The Ore Mountain Mining Region (officially Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region; german: Montanregion Erzgebirge, cs, Montanregion Krušné hory) is an

industrial heritage Industrial heritage refers to the physical remains of the history of technology and industry, such as manufacturing and mining sites, as well as power and transportation infrastructure. Another definition expands this scope so that the term a ...

landscape, over 800 years old, in the border region of the Ore Mountains between the German state of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

and

North Bohemia North Bohemia ( cs, Severní Čechy, german: Nordböhmen) is a region in the north of the Czech Republic. Location North Bohemia roughly covers the present-day NUTS regional unit of ''CZ04 Severozápad'' and the western part of ''CZ05 Severovýc ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is characterised by a plethora of historic, largely original, monuments to technology, as well as numerous individual monuments and collections related to the historic mining industry of the region. On 6 July 2019, the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region was inscribed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, because of its exceptional testimony to the advancement of mining technology over the past 800 years.

Description

The Ore Mountain Mining Region is a region roughly long and wide, on the border of Germany and the Czech Republic, containing a large density of historical mining sites and monuments. The World Heritage Site comprises 22 of these sites (17 in Germany and 5 in the Czech Republic). Because of the intensity and continuous nature of the mining in the region, the entire landscape is heavily influenced by mining, from transportation to water supply and urban planning. The region includes many well-reserved relics from derelict mines, including the mines themselves, mine shafts, smelters, and

hammer mill A hammer mill, hammer forge or hammer works was a workshop in the pre-industrial era that was typically used to manufacture semi-finished, wrought iron products or, sometimes, finished agricultural or mining tools, or military weapons. The featur ...

History

From the first discovery of

silver ore Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical cond ...

in 1168 in Christiansdorf in the territory of the present-day borough of

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

, which is part of the Freiberg Mining Field, mining was carried out uninterruptedly in the Ore Mountains until 1990. During that time, several different metals were extracted from the region.

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

was the first metal mined in the region (particularly around

), and the region was a world-leading producer of silver ore during the 14th through 16th centuries. On the

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

side of the mountains,

Krupka Krupka (; german: Graupen) is a town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. The town is located in the Ore Mountain Mining Region, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and during the ...

grew into a prominent mining town, extracting silver,

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

, and later

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, and

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

. After the superficial deposits of silver and tin began to decline in the 16th century, the region became famous as ta world producer of

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...

, a status it maintained until the mid-18th century. Finally,

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

and

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

were extracted in the 19th and 20th century, and were engines for the economic development of Saxony. Today deposits of

indium Indium is a chemical element with the symbol In and atomic number 49. Indium is the softest metal that is not an alkali metal. It is a silvery-white metal that resembles tin in appearance. It is a post-transition metal that makes up 0.21 parts p ...

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...

, tin and

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...

are being investigated for their economic potential.

Gallery

References

External links

UNESCO World Heritage Site page

Ore Mountain Mining Region

Ore Mountain Mining Region

(Förderverein Montanregion Erzgebirge e.V. dated 21 January 2011) * [http://www.wirtschaft-im-erzgebirge.de/de/Aktuelles_Presse/News/Erzgebirge_soll_Unesco/Welterbe_werden_Initiatoren_machen_Tempo_Regierung_bremst_1002.html?news1031.id=519&news1031.year=2011&news1031.month=4&sid=FEamMEUQPUZD5RCCy6a54aGdvT7BJ5VF Erzgebirge soll Unesco-Welterbe werden: Initiatoren machen Tempo, Regierung bremst] (DNN-Online dated 4 April 2011) {{Authority control Mining in the Ore Mountains Industrial archaeological sites World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic World Heritage Sites in Germany