The Upper Harz Mining water management system, which lies south of the Rammelsberg mines and the town of Goslar, has been developed over a period of about 800 years to assist in the process of extracting ore for the production of non-ferous metals. Its construction was first undertaken in the Middle Ages by Cistercian monks, and it was then developed on a vast scale from the end of the 16th century until the 19th century. It is a major site for mining innovation in the western world and it is inscribed at Unesco's world heritage list since 1992.
