Saltworks

Unimaginable for us today, centuries ago it was a long and arduous process to extract salt. In this country, salt was almost exclusively produced in salt works. Brine was laboriously extracted from the ground and boiled in huge pans until salt crystals formed, which then had to dry for days before being packaged. In Bad Sulza, we have the unique and fortunate circumstance of having the most extensively preserved facilities and equipment for the extraction of evaporated salt. Here you can discover how evaporated salt was once extracted from the brine mined from the ground. You can do this either on a hike along the themed “Brine and Salt” trail or on a guided hike.

Artistic trench

If you take a walk through the spa gardens, you are sure to notice the little stream that meanders along them. The so-called artificial trench was created in 1608 by the salt works of the time, hence the name. It was used to utilize water power to drive five water wheels at the time. These in turn operated pumping systems at various shafts with their brine sources, such as the Kunstgraben, Beust and Leopold shafts, using technically sophisticated wooden rods. The wooden rods also drove the pumps that transported the brine over the three graduation towers.

Shaft cesspool with hand gin

If you follow the small winding path at the water wheel up to Goethe Gartenhaus II, you will automatically come to what Bad Sulza locals call the Göpelhaus. This is actually the shaft cave, where the hand bailer is located. To put it simply, a quay is a superstructure over the mouth of a spring. The upper (younger) Kunstgraben spring located here was drilled in 1885. A very rare item is the built-in hand-operated bailer. It was used to lower the pipes for brine extraction into the depths or to pull them up for repair purposes. Even today, the hand-operated gin is still fully functional.

Tunnel entrance to the artificial trench shaft

The tunnel entrance to the artificial trench shaft with the mouth hole to the lower (older) and upper (younger) artificial trench spring can be found below the shaft cave. The older spring was drilled in 1835 at a depth of 203 meters and supplied a brine with a concentration of 8%. It was replaced by the more recent Kunstgraben spring, which was drilled in 1885. With a drilling depth of 433 meters, it supplied 10% brine for the salt works until 1948. The brine from this spring was then used for bathing in the spa facilities.

Artificial angles or also artificial rods

The artificial angle was originally located above the mouth hole, i.e. the entrance to the artificial trench shaft. Driven by the force of the water wheel and connected to a wooden field rod, the pumps were moved, which pumped the brine from the depths. After electric pumps took over these tasks, the Kunstwinkel was set up in front of the tunnel entrance as a visual aid.

Wheelhouse with water wheel

The Radstube was built after 1835 in connection with the drilling of the older Kunstgraben spring. The water from the artificial moat was used to operate the wooden waterwheel inside. The waterwheel drove two wooden pumping or field rods, which drove the pumps in the artificial trench shaft and the rods in the Beustschacht on the other side of the Ilm. And even if it is still a dream of the future, a water wheel is set to turn again in the Radstube at some point. Until then, however, there will probably still be a lot of water flowing down the Ilm.

Reversible sock

Built in 1841 on the right bank of the Ilm, the reversible dock was used to change the direction of the pumping gear driven by the water wheel, which set the pumps in the Beustschacht in motion.

Tunnel entrance to the Beustschacht

In 1752, Baron von Beust acquired the Sulza salt works, which was almost completely abandoned at the time. Von Beust led the saltworks to a heyday, so much so that the spring here was named after him. Although the spring originates in Bad Sulza’s Herlitzberg, the entrance to the spring, which was drilled in 1841-1848, can be found under the road next to the railroad embankment. From a depth of 398 meters, it supplied a brine with a concentration of 18%. Today, the shaft can only be viewed from the outside.

Louise” graduation tower

The only graduation house still preserved today was also once part of the salt works and was once an “industrial building”. Before it was sent to boil, the brine was passed four times over what were then three graduation towers. The brine ran twice through the “Louise” graduation house, which is still preserved today. Because even then, only “Louise” had a roof and thus kept out dirt from trees or birds. Since the middle of the 19th century, the graduation house has been used more and more for spa purposes. With the drilling of springs with saturated brine in Darnstedt, the Bad Sulza graduation towers were then superfluous.

Brine reservoir

In order to obtain a consistent quantity and quality of evaporated salt, it was necessary to maintain the boiling process day and night. As there was not always enough brine available in the right concentration, despite a number of brine springs and several graduation towers, the two-storey brine reservoir was built in 1780 and extended again in 1810. The brine, which was pumped here from the graduation works using wooden pipes, was stored in two huge wooden basins that extend over almost the entire floor area of the building. Today, the reservoir is a real treasure, as it is the only original in the whole of Europe and is particularly remarkable due to its construction.

Boiling pan V

Directly opposite the brine reservoir is the only one of the nine boiling houses still standing. This was the only one to be fitted with a free-standing chimney in 1885/86. This is where the actual salt boiling process took place, in which the brine was boiled, initially with wood and later with coal, until salt crystals were deposited at the bottom of the huge, square metal pans. The wet salt was then pulled to the wall of the pans with long crutches and thrown onto the pan roof with shovels. The final drying took place in the drying room, the so-called kiln. With a bit of luck, you can watch our salt boilers practicing this original craft in the show boiling facility during the summer months.

Saltworks and local history museum

In 1848, this building was erected as a saltworks tavern, a restaurant for the saltworks workers, salt workers and other employees of the saltworks. In its eventful history, it was then a boys’ school, residential house and boarding school before the Bad Sulza Saline and Local History Museum moved in here in 1954. Here, visitors can learn all about the eventful history of the salt works and salt production in the town. The jewel in the museum’s crown is the historic Convent Hall, which served as a meeting and social room for the saline administration. Everything is still original – from the furniture and paintings to the porcelain. What a pill maker did is explained in the fully preserved pharmacy dispensary from the 19th century. And how great-great-grandmother did the laundry back then is shown at the back of the museum.

Darnstedt brine drilling towers

Although located in the neighboring village of Darnstedt, the brine drilling towers there are still attributed to the Sulza salt works. A deep well drilled between 1893 and 1896 at a depth of 880 meters brought saturated, 27% brine to light. A water wheel and field rods were erected to operate the pumps and the brine was pumped into the Bad Sulza brine reservoir via a 2 km pipeline. In 1937, a second well was drilled in Darnstedt because the riser pipes of the first well had become clogged and broken due to the aggressive brine. Fortunately for the Saline Directorate, the brine vein of the old spring was discovered at a depth of 385 meters. From this point onwards, all other springs in Bad Sulza lost their significance, as their brine would have had to be graded. The spring in Darnstedt supplied the brine for the evaporated salt production in Bad Sulza until 1967. Boiling operations were then completely discontinued.