INDUSTRY IN JÁCHYMOV
Mining and metallurgy form a continuous thread throughout Jáchymov’s history. Yet not every inhabitant was a miner or smelter. The need to provide livelihoods beyond the mines led to the development of additional crafts and industries. At first these were guild-based activities; later they evolved into manufactories and industrial enterprises. Women also participated in economic life, gradually moving from domestic production to organised industrial work.
The first documented organised employment of women dates to 1562, when Barbara Utmann introduced lace-making for miners’ wives.
The first true industrial enterprise was Püchner’s enamel and cobalt factory, founded in 1780. The real boom came in the nineteenth century.
In 1831 the glove factory Sauerstein & Sons began operations. One side building (No. 314) still survives.
A uniquely local industry was uranium colour production, developed in 1840 by chemist Adolf Patera. These pigments were used in porcelain painting and glass colouring, producing striking colour changes depending on light and content. The factory ceased operation in 1939 and was demolished in 1941.
In 1843 Julius and Anna Kuhlmann founded a manufactory producing woven straw mats. Their sons opened another glove factory in 1851.
Industrial uranium mining began in 1853, with 1,500 kg of uranium yellow produced that year.
The State Tobacco Factory, founded in 1855, began production on 3 November 1860 and was only the second such factory in the Czech lands.
In 1866 a cork factory was established – the first of its kind in Austria-Hungary.
Industrial decline followed in 1867–1868 when smelting works were closed or relocated.
In 1887 a soap factory was founded, later producing “radium soap” during the radium craze. Radium beer and radium bread were also marketed.
In 1891 a wooden toy and puppet factory was established; the building later became the Spa House Praha.
A municipal power plant was built in 1902. In 1927 C. Zulauf opened a perfumery producing radium cosmetics and liqueurs.
After the Second World War, uranium mining became the dominant – and virtually the only – industry. In 1956 the national enterprise Jáchymov Mines was established, employing thousands of workers as well as political prisoners.
Today, only small-scale production facilities remain within the town.
