1300 – First mention of settlement. The settlement of Konradsgrünn is recorded in connection with the colonisation efforts of the Teplá Monastery. An iron hammer works at the confluence of streams at the site of today’s roundabout is mentioned. The settlement of Hanau (Hagenau) in the direction of present-day Suchá and the Braunstein fortification at the site of today’s Dívčí skok are also recorded.
1510 – First mention of silver mining in Jáchymov. The miners Kašpar Bach from Geyer and Oesser from Ostrov, known as “the Old,” together with the mining clerk, drove the All Saints Adit. It later became known as Fundgrübner due to its rich yields. After two Jáchymov fathoms they struck the Fundgrübner silver vein. One Jáchymov fathom = 1.917 metres.
1516 – Štěpán Schlik, Jan Pluh of Rabštejn, Wolf of Schönberg, Hans Thumshirn of Annaberg, Count Alexander Leissnik and Heinrich von Könneritz establish a mining brotherhood and found a new settlement called Thal (Valley) near the vanished settlement of Konradsgrünn. The first 105 inhabitants settle there; 22 miners work in five shafts.
1517 – Discovery of the silver veins St Andrew, Geyer and Holy Trinity. A horse-driven hoisting machine (Göpel) is erected on the St Andrew vein on Schöttenberg. It is today preserved in its original state in the Silver Museum in Kutná Hora. The Lindacker Silver Smelter is founded – one of the largest smelters of its time. 211 miners work in 47 shafts.
1518 – The Schlik family has the Jáchymov Mining Code of 106 articles printed in Leipzig. For the first time in the world, occupational injuries are addressed in legislation. It was later extended as Jáchymov Mining Law to the Příbram region. A school is founded in the house of the heirs of Hanze Weitzelmann, and a brewery is established in the town. The town purchases a butcher’s shop and bathhouse from Štěpán Schlik. The vein Geschieber, called Stella (Star), is discovered. The driving of the St Barbara hereditary adit begins – by the end of the sixteenth century the largest mining work in Europe. Its present length is 7,668 metres; including crosscuts 11.5 km.
1519 – The Latin School is founded. On 12 August, Wolf Sturtz of Annaberg becomes mining administrator. He later donates his house for a hospital. Ten inhabitants live in each stone house on average. 1,026 miners work in 228 mines.
1520 – On 6 January, King Louis Jagiellon elevates the settlement to the town of the Valley of St Joachim at the request of the Schlik family and grants expanded rights: craft, trade, brewing and malting rights, two annual fairs, a regular Saturday market, a red seal and a coat of arms. The first town hall is built on the Brottmarkt. The driving of the St Daniel hereditary adit begins.
With the consent of the Land Diet, the Schlik family obtains minting rights. Two-thirds of the silver may be used for minting thalers and one-third for Prague groschen. At the same time, minting of Jáchymov groschen – thalers – begins in Kutná Hora. Oldřich Gebhard guarantees the quality of the metal; Štěpán Genisch directs minting; Melchior Pauerlein designs the thalers. The town has 4,963 inhabitants, including 1,435 miners working in 319 mines.
1521 – Proclamation banning prostitutes from entering the town during market days. The chronicle records the fraud of tithe collector Petr Hartenberk, who embezzled 30,000 guilders. Grand shooting festivities are held at Maria Sorg with guests from Augsburg, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Dresden, Freiberg, Most and Cheb. 247 marksmen participate. Hans Lutz of Augsburg commemorates the event in verse – the oldest occasional poem of this type in German literature. First mention of plague in Jáchymov. Under the influence of the Peasants’ War in the German lands, an uprising breaks out under the leadership of Thomas Müntzer – the town hall and Freudenstein Castle are burned. 1,737 miners work in 386 mines.
1522 – In the St Barbara adit, bellows ventilation is used for the first time in the world. At the St Christina mine, a pump driven by an eight-metre waterwheel is installed, pumping 150 hectolitres per hour from a depth of seventy metres.
1523 – On 5 February, an earthquake is recorded. The mining physician V. Payer publishes a book on occupational diseases of miners – the oldest documented work of occupational medicine in the world. 2,209 miners work in 491 mines.
1524 – The town reaches 10,000 inhabitants. At the Merten mine, 1.6 tonnes of silver are extracted in a quarter of a year. 840 prospecting licences are issued. 2,466 miners work in 548 mines.
1525 – On 20 May, 3,000 miners and smelter workers revolt, demanding their rights and criticising corruption. Eight arbiters are appointed. Hans Ruthart’s epic Das Joachimsthaler Bergbüchlein is written. Visit of Charles, Duke of Münsterberg. Total profit since 1516 amounts to 430 tonnes of silver and 842,419 thalers. New municipal statutes are issued. 2,682 miners work in 596 mines.
1526 – Georg Sturtz opens the first pharmacy on the territory of today’s Czech Republic. The valley is enclosed by walls with bastions and gates. 2,916 miners work in 648 mines.
1527 – Mining profit reaches a quarter of a million guilders. Under his name Georg Bauer, Agricola is appointed town physician. A miners’ hospital is established near the Church of All Saints. 1,000 tonnes of English lead are imported from Bremen. The town counts 15,100 inhabitants; 3,074 miners work in 683 mines.
1528 – From 18 September, the Schlik family loses minting rights. The town has 16,000 inhabitants. Between 1520 and 1528, 2,250,000 thalers and 4,000,000 small coins are minted. 3,262 miners work in 723 mines.
1529 – Preacher Kryštof Ering establishes a marriage register. Ten tonnes of silver are mined that year. 3,474 miners work in 792 mines and adits.
1530 – Agricola departs for Chemnitz. His book Bermannus – Dialogues on Mining is published. 3,559 miners work in 791 mines.
1531 – Mathesius establishes a birth register – the first of its kind in the lands of the Bohemian Crown. The town purchases the Schlik townhouse for 2,000 guilders and converts it into a town hall. The village of Horní Žďár is bought for 2,650 guilders. 3,906 miners work in 868 mines.
1532 – On 1 April, the Royal Mint is founded by order of the ruler. 4,099 miners work in 911 mines.
1533 – Theatre is performed in the town for the first time. 134 ore veins are uncovered. The town reaches its peak: 18,000 inhabitants, 1,200 houses on 80 hectares. 4,113 miners work in 914 mines, along with more than 8,000 labourers.
1534 – With 18,200 inhabitants, Jáchymov becomes the second most populous town of the Bohemian Crown after Prague. On 29 June, Emperor Ferdinand I visits.
1535 – Mining profit since 1526 totals 1,494,336 thalers.
1536 – Construction of the mint is completed. On 16 January, a report on Jewish presence in the town is issued.
1537 – Duke Albrecht of Mecklenburg visits. On 25 November, the first mass is held in the unfinished Church of St Joachim, the first church in the world built as Lutheran.
1538 – First major recorded fire. The mint, town hall and fifteen houses burn down. 4,009 miners work in 891 mines.
1539 – A Fire Code is issued, printed in Leipzig – the first printed publication of its kind in the world.
1540 – The Saxon Nobles’ Adit (today the Svornost mine) is driven. The Church of St Joachim and St Anne is completed at a cost of 14,824 guilders.
1541 – Jeroným and Vavřinec Schlik issue a new Mining Code of 166 articles. 3,383 miners work in 753 mines.
1542 – A lazaret is built on Great Turkish Hill in case of plague. 2,983 miners work in 663 mines.
1543 – Agricola’s De metallis et machinis is issued by the town.
1544 – The town commissions a Calvary sculpture from Christoph Walter of Dresden.
1545 – On 19 September, royal administration is imposed over the Jáchymov mines. On 3 October, the ruler grants the Schlik family the right to a mining tithe. 2,488 miners work in 533 mines.
1546 – A baptismal register is established.
1547 – First Estates’ uprising influenced by the Schmalkaldic War. On 19 March, citizens admit the troops of John Frederick of Saxony. After the Battle of Mühlberg, the town is occupied. On 10 October, the Schlik family definitively leaves Jáchymov. The town becomes a free mining town. 2,335 miners work in 519 mines.
1548 – A new Jáchymov Mining Code is issued, guaranteeing full wages and medical compensation in case of occupational injury. 2,771 miners work in 505 mines.
1549 – On 26 August, the ruler proclaims a ban on the residence of Jews in mining towns, including Jáchymov.
