THE BEGINNINGS OF MINING IN THE ORE MOUNTAINS
Mining in the Ore Mountains and their foothills dates back to prehistoric times. Archaeological evidence comes from the oldest known mining site in Bohemia – a quartzite mine discovered by chance in 1962 during sewer construction at the Tušimice power plant near Kadaň.
Within an area of about half a hectare, nineteen shafts up to five metres deep and three adits were uncovered.
In the Neolithic period, ores were extracted through vertical shafts. In the Eneolithic (Copper Age), these shafts were already interconnected by adits. This early mining work demonstrates remarkably advanced technical knowledge.
Further traces of ancient mining can be found near Horní Halže, where magnetite and hematite – iron ores – were extracted. Hundreds of small shafts and surface trenches remain visible. Mining was seasonal, mainly during summer months, and even at the end of the eighteenth century up to fifty tonnes of ore per year were still obtained in this way.
Although mining traditions in the Ore Mountains are ancient, the true expansion began with the foundation of Jáchymov. The silver rush reshaped the entire mountain range. The original name “Black Mountains” was replaced on the German side by “Erzgebirge” (Ore Mountains) and later translated into Czech. The current Czech name, Krušné hory, dates only from the late nineteenth century; the verb krušit means to crush or mine ore. Soviet advisers working here during uranium mining in the twentieth century consistently used the name “Rudnyje gory.”
Continuous ore mining dates back to the twelfth century. Generally, the Bohemian side lagged about a century behind Saxony. Freiberg was founded in 1168; in the thirteenth century Scharfenberg, Dippoldiswalde and Wolkenstein followed. Later came Altenberg (1451), Schneeberg (1470) and Annaberg (1496).
On the Bohemian side, mines developed along the entire ridge. Iron mines near Kadaň (1228), tin deposits at Krupka (1297) and Cínovec (1337), silver at Hrob (13th century), copper at Kraslice (1225), and iron and tin at Nejdek (before 1340) illustrate this growth. Přísečnice (1352) became particularly important in the central region.
Ironworks were also established, and under King John of Luxembourg a mint may have operated here, as noted by Kašpar Šternberk.
Kovářská developed in the fourteenth century as a centre of iron production, and in 1595 one of the first blast furnaces in Bohemia was built there.
At Mědník Hill, iron mines were opened in 1446. The last iron ore mine in the Czech Republic operated there until 1992. A private mine, Germica, briefly operated from 1994 to 1996.
However, these early centres were relatively isolated. True large-scale settlement began only in the early sixteenth century with the founding of Jáchymov. The silver rush was comparable in intensity to later gold rushes in the United States. Thousands of settlers arrived from Bohemia and German lands. Settlements were even founded on peat bogs at altitudes of around 1,000 metres – including Boží Dar and Horní Blatná.
Between 1516 and 1550, ten mining districts were opened, giving rise to about twenty mining towns. For comparison, only about 120 towns were founded in the entire Kingdom of Bohemia between 1424 and 1620.
Thus, the Ore Mountains became one of the most densely populated mountain regions in Europe – and, by the standards of the time, perhaps in the world.
