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The post of the mining judge in the Sterzing area was probably instituted in the early 15th century and, in view of the important mining industries in Pflerschtal and around Gossensaß, the man who held the post was called the mining judge of Gossensaß.
At that time, Schneeberg still belonged to the Etsch mining district. At the request of the entrepreneurs,/ in a meeting held on St. Anthony’s Day in 1479 at Innsbruck, Schneeberg was annexed to the nearest mining district, in the Wipptal (high Eisacktal). The Gossensaß judge then transferred his office to Sterzing, which was flourishing thanks to mining, and placed a substitute at Gossensaß. This is why the district now bears both names.
In 1539, throughout the Tyrol, from Montafon to Kitzbühel and from Imst to Pergine, there were 17 mining judges. The Sterzing-Gossensaß district covered the mines at Steinach, Sterzing, Rodeneck, Sarntal and Passeier and, with a surface area of 2,400 square kilometres, it was one of the largest in the Tyrol.
Taking as his model the Schladming Mining Letter of 1408, the Tyrolean Prince Frederick IV issued the first Mining Regulations for the Gossensaß area in 1427. The fact that these were then extended to the whole Tyrol clearly indicates that, in the first 30 years of the 15th century, the mining industry was concentrated in this area.
Several of these Regulations granted miners great privileges: all those active in the mining industry belonged to the community and enjoyed a particular form of liberty, in the sense that they could not be arrested by the ordinary district judge. All the mines, shafts, dumps, foundries and charcoal-burning centres fell under this form of mining liberty, which meant that no-one could be legally summoned from such places. The mining judge was entrusted with complete jurisdiction. He was charged with issuing mining concessions and administering justice to all those working in the mining area. Frequent conflicts of authority between the judges and quarrels between the miners and the rest of the population were very common, due to the privileged treatment set aside for those belonging to the mining community.
One of the tasks of the mining judge was to grant permits for quarrying, dumping, smelting, setting up crushing-mills and washeries, foundries, saw-mills and forges, together with power to control the forests and woodland assigned to the mine. He supervised the Mining Regulations and organized workshifts, payment of taxes due to the local prince, and food supplies. He was flanked by eleven jury members and one scribe, who always accompanied him, because controversies were generally settled on the spot. Sentences were made public by the mining judge, with his miner’s pick in his hand (the badge of command), and the Regulations in the name of the local prince as supreme seigneur of the mines.
Other assistants were the forestry supervisor, the court usher (who carried out commissions and executed sentences), the judge’s clerk, and the silver tax-collector, who had to exercise great care in checking that all payments due to the local prince (taxes and levies) had been paid. Taxes consisted of the tenth part of ore extracted, and levies were taxes on pure silver obtained from smelting, paid either in silver itself or in cash. The entrepreneurs of Schneeberg were exonerated from the levies, due to the extreme altitude of the mines and the labour and expense involved in transporting the ore.
Disobeying the orders of the mining judge, the jury or the tax collector was severely punished by fines and, if these were not paid, the Regulations established that the right hand of the transgressor should be cut off.
Workers’ salaries were also carefully calculated in the Mining Regulations: salaries had to be paid every week. A foreman received 1 ducat, pick-miners 1 Rhine florin, workmen pushing carts 26 kreuzer, and labourers moving various materials and ore sorters 22 kreuzer. The foundry head received 1 ducat, the best foundry helpers 26 kreuzer, and charcoal-burners 5-7 kreuzer. Woodcutters received 4-5 kreuzer per day.
Around the middle of the 15th century, Schwaz gained supremacy in the Tyrol, thanks to the very rapid development of mining in the low Inn valley. In 1447 and 1449 new mining regulations were issued and applied throughout the Tyrol, sometimes integrated by local rules. One significant example is the Mining Regulation issued by the emperor Maximilian for Gossensaß and Sterzing in 1510. It is composed of 24 articles, of which several cover the particular working and transport conditions of Schneeberg. For example, between St. Michael’s Day (September 29) and St. George’s Day (April 23), there was no obligation to work in the Schneeberg galleries, provided that approval for this had been applied for in good time to the mining judge. Otherwise, the right to work the shafts could be granted to others. Daily workshifts of eight hours had to be respected, but delays for well-founded reasons were accepted. The Regulations also clearly established the value of the goods in kind with which part of the workers’ salaries were paid, the surveillance and control of mining sites and woodland, and the duties of the mining judge.
The long list of names of mining judges begins with Kunrad Strewn before 1428 and ends with Franz Anton von Avanzin in 1744. In that year, a contract with the private advisor Franz Andre, Baron von Sternbach, was stipulated, in which the mines of the district were rendered subordinate to his jurisdiction, and this right he exerted until the abolition of mining judges under Emperor Josef II around 1780.