Goethe opens a Mine

Soon after his arrival in Weimar Goethe was given the responsibility of reopening a derelict copper and silver mine near the impoverished village of Ilmenau.  Seven years later he officially opened the mine with a rousing speech to the miners, relieved to  find employment again.  The ore-bearing seam was soon reached, but the battle against groundwater flooding was eventually lost, and the venture was forced to close.