page_title: Saxon Mining Office
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Saxon Mining Office / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Freiberg: saxon board of mines. Deutsch: Freiberg: Der Sitz des Sächsischen Oberbergamtes in der Kirchgasse.
context_page_description: The Saxon Mining Office is the executive authority for mining rights in the German state of Saxony. It is also responsible for all non-metallic mineral resources on the terrain of the former East Germany.
context_section_description: Based on discoveries of silver in 1168, Freiberg developed into the centre of Ore Mountain and Saxon ore mining. A mining office (Bergamt) and master miner (Bergmeister) was mentioned here in 1241. Freiberg mining law (Bergrecht), first laid down in writing in 1307, was subsequently adopted in many other European mining regions.
  In 1470 rich silver finds in the Ore Mountains (at Schneeberg Annaberg-Buchholz and Marienberg) resulted in a new (the second) berggeschrey or silver rush. The mining industry expanded rapidly and in the wake of this growth, a single mining administration was gradually set up in Albertine Saxony during the early 16th century. The Annaberg mining regulations (Bergordnung) enacted in 1509 by George the Bearded superseded the Freiberg Mining Law and established until the 19th century, a substantial basis for Central European mining law. The date of foundation of the Mining Office was 1 July 1542, thus the Saxon Mining Office is the oldest mining authority in Germany.
  The Mining Office (known since the mid-17th century as the Oberbergamt or "Head Mining Office") gradually emerged in a long historical process that began in the mid-16th century. This process had begun to establish a statewide mining administration (initially across the Duchy, but from 1547 across the Electorate of Saxony) under Duke Moritz with the commissioning of Simon Bogner as mining advocate (Bergvoigt) and Hans Röhlings as the mining office manager (Bergamtsverwalter) on St. Matthew's Day, 21 Sep 1545. This process of establishment concluded with the appointment of Hans Röhlings' son, Markus Röhlings, as the senior master miner (Oberbergmeister) of the Albertine Electorate of Saxony in 1554.
  The earliest forerunners to the senior mining officials of the 17th century may be considered to be Lorenz von Schönberg, who was appointed in 1577 to as mining steward (Bergamtmann) and Christoph von Schönberg who was appointed mining captain (Berghauptmann) in 1588.
  Following the chancellery law (Kanzleiordnung) passed on 5 August 1547 by Elector Moritz, five districts were created, each with a chief official (the Oberhauptmann) at the top. The first Oberhauptmann of the mountain district was Heinrich von Gersdorf. Since the most important Saxon mining towns and ore fields lay within this district, he was - in addition to his many general managerial duties, including military security and finances - responsible for the mining industry. Under him were thus both officers of the Saxon authorities and the officials appointed to the mining administration. Those appointed as Oberhauptmann in the mountain district were not therefore the functional predecessors of the later chief mining officials (the Oberberghauptmann/Berghauptmann) - they acted as heads of a special or technical authority, the Mining Authority (Oberbergamt) - but were the first representatives of territorial administrative units that were hierarchically arranged between the newly established privy councillor (Hofrat) of the ducal court and the local district offices. The function of the (later so called) district captains (Kreishauptleute) continued to exist even after the disbandment of the Electorate of Saxony's  mining authority (with a Oberberghauptmann or Berghauptmann at the head of this specialized department) until well into the 18th century.
  Until 1869, the Mining Office was responsible for the economic and technical management of all mines, exercising the royal mining rights (Bergregal) as part of the "divisional concept" with the aim of maximising profit for the Saxon electors and kings. It was accompanied by the creation of a geological service (later the Department of State Geognostic Research). Again and again, the Saxon Mining Office and its senior mining officials led the way to important scientific developments. For example, in 1713,  Oberberghauptmann, Hans Carl von Carlowitz introduced the concept of sustainability. A few decades later Oberberghauptmann Friedrich Wilhelm von Oppel and Generalbergkommissar Friedrich Anton von Heynitz were instrumental in foundin
caption: The Saxon Mining Office at Freiberg's Kirchgasse street
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