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Petrology – the philosopher’s stone

The smallest mine in the world is located close to Meissen. Every day two miners hoist the kaoline for the famous White Gold. Its discovery is ascribed to Böttger – a byproduct of his alchemical activities. He was searching for the philosopher’s stone, or, rather more pragmatic, gold for Augustus the Strong who was notoriously short of money. How large Böttger’s share in the invention of porcelain actually was, can be disputed as he had help from the polymath Walter von Tschirnhaus and the mining specialists of Freiberg. It was probably for this reason that the Baroque master sculptor Kaendler designed the model for a group of miners from Freiberg to be cast in the fine white porcelain. Today this group is on display in the Mining Museum (Bergbaumuseum) in the lower market (Untermarkt). And in the upper market (Obermarkt) the porcelain bells of the carillon are heard….”Glück auf, der Steiger kommt”.