Tunnel map - Your way through the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine

1 - Entrance Tunnel portal

By mine railway deep into the mountain

Glück auf! (Good luck!) Your experience in the Berchtesgaden salt mine begins here. The mine train takes you 650 metres deep into the mountain. Our miners and guides lead the tour and know a lot about the work underground.

650 metres long
A five-minute ride
a unique experience

2 - Miner's slide

Experience the first slide into the depths

A big highlight of our visitor tour is the first slide. Equipped with one of our overalls, you hurtle 34 metres down into the Kaiser Franz Sink Work. If you do not want to use the slide, there is also a walkway available.

34 metre long wooden slide
Fun and action guaranteed
Say "cheese" – get ready for a photo shoot

3 - Kaiser Franz Sink Work

A impressive scenery underground

The Kaiser Franz Sink Work was built over 250 years ago and was filled to the ceiling with water 150 years ago. It was dedicated to the then Emperor Franz I of Austria. For this reason it also bears the name "Kaiser-Franz-Sinkwerk" (sink work).

built over 250 years ago
17 metre high cavity
2000 square metres of exposed ceiling area
New show about the variety of salt

4 - Rock salt grotto

A grotto of salt stones

The rock salt grotto was built of backlit salt stones in honour of Ludwig II, also called the Swan King or der Märchenkönig ("the Fairy Tale King"), who died in 1886. Let yourself be enchanted by the impressive atmosphere and the glittering salt stones.

Chapel in honour of King Ludwig II of Bavaria
Monument made of salt stones

5 - Model and film on salt mining

Interactive highlights into the world of salt

In an informative and entertaining film you will learn everything about salt and the mining of the white gold. Also marvel at the interactive model of our present-day mine, which consists of five floors or levels.

interactive model of the tunnel system
Film around the topic of salt

6 - Blind shaft

A shaft that does not "see daylight"

A blind shaft connects different floors in the mine. It has no direct connection to the surface and is used for transporting people or materials. It also serves to supply fresh air.

it connects two levels (floors) with each other
it is used for transport

7 - tunnel excavation

Technical achievements in salt mining

With today's technology, the milling machines can manage up to six metres per day. In comparison, miners used to manage only a few centimetres a day with tools.

manual excavation until 1900: 6 cm/day
Drilling advance up to 2000: 2 m/day
Mechanical advance as of 2001: 6 m/day

8 - Drilling mud sink work

The extraction of brine in the Berchtesgaden salt mine

At the drilling mud sink work you will learn how the salt is washed out of the mountain. This complex machine is an air-lift drilling rig with associated pumps and tanks. With their help, a large borehole is first driven 125 metres deep into the ground. Spring water is then used to flush out a cavity, the so-called initial cavity. In this way, salt is leached out of the Hazel Mountains. The resulting brine and the dissolved rock are then pumped out using the airlift method. Water supply and pumping out – these two processes constantly alternate in the brine extraction process.

Around 30 active drilling mud sink works
on two mining levels

9 - Magical Salt Room

The lives of miners – past and present

How was it in the past, how is it today? An exciting and mystical journey into the miners' guild and their lives awaits you in the Magic Salt Room. In an animation, you will also learn everything about the mine drainage system and the importance of salt for the region.

a glimpse into the past and present
high-resolution animation
magic atmosphere

10 - The second slide

Experience another slide

What is a "Göpel" (wooden gear) and what was it used for in mining? Before the second slide takes you 40 metres down to the Spiegelsee (Mirror Lake), you will learn exciting background information about the function of the miners' slides. Would you prefer to slide? Of course, you can also use stairs instead.

40 metre long wooden slide
it used to be used for transporting material in inclined shafts
An experience for young and old

11 - The Spiegelsee (Mirror Lake)

A reflective spectacle deep underground

A raft trip across the glittering Mirror Lake is one of the highlights of our guided tour of the Berchtesgaden salt mine. The underground salt lake owes its name to the ceiling reflection on the water surface.

130 metres underground
lowest point of the visitor tour
atmospheric trip across the lake

12 - The Reichenbach pump

Marvel at one of the most revolutionary inventions in salt mining

The bronze Reichenbach pump, whose invention had a decisive influence on salt mining, weighs 14 tonnes. With this pump, one was able to raise the brine above the mountain.

it weighs 14 tonnes
it is made entirely of bronze
it ran 110 years without disruption

13 - Inclined lift

The lift will take you back to the surface

Time for a change of perspective: the inclined lift takes you 23 metres up to the Ferdinandberg level, from where the mine train takes you back to the starting point of your tour.

23 metres up
then the mine railway will be waiting for you again