Eckstein-Wanderung with Miner's Breakfast Bildstock

Where Mining Made History

Friedrichsthal-Bildstock is a significant site of Saarland's industrial culture and the workers' movement. Here stands the Rechtsschutzsaal at Hofstraße 49 – a meeting hall for miners built in 1891, one of the oldest surviving trade union houses in Germany. Within its walls, demands for workers' rights were formulated, strikes organized, and solidarity practiced. The Stiftung Rechtsschutzsaal (Rechtsschutzsaal Foundation) preserves and conveys this history today – not just as a museum, but as a living place for learning and events.

The Hike – An Industrial Heritage Guided Tour

The Eckstein-Wanderung combines physical activity with education. On the approximately 7-kilometer tour, Dr. Frank Hirsch, head of the Documentation Center at the Rechtsschutzsaal, leads participants through the former mining landscape. The route runs from the Kleiner Marktplatz Bildstock to the Rechtsschutzsaal, continues past the Absinkweiher (settling pond) and over the spoil heap to the Reden Colliery – the last Saarland hard coal mine, which closed in 1995. The return path leads through the nearby forest. Along the way, the sites of mining history are explained and placed in the broader context of Saarland's labor and solidarity history.

The Miner's Breakfast

After the hike, a traditional Bergmannsfrühstück (miner's breakfast) awaits guests in the beer garden: hearty, substantial, honest. This was the sustenance for shift workers who needed adequate strength after eight hours underground – today, it is a culinary memento that rounds off the day.

Three Dates in 2026

In 2026, the foundation is offering three dates: May 9th, June 20th, and September 26th, each at 10:00 AM (meeting point 9:45 AM at Kleiner Marktplatz Bildstock). Participation is free, but places are limited – written registration via [email protected] is required. The tours are supported by the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Saar (Saar Savings Banks Group) and the Arbeitskammer des Saarlandes (Chamber of Labour of Saarland) (Saarbrücken), the mandatory chamber for Saarland's employees.

Friedrichsthal and the Saar Mining Heritage

Friedrichsthal is a small town of just over 10,000 inhabitants in the Saarbrücken regional association, which owed its existence and identity for decades to hard coal mining. With the end of mining in 2012 (the last shaft in Saar was Reden until 1995; mining in Saarland as a whole ended in 2012 with the Saar shaft in Ensdorf), the town, like many other Saarland mining communities, had to reinvent itself. The Rechtsschutzsaal Foundation and the Eckstein-Wanderung are part of this process of remembrance and identity – they make the mining contribution to Saarland's economic history visible and alive.