page_title: Saint Barbara
section_title: Central Europe
hierarchical_section_title: Saint Barbara / Patronage / Central Europe
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Die Heilige Barbara in einem Schrein in dem Eisenerzbergwerk Schacht Konrad (links) und in dem Salzbergwerk Asse (rechts). English: Barbara shrines in the German mines Schacht Konrad (left) and Schacht Asse II (right).
context_page_description: Saint Barbara, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Greek saint and martyr. Accounts place her in the 3rd century in Heliopolis Phoenicia, present-day Baalbek, Lebanon. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the original recension of Saint Jerome's martyrology. Despite the legends detailing her story, the earliest references to her supposed 3rd century life do not appear until the 7th century, and veneration of her was common, especially in the East, from the 9th century.
  Because of doubts about the historicity of her legend, she was removed from the General Roman Calendar in the 1969 revision, though not from the Catholic Church's list of saints.
  Saint Barbara is often portrayed with miniature chains and a tower. As one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Barbara continues to be a popular saint in modern times, perhaps best known as the patron saint of armourers, artillerymen, military engineers, miners and others who work with explosives because of her legend's association with lightning, and also of mathematicians.
context_section_description: In Germany, Saint Barbara is revered as a patron saint of miners and in extension, the geosciences in general, including the tunneling industry . This connection is particularly strong in the Catholic areas of Germany, as for example Bavaria. Some university geology departments hold annual 'Barabarafests' if not on the 4th then the closest Friday, or within Baden-Württemberg, see University of Tübingen or University of Freiburg or University of Bonn or applied geosciences of the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Hesse.
  In the Czech Republic, a statue of Saint Barbara is placed near the future tunnel portal during the groundbreaking ceremony of most major tunneling projects, owing to her being the patron saint of miners..
  In Poland, the salt mine at Wieliczka honours Saint Barbara in Saint Kinga's chapel.
caption: Barbara shrines in the German mines Schacht Konrad (left) and Schacht Asse II (right).
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