K.A.K.T.U.S. e. V.
Looted Art Investigation Group Thuringia and Saxony

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K.A.K.T.U.S. in the press

Exploration of "SECRET OBJECTS" - February 1990

The K.A.K.T.U.S. group is a club which got found in January 1989. It´s purpose is to investigate the history of the use of the secret objects in the slate mines of Thuringia during the period of the Third Reich. The group could collect much valuable informations and records.
At the same time, the group investigates in lost art treasures, since the investigations brought hints on the use of the slate mines for theses purposes, which have to be cleared. The group needs helpers to open some of the old mining tunnels after getting a permission by the German governement, which can contact us at: webmaster@amberroom.org

The people of Thuringia, which could observe obvious happenings during the years 1944 and 1945 like for example blasts or transports are asked to please contact our group. We handle all hints absolutely confidential! In case we would recover art work or even the Amber Room, what can not be excluded, we will take care of the transmission to the legal owners. The club works on a non-profit base. It´s members work serious and want to publish the investigation results in book form. Also a TV-Station supports our work! We are very thankful for any kind of donations in cash or equipment, since the investigations are very time consuming and expensive.

Mysterious Slate Mines - May 1992

Since my early childhood, I was fascinated by the underground world of the mines and caves. As children, we went to lonely mining tunnels in the surrounding and never thought about the possible dangers! However, we never went in too deep. Maybe good luck, because terrible dangers are wainting inside the mines for people without the necessary knowledge! Deep grounds and pits exist with a depth of up to 300 feet. Also stones can break from the top of the tunnels and rooms, washed out by water.

The reader can immagine, which terrible damage would even cause small stones, which fall from a height of 60 feet from the top of a hollow. Even deadly accidents are not seldom. After the years, I learned much about slate mining and geology and to handle the possible dangers. The slate mines of the county of Saalfeld have been used much for secret underground productions and deposits during World War II. and some of the readers may ask themselves, if there might be some remnants of this time. The answer is no, since the Americans and Russians took out all installations, when they arrived. What remained, got cleaned up from the mining company, so it would be useless to search for "treasures" from the period of the Nazis or even for the "Amber Room". What still can be found there, is hidden under tons of stones and will be the job of some experts to recover.

The only thing that can be found there are old mining railways, mud and from time to time a bat. It would be very important to close all the entrances of the old mining tunnels, to prevent danger to humans, especially children.
These old mines in the county of Saalfeld are not secured at all. As an example we can show the mines Ausdauer and Rentschenbruch near Probstzella as well as the mine Wagners Glück. At the so-called Ausdauer, we find an old opencast mining in the forest. Over a small trail one can walk to an old air pit, which looks harmless in the beginning and goes down in an angle of about 45 degrees. Each child which would enter the pit would be in deadly danger, because after a length of maybe 30 feet, the pit continues for another 120 feet vertical! A child and even an adult can slip very easy in the 45 degree part, which would be the definite end! At the mine Rentschenbruch, we can find an old tunnel, which was also used for air conditioning reasons. After 90 feet of horizontal tunnel, it has some openings where one can look down into  halls of about 150 feet deepth. Easy to imagine what would happen, if a child enters the tunnel! Also in the mine Wagnersglück near Marktgölitz we find a tunnel which ends after some meters at a depth of about 90 feet. If one imagines that children do not have sufficient light most times (candles, small lamps, etc.), it is just a miracle that nothing happened yet.

The slate mines with their dumps are a big witness of one of the oldest trades in our areas and have to be kept with their country forming, wild romantic impression. However, it is necessary to secure the old tunnels in a way which gets practiced in Bavaria since a long time. There, all old mines have locked doors or high fences around, which at least make it more difficult to access! Maybe a good possibility to offer some jobs!

Russian Magazine - November 2007

The Russians are fascinated by our work and with their help, we got pretty good connections to the some very responsible people in Moscow.

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