The Processing Mechanic

The extraction of Bergische Grauwacke was first documented on a map in 1809. However, the depiction on the so-called Tranchot map is highly inaccurate. The Prussian survey of 1842 provides a more precise representation: around the Brungerst summit and a southwest area nearby, two large excavation areas with numerous small quarries can be identified.

With the development of transportation routes, new quarry operations emerged on the southern edge of Brungerst. The entrepreneur August Lob consolidated them into a large mining area. His daughter, Carola Lob, continued the business and merged it with Basalt AG in 1905. A ten-kilometre-long rail network traversed the extraction areas. Initially known as Bergisch-Märkische Steinindustrie, the company is now named BGS – Bergische Grauwacke Steinbruch Betriebsgesellschaft mbH.

The Prussian survey of 1895 also documents quarrying activities in the Eremitage area for the first time. A century earlier, a hermit lived a secluded life here. Unlike in other areas of Brungerst, there was never a merger of quarry operations in Eremitage. The companies Heinrich Quirrenbach Naturstein Produktions- und Vertriebs-GmbH and Otto Schiffarth Steinbruch GmbH & Co. KG are located side by side in this area.

During its peak in the 1920s, up to 300 workers laboured at Brungerst. Another 400 men were employed around Lindlar-Felsenthal, primarily producing gravel and crushed stone. The project “Steinreich an Grauwacke” – a collaboration between the LVR-Freilichtmuseum Lindlar, the Verein der Freunde und Förderer des Bergischen Freilichtmuseums Lindlar, and the Abteilung Kulturlandschaftspflege im LVR-Fachbereich Regionale Kulturarbeit – traces the cultural landscape development of selected quarry operations over the past 120 years at www.kuladig.de.

There are currently still about a dozen active quarry operations in the Bergisches Land. While gravel for infrastructure projects continues to be produced in Gummersbach and Reichshof, the three Lindlar quarry operations at Brungerst specialise in manufacturing high-quality products from Grauwacke.

The domestic natural stone offers diverse applications and designs, including countertops, flooring and window sills. The surface of the stone is processed according to specific needs: it can be flamed, polished, brushed, honed or chiselled. You can explore the various end products in our tactile boxes.

In Germany, around 100,000 tonnes of natural stone are extracted each year. However, the demand is much higher. Many stones in hardware stores come from China or India, where low wages, poor working conditions and child labour offset the high energy and transportation costs. Environmentally and socially sustainable imported products can be recognised by certifications such as XertifiX or Fair Stone.

For more information on Bergische Grauwacke, tours of the quarries with LindlarTouristik and direct contact with the local quarry operations BGS - Bergische Grauwacke Steinbruch Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, Heinrich Quirrenbach Naturstein Produktions- und Vertriebs GmbH and Otto Schiffarth Steinbruch GmbH & Co. KG, visit www.bergische-grauwacke.de.