Jáchymov
Encyclopedia
For other places called Joachimsthal, see Joachimsthal (disambiguation)
Jáchymov (ˈjaːxɪmof; originally, later Sankt Joachimsthal or Joachimsthal: "Sanskrit: "Sant" Eng.: Saint; Joachim's; Sanskrit: "Sthal" Eng.: place/area; Valley"). compl: "Sant Joachim's Sthal" is a spa town
in north-west Bohemia
in the Czech Republic
belonging to the Karlovy Vary Region. It is situated at an altitude of 733 m above sea level in the eponymous St. Joachim's valley in the Ore Mountains, close to the border to Germany
.
The Joachimsthaler coins minted there in the 16th century became known as thaler
for short, with the word "dollar
" and similar words for monetary units in many languages deriving from it.
was found in the area of Joachimsthal. The exploitation of this valuable resource caused the place to grow rapidly, and made the Counts von Schlick, whose possessions included the town, one of the richest noble families in Bohemia. The Schlicks had coins minted, which were called Joachimsthalers. They gave their name to the Thaler
and the dollar
. The fame of Joachimsthal for its ore mining and smelting works attracted the scientific attention of the doctor Georg Bauer (better known by the Latin form of his name, Georgius Agricola
) in the late 1520s, who based his pioneering metallurgical
studies on his observations made here.
began. In the Schmalkaldic War
(1546-47) Joachimsthal was occupied for a time by Saxon troops. When in 1621 the Counter-reformation
and re-Catholicisation took effect in the town, many Protestant citizens and people from the mountains migrated to nearby Saxony
.
In the 19th century the town was the location of a Regional Headquarters (Bezirkshauptmannschaft) and Court, and of an administrative office responsible for mines and iron production. Mining was still significant in this period. It was run partly by state-owned and partly by privately-owned firms. In addition to silver ore (of which in 1885 227 zentner
s [11.35 tonne
s] were produced), nickel
, bismuth
and uranium
ore were also extracted. There were also other industries: an enormous tobacco
factory employed 1,000 women. In addition, there was the manufacture of gloves and corks and of bobbin lace
.
On 31 March 1873 the town almost entirely burnt down.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Marie Curie
discovered, in tons of pitchblende ore containing uraninite
from Joachimsthal, the element radium
, for which she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
. Until the First World War
this was the only known source of radium in the world.
The first radon spa
in the world was founded in Joachimsthal in 1906, joining the famous spas of the region, like Karlsbad
, Franzensbad, Marienbad.
. Ventilation and watering measures were introduced, miners were given higher pay and longer vacations, but death rates remained high.
After WW 2 the German-speaking population was expelled and replaced by Czechs.
After the Communist party took control of Czechoslovakia
in 1948, a large prison camp
was established in the town now named Jáchymov. Opponents of the new regime were forced to mine uranium ore under very harsh conditions: the average life expectancy
in Jáchymov at this period was 42 years.
Uranium mining
ceased in 1964. The radioactive thermal springs which rise in the former uranium mine workings are used under the supervision of doctors for the treatment of patients with nervous and rheumatic disorders.
monastery Mariasorg (Mariánská); it was razed to the ground in the 1950s.
From the valley of the Veseřice a chairlift
goes to the highest peak in the Ore Mountains, the 1244 m high Klínovec
.
Joachimsthal (disambiguation)
The German place name Joachimsthal can refer to:* Jáchymov, founded as Joachimsthal later Sankt Joachimsthal and previously Thal, a town in the Karlovy Vary region of the Czech Republic...
Jáchymov (ˈjaːxɪmof; originally, later Sankt Joachimsthal or Joachimsthal: "Sanskrit: "Sant" Eng.: Saint; Joachim's; Sanskrit: "Sthal" Eng.: place/area; Valley"). compl: "Sant Joachim's Sthal" is a spa town
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
in north-west Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
belonging to the Karlovy Vary Region. It is situated at an altitude of 733 m above sea level in the eponymous St. Joachim's valley in the Ore Mountains, close to the border to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
The Joachimsthaler coins minted there in the 16th century became known as thaler
Thaler
The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or tolar. Etymologically, "Thaler" is an abbreviation of "Joachimsthaler", a coin type from the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, where some of the first such...
for short, with the word "dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
" and similar words for monetary units in many languages deriving from it.
Mining and coinage
At the beginning of the 16th century, silverSilver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
was found in the area of Joachimsthal. The exploitation of this valuable resource caused the place to grow rapidly, and made the Counts von Schlick, whose possessions included the town, one of the richest noble families in Bohemia. The Schlicks had coins minted, which were called Joachimsthalers. They gave their name to the Thaler
Thaler
The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or tolar. Etymologically, "Thaler" is an abbreviation of "Joachimsthaler", a coin type from the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, where some of the first such...
and the dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
. The fame of Joachimsthal for its ore mining and smelting works attracted the scientific attention of the doctor Georg Bauer (better known by the Latin form of his name, Georgius Agricola
Georg Agricola
Georgius Agricola was a German scholar and scientist. Known as "the father of mineralogy", he was born at Glauchau in Saxony. His real name was Georg Pawer; Agricola is the Latinised version of his name, Pawer meaning "farmer"...
) in the late 1520s, who based his pioneering metallurgical
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
studies on his observations made here.
History
In 1523, the Protestant ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
began. In the Schmalkaldic War
Schmalkaldic War
The Schmalkaldic War refers to the short period of violence from 1546 until 1547 between the forces of Emperor Charles I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire, commanded by Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, and the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League within the domains of the Holy Roman...
(1546-47) Joachimsthal was occupied for a time by Saxon troops. When in 1621 the Counter-reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
and re-Catholicisation took effect in the town, many Protestant citizens and people from the mountains migrated to nearby Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
.
In the 19th century the town was the location of a Regional Headquarters (Bezirkshauptmannschaft) and Court, and of an administrative office responsible for mines and iron production. Mining was still significant in this period. It was run partly by state-owned and partly by privately-owned firms. In addition to silver ore (of which in 1885 227 zentner
Zentner
The zentner is an obsolete name for a unit of mass which was used predominantly in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, although it was also sometimes used in the United Kingdom – for example, as a measure of the weight of certain crops including hops for beer production – and similar...
s [11.35 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s] were produced), nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
, bismuth
Bismuth
Bismuth is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a trivalent poor metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally uncombined, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead...
and uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
ore were also extracted. There were also other industries: an enormous tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
factory employed 1,000 women. In addition, there was the manufacture of gloves and corks and of bobbin lace
Bobbin lace
Bobbin lace is a lace textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage them. As the work progresses, the weaving is held in place with pins set in a lace pillow, the placement of the pins usually determined by a pattern or pricking pinned on the...
.
On 31 March 1873 the town almost entirely burnt down.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Marie Curie
Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
discovered, in tons of pitchblende ore containing uraninite
Uraninite
Uraninite is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO2, but also contains UO3 and oxides of lead, thorium, and rare earth elements...
from Joachimsthal, the element radium
Radium
Radium is a chemical element with atomic number 88, represented by the symbol Ra. Radium is an almost pure-white alkaline earth metal, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, becoming black in color. All isotopes of radium are highly radioactive, with the most stable isotope being radium-226,...
, for which she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
. Until the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
this was the only known source of radium in the world.
The first radon spa
Destination spa
A destination spa is a short term residential/lodging facility with the primary purpose of providing individual services for spa-goers to develop healthy habits. Historically many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or sources of mineral waters...
in the world was founded in Joachimsthal in 1906, joining the famous spas of the region, like Karlsbad
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately west of Prague . It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370...
, Franzensbad, Marienbad.
Modern town
In 1929, Dr Löwy of Prague established that 'mysterious eminations' in the mine led to a form of cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Ventilation and watering measures were introduced, miners were given higher pay and longer vacations, but death rates remained high.
After WW 2 the German-speaking population was expelled and replaced by Czechs.
After the Communist party took control of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in 1948, a large prison camp
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
was established in the town now named Jáchymov. Opponents of the new regime were forced to mine uranium ore under very harsh conditions: the average life expectancy
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
in Jáchymov at this period was 42 years.
Uranium mining
Uranium mining
Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. The worldwide production of uranium in 2009 amounted to 50,572 tonnes, of which 27% was mined in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia are the top three producers and together account for 63% of world uranium...
ceased in 1964. The radioactive thermal springs which rise in the former uranium mine workings are used under the supervision of doctors for the treatment of patients with nervous and rheumatic disorders.
Nearby attractions
Not far from here, at the foot of the Plešivec, there once stood the CapuchinOrder of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
monastery Mariasorg (Mariánská); it was razed to the ground in the 1950s.
From the valley of the Veseřice a chairlift
Chairlift
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs...
goes to the highest peak in the Ore Mountains, the 1244 m high Klínovec
Klínovec
Klínovec is the highest peak of the Ore Mountains, located in the Czech Republic's part of the mountains at . There is an important TV broadcasting tower on the top of the mountain.- Location :...
.
People
- Georgius Agricola (1494–1555), town doctor and chemist, the "Father of MineralogyMineralogyMineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
" - Johannes MathesiusJohannes MathesiusJohannes Mathesius , also called Johann Mathesius or John Mathesius, was a German minister and a Lutheran reformer. He is best known for his compilation of Martin Luther's Table Talk, or notes taken of Luther's conversation and published afterwards...
(1504–1565), from 1532 RectorRectorThe word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of the Latin School and since 1542 "mine preacher" (Bergprediger) - Samuel Fischer (1547–1600), professor, clergyman and Superintendent