4. Miraculous rescue of miners
On 19th September 1581, four miners were buried in their pit during their shift at the St. Stephan shaft near Brand at the Goldberg.
Their fellow miners then tried to rescue them. For four days and nights they worked their way down the mountain to free the buried men. But for three men, this rescue came too late. The fourth, Georg Strobel, was still alive. Later he told that he had lain in a very narrow cross-cut, about half a yard high, and had been sustained by a flame moving up and down, and had therefore been able to spend the hours of day and night without food or drink and without fresh air.
Georg Strobel was the son of a poor widow and had to support three younger siblings with his work. After this landslide, Strobel is said to have continued his work faithfully for many years and to have lived for a long time.
A few years later, another unbelievable event happened at the same place. In the summer of 1609, before the day shift began, a miner called his ten men to prayer at St. Stephen‘s Shaft. During this prayer, a terrible roar suddenly sounded from the depths, which could be heard near and far. It turned out that the shaft had collapsed.
After the miners had survived this fright, they rejoiced at their rescue; prayer had prevented the miners from having already been in the mine when the shaft collapsed, thus saving their lives.
Since then, a prayer and song was said for a quarter of an hour before the start of the day shift at all the mines.
Their fellow miners then tried to rescue them. For four days and nights they worked their way down the mountain to free the buried men. But for three men, this rescue came too late. The fourth, Georg Strobel, was still alive. Later he told that he had lain in a very narrow cross-cut, about half a yard high, and had been sustained by a flame moving up and down, and had therefore been able to spend the hours of day and night without food or drink and without fresh air.
Georg Strobel was the son of a poor widow and had to support three younger siblings with his work. After this landslide, Strobel is said to have continued his work faithfully for many years and to have lived for a long time.
A few years later, another unbelievable event happened at the same place. In the summer of 1609, before the day shift began, a miner called his ten men to prayer at St. Stephen‘s Shaft. During this prayer, a terrible roar suddenly sounded from the depths, which could be heard near and far. It turned out that the shaft had collapsed.
After the miners had survived this fright, they rejoiced at their rescue; prayer had prevented the miners from having already been in the mine when the shaft collapsed, thus saving their lives.
Since then, a prayer and song was said for a quarter of an hour before the start of the day shift at all the mines.