Kali-Bergbaumuseum Volpriehausen (Potash Mining Museum)

The Potash Mining – Museum Volpriehausen was founded by members of the Heimatverein Volpriehausen e.V. (local association) in the year 1985. At that time it was the first museum nationwide, which dealt with depiction especially of stone especially and the potassium salt mining.

With the setup of the museum the depiction of the relatively young potash mining and until then neglected one wanted to honour its importance. The discovery of the potassium salt and its importance as natural fertiliser for agriculture by Justus von Liebig and Adolf Frank in the middle of the 19th-century formed the basis for our modern agriculture.
On an area of ca. 200m² in different sections of the museum the development of the potash mining is being depicted from its beginning till today. The exhibition's main focus is on depicting the potash mining in southern Lower Saxony from 1895 to ca 1960 and the usage of the closed mine 'Wittekind' in Volpriehausen as army munition facility (Bw) of the Wehrmacht in the years 1938 to 1945. the extensive collection of stone and potash salt minerals from numerous European countries and from overseas are especially well worth seeing.

The museum's sections
The stone and potash salt mining
The origin of the salts
Minerals collections
The miners' tradition
The surface area - The plant
Work below surface
The army munition facility (Bw) Volpriehausen
The forgotten potash works of southern Lower Saxony
Special exhibition: The crystal glass works Ernst Buder

The stone and potash mining, The origin of the salts, Minerals collections, The miners' tradition, The surface area - The plant, The work below surface, The army munition facility (Bw) Volpriehausen, the forgotten potash works of southern Lower Saxony, Special exhibition: 'the crystal glass works Ernst Buder'

The museum is situated in a municipal building where the village school and teacher's flat were accommodated until 1906. It is looked after by the members of the association since its founding.

Several building and industrial culture monuments still remember the, for the village and region, so important time of the salt mining between 1898 and 1945. In the course of the mining walk-about the interested visitor gets an inkling of the heydays of Volpriehausen.
The museum is open in the months of April to October, Saturdays from 3pm to 5pm, guided tours for groups are possible all year round by appointment.