Shortly after we moved to Germany in 2017 I was walking in the Black Forest just outside of our village of Sulzburg, when I noticed what appeared to be a sign on one of the trails leading off the main path into the side of a hill. Why would there be a sign in the middle of nowhere?

Turns out it was marking the site of an abandoned quartz mine that had been first opened in Roman times. There really wasn’t anything left – but I did pick up a small rock with steaks of quartz and some other sparky things in it which I use as a paperweight.

Quartz wasn’t the only semi-precious mineral in the area, and that wasn’t the only mine. If I remember correctly, there were supposedly 17 different mines in the area, though records are a bit sketchy for some of them. For example, I have stood by a sign saying there was an old feldspar mine in front of me, but all I saw was a field with cows in it.

Sulzburg’s municipal museum tells a more complete story. At least I think it does – as is usual with small-town German museums the documentation is only in German.

Today is a photo essay of sorts. I posted some mineral pictures from the museum a few years ago, but today seems like a good time to add to those.

One of these days I’ll share a few of the displays so you can see more than just rocks.