The days in autumn are often more emotional in Lengede. The small Lower Saxony community with its almost 15,000 inhabitants always reminds us of 1963, when there was a major mining accident at the end of October, which turned into a miracle by the beginning of November that went down in history.
The dramatic days in which 29 people died underground in the traditional mining region, but eleven workers were rescued after 14 days, are now 60 years ago.
“I always treat this day with great respect,” says Maren Wegener, referring to the unfortunate day on October 24th. She is only 37 years old, but as mayor she knows exactly what affects people around the memorial days. Her grandfather worked on the shaft. So she belongs to the generation that grew up with the stories, she says. The events of that time accompany her every day. Just because of her everyday professional life when she passes the permanent exhibition in the town hall.
Water and mud flow into the pit
The descriptions in it still sound dramatic today. On October 24, 1963, there was a thick fog over Lengede when sewage pond 12 collapsed around 8 p.m. and up to 500,000 cubic meters of water and sludge flowed into the pit. From this moment on, 129 people are fighting for their lives. By 1 a.m., 79 miners made it outside. The next day, seven buddies are freed.
On the second day, 39 men were declared dead and only four miners were given a chance of survival. “The list of the dead is posted at the gatehouse. The funeral service is set for November 4th,” the documentation says. In fact, survivors are found in an air bubble the following day, but there are only three friends instead of the hoped-for four. They can be rescued after eight days. It is now assumed that 40 people have died.
Eleven men in a small space
The mine director must then be asked “with great emphasis and in a drastic form” to continue searching at all. And on November 3rd, the sensation actually appeared with “weak signs of response from the depths”. A note from the cavity brings the news: Eleven men in a small space, completely soaked and without food or light for ten days. The “Miracle of Lengede” begins.
Chancellor Ludwig Erhard (CDU) rushes to the scene of the accident and encourages those trapped. 449 reporters are on site, reporting live on radio and television for the first time. On November 7th, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., 10 miners and an electrician are brought up with a Dahlbusch bomb – a 2.50 meter long metal capsule with a diameter of almost 40 centimeters. The rescue, now a worldwide media event, ends.
“The world was fine for me, because that was where my second life began,” said the electrician from back then in a recent report in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Adolf Herbst is now 80 years old and the last rescued person still alive. Since the rescuers and helpers from back then are becoming fewer or are no longer as mobile, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain remembrance with survivors.
Evidence of the misfortune
“October 24th should remain a day on which people meet,” says Mayor Wegener. We should talk about the misfortune. Since the tradition with contemporary witnesses is becoming more difficult, they in Lengede are happy that there will not only be a larger memorial event for the 60th anniversary, but also that the new museum will be opened at the site of the accident. The evidence of the accident moves from the cellar in the town hall to the authentic, historic location.
In an old administrative building of the mine, the new exhibition is intended to appeal to young people, bring them closer to the old mining tradition and convey a feeling for the significance of the accident far beyond Lengede’s borders. Gerd Biegel from the TU Braunschweig describes the memorial site as “central for the place and the region”. In the museum, many things are there in all their drama and can be understood over the course of the hour.
“No one was not affected”
This is enormously important for the historian because the events of that time “formed the identity” of Lengede and the region. “Nobody was unaffected,” says Biegel. Today it is important for many people to remember instead of wondering. Because despite all the joy over the eleven rescued people, the 29 miners who died should not be forgotten. Some of them could not be recovered from the pit.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, who grew up in the region, is also aware of the significance of the Lengede mine accident. The SPD politician will come to his constituency at the memorial service and give a speech. 1963 was a tragic chapter, but also a symbol of solidarity and cohesion, Heil told the dpa in advance. “It seemed as if there was no hope of rescue. But the people on site and from all over Germany mobilized to help those buried.”
