Ruud Streefkerk

This forest is located in the Harz in Germany. Already in 968 mention was made of mining of silver, copper, lead and zinc in these mountains. With a depth over 500 metres, around 1800 these were the deepest mines in the world. For the benefit of the mining industry some important inventions were made, such as the steel cable and the 'fahrkunst ', a ladder driven by water-power that consisted of two cables with steps that moved back and forth. By stepping from one to the other, one could descend or go up. Nowadays, these kind of stairs are still to be found in the ‘cake-walk’ on fairs.