ADIT NO. 1 – JÁCHYMOV
Introduction
Adit No. 1 is located within the mining field of the Svornost Mine directly in the town of Jáchymov. It was driven in 1952 as an exploration adit during the rapid expansion of uranium mining after the Second World War. The site also belongs to a much older mining landscape, as silver had been mined here intensively since the 16th century.
History
Driving of the adit began on 1 July 1952. Prisoners from the nearby Svornost labour camp were used for the work and reached the site via the so-called “Stairs of Horror” followed by a barbed-wire corridor. The main passage reached a length of about 260 metres, with the face completed on 1 September 1952. At approximately 178 metres from the portal, a side drift about fifty metres long intersected medieval workings on the Evangelist silver vein, which the adit crosses roughly 190 metres from the entrance. Excavation then continued along the vein in a heading until 1 December 1953, when work stopped at the present face. The adit is also connected by a collapse to the older Vysoká jedle adit, whose portal lies about forty metres higher on the slope and whose total length is estimated at around 120 metres.
Description
Authentic operational features remain inside. Visitors can see two heavy barred gates installed to prevent prisoner escapes. One gate, welded from railway rails, stands about eleven metres from the entrance; another, made from water pipes, is located around the twenty-fifth metre. The pipe gate near the side drift prevented access to a section from which older workings allowed a possible route to the surface outside the fenced area. Guards usually did not enter beyond the first gate in order to avoid possible exposure to radioactive conditions.
Opening to the public
Efforts to open the adit to visitors began in the mid-1990s with the Barbora Mining Association, founded in 1996 and led by Libuše Rudolfová. The aim was to create a mining heritage site and commemorate both uranium mining and the fate of political prisoners. In cooperation with the Confederation of Political Prisoners, the town of Jáchymov, the Czech Tourist Club and regional institutions, the association also marked the original “Jáchymov Hell” educational trail. Due to financial shortages, organisational problems and disputes with the municipal authorities at the time, the work was repeatedly halted.
In 2005 the Karlovy Vary Region took over the project and leased the site to the Sokolov Museum, which completed the reconstruction and prepared the exhibition. Final works took place between 2006 and 2008.
Present day
Since 2008, Adit No. 1 has been open to the public. Visitors can see examples of different types of mine support, mine carts, tools and mining techniques. The area also commemorates the Svornost camp and the forced labour of political prisoners. Exhibits include finds from the adit and camp area such as stove chimneys, lamp shades, tools, barbed-wire holders and electric-fence insulators. The atmosphere is reinforced by reconstructed Mauthausen stairs, watchtowers and a partial replica of a former camp building. The approximately 8.5-kilometre Jáchymov Hell educational trail passes nearby.
Official information: http://www.omks.cz/main.php?page=stola-c-1-jachymov
Photo gallery: http://mipalfi.rajce.idnes.cz/Stola_c._1_v_Jachymove/
