Brunnen „Schwarzes Gold“

The fountain ‘Schwarzes Gold’ stands on the forecourt of Oelsnitz station in the Erzgebirge. Installed in 2015, the work commemorates the coal-mining past of the Lugau-Oelsnitz hard-coalfield. Black basalt blocks form the main sculpture, their angled edges evoking the tunnels once driven underground. Klaus Hirsch, a graphic artist from Lugau, designed the piece with the architects Heine & Reichold and the stonemason Friedhold Scheunert. Hirsch’s long engagement with the region’s industrial heritage guided every cut and curve. A stylised miner’s lamp crowns the sculpture, while water plays across the stone and subtle lighting shifts after dusk. Visitors find the fountain set against the freshly restored station building. The surrounding square and the new family park link to a planned Landesgartenschau site. A nearby Gradierwerk and Kneipp installations already draw walkers, while the promise of thermal brine beneath the town hints at further development.