Hornické Muzeum Příbram

Mining Museum Brezové Hory

Useful Information

Location:	Námĕstí Hynka Kličky 293, 261 01 Příbram VI - Březové Hory. In the south western suburb of Brezové Hory, Príbram. (49.6834269, 13.9868927)
Open:	APR Tue-Sun 9-17. MAY to JUN Tue-Fri 9-17, Sat, Sun 9-18. JUL to AUG Tue-Sun 9-18. SEP to OCT Tue-Sun 9-17. NOV to MAR Tue-Fri 9-16. [2025]
Fee:	Mine Tours: Adults CZK 60, Children CZK 30, Students CZK 30, Seniors CZK 30, Families CZK 150. Collecting minerals: Adults CZK 30, Children CZK 20, Students CZK 20, Seniors CZK 20. [2025]
Classification:	Silver Mine Lead Mine Uranium Mine Fee Mining
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	MinAge=6.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Hornické muzeum Příbram, Námĕstí Hynka Kličky 293, 261 01 Příbram VI - Březové Hory, Tel: +420-318-626307, +420-318-633138, Fax: +420-318-622566. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

16th century	pit founded.
1779	Vojtěch mine founded.
1789	Anna mine founded.
1813	Ševčinská shaft sunk.
1836	Drkolnov mine founded.
1886	mining museum established.
1948	mining for uranium started.
2014	declared a National Cultural Monument.

Description

Hornické muzeum Příbram (Mining Museum of Příbram) is dubbed the "biggest mining museum in the Czech Republic". Such superlatives are more or less meaningless, but this museum is actually quite interesting and really large. Since the description below was written it has been extended by four other museums. The Vojna Memorial is dedicated to the victims of communism, as this is a prison complex which was the labor camp for uranium mining. Skanzen is an open air museum of various buildings which shows the daily life of the locals. Then there is the Gold Museum at Nový Knín and the Museum Granary at Prostřední Lhota.

The Hornické muzeum Příbram is an open air museum in the city Příbram which actually covers four different mines in the city. The first is Ševčinský důl (Ševčin Mine), which is the original part described by Tony below. It was the start of the museum and includes the spectacular iron headframe which is on top of a huge reck brick building. The main tour takes 110 minutes and is a great introduction into mining, machinery, history, minerals and ores, and daily life of the miners. It also includes the visit of the lookout tower of the shaft building. Then it’s possible to ride by a mining train through the 130-meter-long Ševčin Adit. This mine is also the site of the slag heap where its possible to collect minerals. The second mine is Důl Anna (Anna Mine), which also offers a ride on a mining train and has a Breitfeld & Daněk steam engine dated 1914. The main topic here is steam engines in mining and ore processing and metallurgy. They also offer a 750 m long hike through a waterfilled adit with water-wheel chambers. And then there is Jan Mine, which is dry and also has water-wheel chambers. Důl Vojtěch (Vojtěch Mine) is quite spectacular as it was the World’s first mine reaching 1000 m depth in 1875. And the fourth is Důl Drkolnov (Drkolnov Mine), 1.5 km from Ševčin Mine, which has a huge water wheel with a diameter of 12.4 m and a slide.

The museum was established in 1886 on the site of a 16th-century mining pit Ševčinský důl (Ševčin Mine). It has a long history and was extended considerably during the last decades. It was founded by the local history researcher and schoolteacher Ladislav Malý on 12-DEC-1886. So it was possible to collect items which were destroyed or sold at other mines. But even earlier, there was also a company-owned Mining Museum in Příbram, which was only occasionally accessible to the public from 1852. But until the mid-20th century most sites were still in operation, and obviously uranium mining was of great importance during the Cold War. So the mining museum was more or less an exhibition, a traditional museum, with massive socialist propaganda. In other words the transformation into an open air museum of enormous size started only 30 years ago, in the mid-1990s, after the end of the Cold War.

The Památník Vojna Lešetice (Lešetice War Memorial) resembles a German Konzentrationslager (concentration camp), but it was labor camp built by German prisoners of war in 1947–1949. 5 km southeast of Příbram it was intende to provide labour for the mining of iron, silver and uranium ore. Between 1949–1951 opponents of the new socialist regime were also imprisoned here, after the German prisoners of war had to be deported to Germany in accordance with international treaties. They were illegally interned without trial for political reasons. It was reorganized in 1951, which was mostly a name change. Between 1951–1961 the official title was Vojna Correctional Labor Camp for the most politically dangerous criminals. In other words the supporters of democracy who were sentenced more than once in fabricated trials to 10 years or more. Typically, they were accused of high treason, attempted high treason, aiding and abetting high treason, espionage, attempted illegal departure from the republic, and subversion of the people’s democratic system. Up to 2,000 people were now legally interned with trial for political reasons.

The Muzeum Zlata Nový Knín (Gold Museum Noví Knín) is located in Nový Knín, a royal mining town on the banks of the gold-bearing Kocába River, 25 km northeast of Příbram. While it is a part of the Příbram museum, it is a different location and a different topic, so we created a new page for this museum and the nearby Muzeum Špýchar Prostřední Lhota (Granary Museum Prostřední Lhota). We can also recommend a visit to the Skanzen Vysoký Chlumec (Open Air Center Vysoky Chlumec). While it is definitely worth a visit, it has no connection to mining.

The schedule is quite complicated, but actually it’s simple: the museum is open all year except Mondays. There is a small difference in closing times and number of offered tours per day. We recommend planning a full day and starting at 9 in the morning at Ševčinský důl, which is the location we have given. The higher fee is for the museum and for each tour, train ride or whatever, in other words you pay multiple times, depending on which tours you take. While this at first seems like a rip-off, it is not: 60 CZK is only € 2.40, for a two-hour tour, which is quite informative, that’s a bargain! The lower fee is for the mineral collecting and for the exhibition hall.

The museum occupies five separate buildings, and includes a miner’s cottage, a mineral display, and nativity folk scenes which do not appear to have any connection with mining whatsoever. But the highlight is the splendid ornate pit head building housing the Sevcinsky důl or Severin’s Shaft dating from 1813. You can also borrow a helmet to visit one of the mines guided by a retired miner. After this you will need to pay a visit to the Na vrsich or Miners' Pub whose beer is very highly recommended.

Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.