ABSTRACT
HISTORY OF DISCOVERY AND EXPLOITATION OF THE HOLZMADEN SHALE Shale has been quarried around the villages of Holzmaden, Ohmden, Zell, and Boll to the southeast of Stuttgart since the end of the sixteenth century. The shale, known as ‘Fleins’, was initially used for roofing and paving, but because of its poor resistance to weathering it was later confined to internal use, such as oven bases, hearths, window sills, wall cladding, flooring, wash stones, tanner’s slates, and laboratory tables. At Holzmaden the Fleins is a regular, 180 mm (c. 7 in) thick bed which splits into four equal layers. Within the same sequence limestone was also quarried as a building stone for cellars.
