Mining Museum

1 000 metres under the Earth

“I see a hill of birch, which is full of silver inside,” said Princess Libuše in Hájek's chronicle. In its time, the Birch Mountains (Březové Hory) were the pride of Austro-Hungarian mining and you can still set off to visit many of the monuments that pay testament to world firsts.

A royal mining town

The history of metal mining in the Příbram region probably began as early as the Early Bronze Age, i.e. more than three thousand years ago. Historically, the more significant mining of silver and lead ores in today's Birch Mountains can be dated back to the 13^th century. At the beginning of the 16^th century, a mining settlement grew up around the mines, which was later given the status of a town.

Birch Mountains saw its biggest boom in the second half of the 19^th century, when the local mines produced 97.7% of the entire Austro-Hungarian silver and lead production. The importance of the Birch Mountains ore district went well beyond the scale of European and world deposits, especially in the way in which technical methods were applied. This meant many world firsts saw the light of day here - for example, in 1875, miners at the Vojtěch mine were the first in the world to reach a vertical depth of one kilometre using a single mining rope.

In 189, Birch Mountains was elevated to a royal mining town, since the middle of the 20^th century it has been part of the town of Příbram. Active mining ended here in 1978.

Godspeed!

You can see minning past of Birch Mountains with every step. The most notable landmarks are the former mineshaft buildings, silent witnesses of the town’s former glory, including the monumental Ševčínský Mine or the Vojtěch Mine, as well as the less spectacular Anna Mine or the Marie Mine. These are accompanied by the clocking in rooms, engine houses and other administrative buildings, as well as a number of other buildings that were once part of life at the time - whether it be the former clerk's house, known as the “schichtamt”, or the miners' baths and quarters. The miners' cottage, with its foundations dating back to the 17^th century, is an original example of vernacular mining architecture.

St. Prokop has always been the patron saint of Czech miners, which is why the first wooden bell tower in Birch Mountains was consecrated to him. Today, St. Prokop’s Church stands on this spot, in the middle of a small forest. However, later on, the most important church became St. Vojtěch’s Church on Jan Antonín Alis’ Square in Birch Mountains. The most recent ecclesiastical building is the functionalist Congregation of Master Jacob of Stříbro built in 1936.

The largest mining museum in the Czech Republic

The Příbram Mining Museum, the largest of its kind in the Czech Republic and one of the largest mining museums in Europe, recalls the former glory of mining in Příbram. The exhibitions, located in the historical operational and administrative buildings, bring the visitor closer to the rich mining past associated with the extraction of silver, uranium and other ores.

Here you can take a ride on a mining train, both above- and underground, go on a guided tour of several kilometres of tunnels, go down a lift, slide down a slide into a giant water wheel or get to know the unique steam mining machines, the extensive mineralogical collection or some of the mining folklore.