Lengede

Geschichte

Lengede is a municipality in the district of Peine, in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 18 kilometers southwest of Braunschweig and 40 kilometers southeast of Hanover. It became known to the world in 1963 because of a mining disaster and the subsequent rescue operation of eleven surviving miners, which became known as the "Wunder von Lengede" ("Miracle of Lengede").GeographyDivision of the municipalityLengede consists of the following districts Barbecke Broistedt Klein Lafferde Lengede WoltwiescheHistoryThe Miracle of LengedeA lot of water was needed to wash the ore of the iron mine Mathilde in Lengede, and several artificial lakes existed right above the underground mine. At 8 p.m. on 24 October 1963, water and mud from one of those lakes broke into the mine. At that time, 129 men were working underground. Seventy-nine men managed to escape right away. A group of seven men was reached with a drill; when the water level receded on the next day, they could be saved with a float.Four men went to the elevated end of a gallery; even though it was below water level, the air pocket there prevented the water from entering. Expecting to find men there, a drilling was begun to the cavern some 79 meters below ground. In the meantime, journalists from all over the world had assembled. As it was of utmost importance to protect the air pocket, pressured air was pumped down. After six days, three men were finally rescued; a fourth had died in the meantime. The men were brought up with the Dahlbusch-Bombe, a tiny metal pipe which allows one man to stand inside. They had to spend several hours in a pressure chamber before being released.