slopes of the Teutoburg Forest a Walther von der Vogelweide-Memorial can be found (52° 04′ 06″ N, 8° 22′ 13″ O). Its erection was encouraged as of 1920 by the Ravensberg Men's Choral Society, despite the known fact that Vogelweide had never visited the region. By its construction the singing club wanted to express its great attachment to Walther von der Vogelweide. The memorial was unveiled in 1930 in Vogelweide's 700th year of death. Since the singing club annually holds its traditional Whitsun Singing at the memorial. The inscription on the memorial reads: Grüß Gott mit hellem Klang / Heil deutschem Wort und Sang; Zur Erinnerung an das 700. Todesjahr Walther's von der Vogelweide / Halle(Westf.) den 29.Juni 1930 / Männer-Gesang-Verein Ravensberg / "Walther von der Vogelweide, wer sein vergäße, tät mir leid!" (Greetings with bright clang / Hail to German word and sang; To commemorate the 700th year of death of Walther von der Vogelweide / Halle(Westf.) June 29, 1930 / Ravensberg Men's Choral Society / "Walther von der Vogelweide, he who would forget him would have my pity!"). The memorial is a station on the cultural path of Teutoburger Wald Laibachweg. Halle was home to coal and iron ore mining for roughly 400 years. In the year 1505 Duke Wilhelm IV. of Jülich-Berg granted rights to his stadtholder Count Philipp II. of Waldeck to erect mines in the County of Ravensberg. The first pit assumedly was in the borderland between Halle and Werther. In the mid-17th century coal digging also took place in Eggeberg. Furthermore, ore was searched near the surface on the hilltop of the Teutoburg Forest. Log wood to support the extension of the pits was available in abundance in the Teutoburg Forest. In the middle of the 18th century coal mining yielded due to high wood prices and difficulties to import less expensive coal. During the mining booms in the 19th century there were as many as 23 coal pits and 24 pits for near-surface ore. All pits were closed down in 1883 due to the growing impact of the Cologne-Minden railway line and the options to import coal cheaper from the Ruhr Area. Due to the Occupation of the Ruhr by French troops in 1923 one drift was reopened for a short period. On a marked hiking trail starting at 52° 04′ 27″ N, 8° 22′ 02″ O with an information panel the hiker