Potash mining in Menteroda began on August 3, 1906 with the ground-breaking ceremony for the shaft in Volkenroda. After almost 90 years, the era of the potash mine in Menteroda came to an end in 1991. The potash mine with its 1600 employees had shaped the intellectual and cultural life of the town for almost a century. Mining was the bond that held the people together. The closure of the mine not only cut off the lifeline of the mining village, but also threatened to pull the rug out from under the miners' feet. No more work, no more exchange of experiences, no more shared experiences. Many of them also realized that it would depend on the maintenance of mining traditions whether the century of mining and mining traditions would be buried and forgotten forever or kept alive. On February 4, 1999, 38 former miners met and founded the Miners' Association, which is now known far beyond the town of Menteroda under the name "Schlägel & Eisen" Bergwerk Volkenroda/ Menteroda e. V. (Mallet & Iron). In order to keep the memory of over 90 years of mining alive, a mining monument was erected in the center of the village and a traditional site was built in the former winding machine house with a mini-pit.