It is used as a matter of course for seasoning, sprinkled on the streets to get rid of ice or given to the sick in the form of an infusion: salt. As with most everyday objects, hardly anyone thinks about its origin. That changed for me when I discovered the "Hallein Salt Mine" sign while traveling.
Huiiiiiii..... The little ones squeal and giggle on the wooden slide, while their parents have a tense look on their faces. You almost get the impression of being in a playground, but the scene takes place a good 120 meters below the earth's surface. In the Salinen Austria show mine, you can feel like a miner for a few hours - with everything that goes with it.
On rails into the depths
First of all, you start with a ride on the mine train. Sitting on a small bench, you are taken into the mountain. After 720 meters you continue on foot. The first stop is in a small cave. Here, Florian, one of the guides, gives you a first explanation. The Bad Dürrnberg mine is the oldest and largest show mine in the world. Since the 17th century, visitors have been able to experience the strenuous everyday life of miners here.
As it turns out, the structure of the tour is different than expected: First the modern extraction methods are explained and then you travel backwards in time. This goes back to the Stone Age, when the first people discovered the salt veins in the mountain. The location of the mine is also unique: 1/3 of the salt mines are located in Austria and 2/3 are on German territory. The mine is the only one in the world with such an underground border crossing. But don't worry, nobody has to show their passport here: There is a border agreement between the two countries.
What is happening down there?
Since the 1960s, salt has been extracted using the borehole probe method. It is drilled to a depth of 300 - 550 meters and then water is introduced through a double pipe. This accumulates salt and is pumped out again after a short time. The brine obtained in this way is later heated in special pans on the surface. After the liquid has evaporated, the salt remains.
After all the technical explanations, we don't want to miss out on the fun: Time for the first slide. After a short briefing (don't forget to lift your legs, lean back and smile for the camera), the mine guide gives you a hearty push. By the way, you can really get up to speed on the wooden slide: The top speed was 47.5 km/h! To make sure your clothes don't suffer and no one gets lost in the dark tunnel, you have to put on a white jacket and trousers beforehand.
It's not just about sliding!
So that the tour doesn't get too boring for the younger guests, the next thing on the program is an underground boat trip. Before you sail across the ten-degree brine lake, you are allowed to taste a drop of this very brine. And that's enough, because even one drop is enough to make your skin crawl. 27% salt content, that's quite a lot. In comparison: the sea only has four percent.
Off the boat, up slide number two. It goes down a whole 40 meters and you end up at the lowest point of the tour. It's a little unsettling when you know that 210 meters of rock and earth lie above you. That's a lot more than the height of St. Stephen's Cathedral (136 meters). After a short hike and back on Austrian territory, you learn more about everyday life in the Middle Ages. In those days, a manually operated ventilator was used to provide fresh air in the tunnels. The previous method of using a pickaxe to remove chunks of rock and then transporting them out by cart was modernized. Water was now fed into the mountain and, after a short time, extracted as brine in buckets. It was then transported via wooden pipes for further processing.
Salt has been mined on the Dürrnberg for thousands of years. At least twelve historic mining chambers have been found. They date back to a time when the city of Rome had only existed for 150 years. Even then, the mineral was mined at a depth of 200 meters. Wooden pickaxes with an iron tip were used to extract 600 kilograms of salty rock per hour. This was proven by archaeologists during a field test with similar tools.
After almost 1 1/2 hours at 10 degrees, high humidity and gloomy light, you're glad to get back upstairs. Surprisingly, there is even an escalator. This takes you back to the starting point, where the train takes visitors back to the exit. The tour was very informative and when else do you have the opportunity to taste brine directly from the mine, ride on a brine lake and race several hundred meters below the surface? It definitely brings out the child in you.
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Sources:
Own experience during the guided tour on August 15, 2025 by Mr. Florian Kohl
Photos: Ingrid Müller
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