Reinsberg – On the day of the open monument, the Light hole IV of the Rothschönberger gallery was solemnly reopened on 13 September 2020. At the same time, approval for operation as a show facility (operating plan approval) was granted by the Saxon Mining Authority in Freiberg. The opening ceremony, organized by the Förderverein Vierter Lichtloch des Rothschönberger Stollns e.V., took place with the participation of well-known guests of honor. Among them were the chief miner Prof. Dr. Bernhard Cramer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Saxonia Freiberg Foundation, Mr. Bernd-Erwin Schramm, the Mayor of Reinsberg, Mr. Bernd Hubricht and Mr. Ralph Weidner, who heads Division 46 Mining and Resources of the Saxon State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labor and Transport.

After a construction period of 17 months, the construction work commissioned by the Saxon Mining Authority and carried out in cooperation with the planning office TABERG Ost GmbH Chemnitz was completed by mid-2020. The work carried out by Schachtbau included the construction of a rope and platform installation, the removal of all shaft installations, the installation of new platforms and a new man haulage, the creation of the connection between the wheelhouse and the shaft as well as the reconstruction of the historic shaft head with an accessible inspection glass. The numerous issues relating to monument protection that had to be taken into account were a particular challenge. The total costs of the construction measures including planning amounted to approx. 1.8 million euros.

Primary rehabilitation goals were the creation of a safe access to the Rothschönberger gallery in order to maintain its function as a drainage gallery in a permanently safe manner. In addition, the renovation work made it possible to minimize the return of moist from the ventilation gallery into the historical wooden buildings above ground and to optimize the visual value of the facility.

The historical ensemble from the time of its construction is unique in this form today. The Rotschönberger gallery, which was built between 1844 and 1877 as a drainage gallery for the Freiberg silver mines with a large number of access and ventilation shafts (also called light hole), has a depth of 84 m to the bottom of the gallery in the area of light hole IV. The Rothschönberg gallery is still today the most important drainage gallery of the mining industry in Saxony. With a length of 50.9 km including all ancillary facilities, it drains the mines of the Freiberg mining district into the Triebisch. The aboveground installations of the light hole are maintained by the organization Viertes Lichtloch des Rothschönberger Stollns e.V. The entire complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Ore Mountains Mining Region.