The discovery of pitch coal as the 1600s gave rise to mining activity in the area, mostly on a small scale. State-owned mining began on May 8, 1837 with the inset of the so-called Hauptstollen (main adit) in the area of Brandach, whereby the initial sinking of the Unterbauschacht (Unterbau shaft) took place from the first of July 1889 onwards. A 3.6-kilometer-long cable car, operating from 1898 to 1928, transported coal from the coal washing plant to the Tiefstollen (deep adit) in Peißenberg.