Glück-Auf-Wanderung Mansfelder Bergwerksbahn

Wipperliese and Mansfeld Copper

The Mansfelder Bergwerksbahn is a narrow-gauge railway (track gauge 750 mm) that once connected the shafts and smelters of the Mansfeld copper shale mining industry. Since the end of active mining in 1990, the line has been operated as a museum railway by the Mansfelder Bergwerksbahn e.V. The locomotives and wagons, jokingly called "Wipperliese", are industrial monuments themselves — and at the same time a means of transport for an entire region that grew with mining and ended with it.

Glück-Auf-Wanderung: Railway + Hiking

Once a year in August, the association organizes a guided hike combined with a train ride. "Glück Auf!" is the traditional miner's greeting, and the day is dedicated to this very tradition. The meeting point is the Wipperliese, with which participants travel to Mansfeld (Südharz). From there, a guided hike — typically 8 to 15 km — leads through the historic mining landscape of the Mansfelder Land: past old shafts, spoil heaps, miners' settlements, with expert explanations on geology and history. Return trip with the Wipperliese.

Mansfeld-Südharz — Mining Area Becomes Nature Park

The Lutherstadt Eisleben and the Mansfelder Land are located in the Mansfeld-Südharz district (AGS 15087), in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. For centuries, the region was the center of German copper shale mining, and Martin Luther (born 1483 in Eisleben) grew up as the son of a Mansfeld smelter foreman. Today, the region is a landscape in transition: industrial heritage meets renaturation, mining tradition meets gentle tourism. The Glück-Auf-Wanderung is one of the most beautiful experiences to understand this landscape.