early as the 13th century, the first attempt to bore for salt was not made until 1839, while the systematic exploitation of the salt-beds, to which the town is indebted for its prosperity, dates only from 1856. The shafts reached deposits of salt at a depth of 850 ft. (190 m); but the finer and purer layers lie more than 100 ft. (31 m) below the surface. The rock-salt is excavated by blasting. Besides the rock-salt, the deposits of Stassfurt yield a considerable quantity of deliquescent salts and other saline products, which have encouraged the foundation of numerous chemical factories in the town and in the neighboring village of Leopoldshall (currently part of Staßfurt). The rock-salt works are mainly government property, while the chemical factories are in private hands. The town is also home to Staßfurt Museum shed, which houses many preserved steam locomotives. Stassfurt potash deposit The Staßfurt potash deposit, a part of the same evaporite sequence that hosts the salt mines, is notable historically as the site of the earliest large-scale mining of potash for fertilizer, beginning in 1861. Environmental Issues The discharge of wastewater by the CIECH Soda Germany GmbH & Co. KG into the Bode has been frequently criticized as severely damaging the ecosystem of the river by Environmentalist Organisations. The high amounts of ammonia and chloride in the wastewater have led to high fish mortality, especially in the summer, when water levels are low and water temperature is high. The state administration office of Saxony-Anhalt has extended the permit for CIECH Soda to discharge wastewater in October 2022. The required reductions in ammonia and chloride emissions by the company have been criticized as insufficient by BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany), the IG Bode-Lachs e.V. and the Green Party. Notable people Waltraud Dietsch (born 1950), athlete Hermann Volrath Hilprecht (born 1859), archaeologist and assyriologist Eberhard Köllner (born 1939), Backup for Sigmund Jähn, research cosmonaut of the GDR Günther Noll (born 1927), music educator Wilhelm Steinkopf (1879–1949), German chemist Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (1887–1977), Minister of Finance of Germany from 1932 to 1945 and Leading Minister of the German Reich (Chancellor) in May 1945 Karl Wilhelm von Willisen (1790–1879), Prussian general Andreas Wecker (born 1970), German gymnast References Salzlandkreis