At the end of Erbstollenstrasse
"Erbstollen" is the German word for the deepest tunnel in a mine. The "Erbstollen" tunnel was built in 1895 and was intended to exploit the Perneck salt mine from the valley and establish a connection to the Aussee salt mine. This goal has not been realized. On the occasion of the 50th imperial jubilee in 1898, the tunnel was named after Franz Joseph and an extraordinarily elaborate tunnel portal was built. One hundred years later (1998), the portal was renovated, but unfortunately some decorative elements (the miner's symbols and the laurel branches) were no longer attached.
Between 1987 and 1989, after the closure of the Perneck salt mine, the operating buildings of the entire salt mine (including probe fields) on the site in front of the tunnel were newly built.
The monumental tunnel portal was designed by the mining councilor Carl Balz von Balzberg. The high tunnel entrance is bordered by square stone blocks (a horseshoe-shaped arch) and flanked by a pair of Doric/Tuscan columns. Above it there is a multi-profiled cornice and a stepped attic. The columns are made of sandstone and the masonry in the tunnel niche of Karbach limestone. Above the apex of the arch, there is a metal medallion relief of Emperor Franz Joseph and the name, which was gilded in original. Deeper down in the niche, which is made of square stone block, is the actual tunnel entrance: a smaller horseshoe-shaped arch and above it, a metal plaque with the miners’ good luck greetings in German: GLÜCK AUF! On both sides of the tunnel entrance, there are two more plaques with dates and the names of those involved. On both sides of the tunnel portal, there are retaining walls with wrought iron railings. Although, the "Erbstollen" tunnel was intended to secure the future of the Ischl salt mine for the next 500 years (!), of course the architectural design with its allusion to ancient triumphal arches is primarily to be seen as a homage to the emperor and an expression of the emperor’s importance for Ischl.