen is an old-fashioned, medieval name of the town, hausen (or husen) meaning place with houses or living in houses).

Next to the western end of Hausach there is a small road into Hauserbach valley. There you can visit a local mining museum with some reconstructed buildings and machines illustrating the medieval mining in the valley.

In the valleys around Hausach there have been some old, abandoned mines, of which I will describe some here, and a still active quarry directly at the gas station to the south of the federal road B 33 to Offenburg (about 1.5 km west of Hausach).

Geology

The area described here is part of the Central Black Forest Gneiss Complex and mainly consists of biotite gneisses.

Usually in this area the gneiss is of mixed origin, i.e. both paragene and orthogene fractions are present. In the gneisses, amphibolite or calcsilicate lenses can occur as well as some small pegmatite dikes. Syenites and quartz porphyries of rather synorogenic origin (in contrary to the rhyolites at the western rim of the Central Black Forest) are minor constituents.

Hausach is situated near the eastern end of the Kinzigtal Graben, a tertiary zone perpendicular to the Upper Rhine Graben. The Graben Zone is defining the lower part of the Kinzig valley from Offenburg to Wolfach.

Locality links

Chose described localities around Hausach from the menu below

Mineral Veins

Around Hausach, several types of mineralized veins can be distinguished. Prevalent striking directions are either almost parallel or perpendicular to the Upper Rhine Graben (i.e. SW-NE and NW-SE).

Besides those mineral veins discussed below, pegmatite veins at Hechtsberg Quarry and in Einbach Valley can be found, bearing xls of microcline, black tourmaline (schorl most likely), sometimes muscovite and garnet.

Vein types:

1. Pure quartz veins, sometimes with minor hematite, most common veins at both sides of the Kinzig valley, of no or nearly no interest to both miners and mineralogists. Examples are Dorschenberg or Gechbach veins.
2. Quartz veins with Au-Sb-Pb ores and Fe sulphides. Four to five  of those are present: Ludwig Mine with three veins and Elisabeth Mine. Usually hard, white to grey quartz (often rather chert-like), often with small inclusions of iron sulphides (arsenopyrite, quartz, marcasite after pyrrhotite). Small amounts of primary native gold are present as well as Au contents in iron sulphides (mostly pyrite). In the Elisabeth vein(s) this is all of the mineralisation, while in the Ludwig mine a Pb-Sb-Ag paragenesis is far more widespread. Antimonite is also a common inclusion in quartz, but sometimes forming masses of crystal sprays. Semseyite is by far the most common ore mineral at Ludwig mine. Miargyrite is the most common Ag mineral. Maybe the Ag veins in the lower Einbach valley  are also part of this formation.
3. Carbonate-Baryte veins with Pb-Zn ores are prevalent in Hauserbach valley and had been the most important of all veins at Hausach. Galena and sphalerite do occur in a matrix made up by baryte, very minor fluorite (only a few samples have been found), dolomite/siderite and calcite. Todays nearly no specimens from those interesting veins can be obtained. 
4. Baryte-Fluorite Pb-Zn veins are the predominant type in the upper part of the Einbach valley. Most of the vein mass is made up either of white to flesh-coloured, coarse grained lamellar baryte or intergrown quartz-fluorite masses. The fluorite usually is either greyish blue or violet. Well-formed cubes are rather common. Galena is by far the most important ore mineral. In some of the veins, ore minerals are rare (up to lacking). In some veins copper can become a more important constituent, mostly chalkopyrite is the ore mineral then.
5. Hematite-quartz-baryte zones: In proximity to the farmhouses of Erletz (Erlets) east of the lower Einbach valley silicified porphyric rocks are outcropping along a fault zone. Hematite occurs as specularite, often on quartz xls and/or white baryte.
6. In the still active Hausach Quarry (collecting prohibited) three fairly unique mineralisations do occur:

• SE-NW clefts with Calcite and chert-like quartz, bearing Co-Ni minerals (Safflorite, Glaucodot, Annabergite, Erythrite)
• clefts rectangular to the Co clefts with Cu sulphides/arsenides, including Bornite, Stromeyerite, Lautite, Chalcocite
• Bismuth clefts with primary Wittichenite ore, weathered to Chrysocolla with Beyerite/Bismutite, Namibite, Eulytine and  Hechtsbergite   (type locality)      

Mines and veins

The mines and veins in the following overview are named according to BLIEDTNER and MARTIN, 1986. Only the Lachsgrund vein is named Lassgrund according to the topographical maps and recent collector's activities.

They are arranged by geographical order.

Mines are in bold, single veins in mining fields and veins without mining activities are in italics.

 Einbach Valley

Kinzig Valley

Adlersbach Valley 

Hauserbach Valley