Mining Museum Příbram () is a large open-air museum of

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

with historical buildings and expositions of mining history and

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

. It is located in

Příbram Příbram (; or ''Przibram'') is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. It is known for its mining history, and more recently, its new venture into economic restructuring. The town is the t ...

's Březové Hory quarter, former important Czech mining centre. It is one of the biggest museums in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1886.

History

The Mining Museum Příbram follows the tradition of two past museums founded in the 19th century. Part of the collections of the factory mining museum of Příbram's mining works, especially the collections of

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

s, has been open to public already since 1852. Thanks to the school director Ladislav Malý, the Regional Museum in Příbram was founded December 12, 1886. Since the early beginning, the exhibits depicting the mining history were kept there, from modern era objects to

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology ...

finds from

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

times. Although both institutions existed side by side for long decades, their condition was not promoted until the major change caused by the idea of Jiří Majer, director of the mining section of the National Technical Museum (NTM) in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. He asked to save the major mining structures in Příbram after their closure for the mining museum. The NTM took care of the factory museum collections and obtained the former office a dwelling building at the ''Ševčinský Shaft'' (now the mineralogical exposition) as the seat of its mining branch. Since 1963 the museum has been included into the Regional Museum in Příbram. More buildings were selected for the museum in the 1970s, but only a small part of the plans was carried out. The museum obtained the ''cáchovna'' (registration room) close to the ''Ševčinský Shaft'', miner's cottage and later the ''Ševčinský Shaft'' itself. Two other mines planned to be included into the museum (the ''St. Adalbert Shaft'' and the ''St. Anne Shaft'') however deteriorate, the ''St. Anne Shaft'' Gallows Frame is destroyed as well as the listed boiler-plant in the ''St. Adalbert Shaft''. The situation has been changing since the early 1990s. The ''Ševčinský Shaft'' and the ''St. Anne Shaft'' were rebuilt. Museum took care of the ''St. Anne Shaft'' with a

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

winder from 1914 and it bought the ''St. Adalbert Shaft'' from the pre-

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

owners, who got the building back after the fall of communist regime in Czechoslovakia. After a reconstruction, the object was open for public in 2000. Since 1998, the ''St. Prokop

Adit An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) or stulm is a horizontal or nearly horizontal passage to an underground mine. Miners can use adits for access, drainage, ventilation, and extracting minerals at the lowest convenient level. Adits are a ...

'' is used for museum purposes including the mine train. The museum is named the Mining Museum Příbram and it is funded by the

Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( ; ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in the Czech capital Prague, which lies in the centre of the regio ...

. Since the 1990s, the museum also holds several objects used for various non-mining original purposes outside of

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

initiated construction of the ''Vojna Memorial'' on a site of former communist

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...

Expositions

Comparing the number of permanent expositions, the Mining Museum Příbram is the biggest museum in the

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

.Rank of Museums and Memorials
- statistical data of the Czech Ministry of Culture for 2005 * ''Ševčinský Shaft'' () (building from 1879) ** Engine room (mining supercharger), Gallows Frame ** Show room ** ''Cáchovna'' (registration room, 1880) - exposition of mining history **

Driving wheel On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled t ...

from mining

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

used from the 16th till the 19th century,

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

pulley Sheave without a rope A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft enabling a taut cable or belt passing over the wheel to move and change direction, or transfer power between itself and a shaft. A pulley may have a groove or grooves between flan ...

and miners' bell tower ** Exposition of mining technology since the 1950s * Mineralogical exposition * Miner's cottage from the 17th century * ''St. Adalbert Shaft'' () ** Steam winder ''Breitfed-Daněk'' from 1889 ** Exposition commemorating sinking to 1,000 m depth in 1875 - first time in the world ** ''St. Mary Adit'' () ** Gallows Frame * ''St. Anne Shaft'' () ** Steam winder from 1914 ** ''St. Prokop Adit'' (), mining train ** St. Anne water tunnel (16th to 18th century) * Water-wheel in the underground of the Drkolnov mine from the 19th century, diameter of 12.4 m Museum runs also non-mining expositions including: * ''Vojna Memorial'' near Příbram -

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

used as a communist

in the 1950s. * Open-air museum in Vysoký Chlumec - countryside architecture * The

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

museum in Prostřední Lhota -

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

of the Central

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

* Museum of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in Nový Knín

Publication and Science Activities

The museum issues the magazine ''Podbrdsko'' and casual publications. It also organises regular symposia ''Mining Příbram in Science and Technology''.

External links

Official web

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mining Museum Pribram Příbram Mining museums in the Czech Republic Museums in the Central Bohemian Region 1886 establishments in Austria-Hungary Museums established in 1886