Cultural Monuments of the Ostrava-Karviná Coalfield

The publication Cultural Monuments of the Ostrava-Karviná Coalfield aims to provide an overview of collieries and mining technology protected by law under Act no. 21 / 87 on state heritage conservation and listed as cultural monuments or national cultural monuments. In order to explain the technical, historical and architectural importance of these sites and equipment – and to illuminate the interconnections among the region’s collieries – the publication also contains descriptions of local geographical and geological conditions, an overview of the history of mining and mining companies, an account of the technical and architectural developments that affected the coalfield, and a summary of the guiding principles of heritage conservation.

These accompanying texts are included because they help to place the main part of the publication – the catalogue of cultural monuments – in its wider context, illuminating the importance of the region’s collieries and the relevance of the sites to the development of the local mining industry.

Heritage conservation work with collieries and technical equipment in the Ostrava-Karviná coalfield is based on the evaluation of the surviving heritage sites that bear witness to the region’s mining history – ranging from the early beginnings of mining activity (the establishment of the Jaklovec main adit) to the first wave of mine closures in the 1960s. This evaluation is carried out by means of systematic archival study and field research by mining experts, historians and heritage conservation workers.

Contents:

INTRODUCTION 9

DESCRIPTION OF THE OSTRAVA-KARVINA COALFIELD 13 Territory 13 Geology 14

HISTORY OF MINING IN THE OSTRAVA-KARVINÁ COALFIELD 15

• The beginnings of mining and the discovery of coal deposits 15
• Shallow mining 17
• Deep mining 19
• The beginnings of deep mining 19
• Western part of the coalfield (Ostrava) 19
• Eastern part of the coalfield (Karviná) 21
• The growth of deep mining in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early 20th century 23
• The First World War and the period up to the Second World War 25
• The Second World War 25
• The nationalization of the collieries and post-war developments 27
• Limited mine closures and subsequent rise in production levels 28
• Extensive mine closures 29
• The history of conservation work and the care of industrial heritage 30

TECHNICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 35

• Drift mining 35
• Shallow mining 36
• Deep shaft mining 37
• Mechanization 38
• Vertical transportation and winding engines 38
• Compressors 44
• Pit-head buildings 46
• L-shaped pit-head buildings, i.e. complexes with an L-shaped ground plan 46
• Linear pit-head buildings with an I-shaped ground plant 46
• Central (T-shaped) type pit-head buildings, with a symmetrical ground plan in the shape of the letter T 46
• Winding towers (headframes) 46
• Brickwork or masonry winding towers 49 Pyramid-shaped winding towers 49
• English-type strut-supported winding towers (English support) / Tomson support 50
• German-type strut-supported winding towers 51
• Individual winding tower designs 51
• Winding towers with raised engine rooms 52
• Central shafts 52
• The engine hall as the central feature of the site 54
• The development of architectural design 56

ENTREPRENEURS AND MINING COMPANIES 59

• Archbishopric of Olomouc (Olmutz) 59
• Austrian Alpine Mining Company 60
• Austrian state / Imperial and Royal Prospecting and Boring Commission 61
• Bludovský family 61
• Chamber of the Těšín Estates / Chamber of the Estates of the Těšín Principality / Coal Mines of His Imperial Majesty Archduke Albrecht 61
• Doubrava and Orlová Coal Mining Company 63
• Doubrava-Orlová Mining Company 63
• Eichendorf, Johann Friedrich 63
• Geymùller, Johann Heinrich 64
• Grutschreiber, Johann Adam 64
• Gutmann, Wilhelm, David, Max 64
• Handwerk, Franz 65
• Harrach, Franz Ernst 66
• Hesse, Josef and Sahl, Samuel 66
• Klein, František, Albert, Libor, Hubert 67
• Laryš / Larisch-Mônnich, Jan Florian Erdman, Jan Václav, Heinrich (senior), Johann, Eugen, Heinrich (junior) / Coal Mines of His Excellency Count Johann Larisch-Mônnich / The Count Larisch-Mônnich Coal and Coke Works, Karviná 67
• Magerle, František / Magerle & Co. Mining Company 69
• Marie Anna Coal Company / Marie Anna Moravian Ostrava Coal Company 69
• Mattencloit, Anton, Nicolaus 69
• Miesbach, Alois and Drasche, Heinrich 70
• Mining and Iron Company / Austrian Mining and Iron Company / Mining and Iron Company 70
• Moravian Ostrava Coal and Coke Company 72
• Northern Ferdinand Railway / Exclusively Privileged Northern Railway of the Emperor Ferdinand / Imperial and Royal Exclusively Privileged Northern Railway of the Emperor Ferdinand / Coal Mining Company of the Imperial and Royal Exclusively Privileged Northern Railway of the Emperor Ferdinand 72
• Orlová-Lazy Coal Mining Company 73
• Orlová-Lazy Coal Mining Company / Gorgosch & Co. / Orlová-Lazy Coal Mining Company 74
• Ostrava Mining Joint-Stock Company, formerly of Prince Salm 74
• Ostrava-Karviná Mining Company (OKBS) / Coal Mines of His Excellency Count Eugen Larisch-Mónnich, Petřvald / Heinrich Mining Company of Count Eugen Larisch-Monnich, Petřvald / Ostrava-Karviná Mining Company / State Mining Directorate in Porubá, Orlová 75
• Ostrava-Karviná Mining Corporation (OKD) 75
• Reibnitz, Ernst Wilhelm 76
• Rothschild, Salomon Mayer, Anselm Salomon, Albert Salomon 76
• Salm-Reifferscheidt, Hugo Karl, Hugo Karl Franz, Hugo Leopold 77
• Stacker von Wayersdorf, Hubert 78
• Thomke, Georg 79
• Vítkovice Coal Mining Company / United Vítkovice Coal Mines 79
• Vítkovice Mining and Iron Company 79
• Vítkovice Mining Company / Vienna Mining Company 80
• Vladimír Vondráček & Co 81
• Vondráček, Ignác, Vladimir 81
• Wilczek, Franz Josef, Stanislav, Johann Nepomuk Maria / Coal Mines of His Excellency Count Johann Nepomuk Wilczek / Count Wilczek Coal Mines and Coking Plant in Polish Ostrava / Count Wilczek Ostrava Coal Mines and Coking Plants 83
• Zwierzina, Josef 83
• Zwierzina Mining Company / Zwierzina Coal Mining Company 84
• Žerotín, Zdeněk, Otto 84
• Žofie Mining Company, Poruba 85

CATALOGUE OF CULTURAL MONUMENTS OF THE OSTRAVA-KARVINÁ COALFIELD 87

• Dolní Suchá, Emperor Franz Josef / Suchá / Dukla Colliery 87
• Hrušov, Hubert / Stachanov Colliery / Site No. 3 91
• Hrušov, Ida / Hoffnungsschacht / Generalisimus Stalin 1 / Red October I Colliery 95
• Hrušov, Vrbice ventilation shaft 98
• Karviná-Doly, Austria / Barbora / Pilsudski /1st of May / Barbora Colliery 101
• Karviná-Doly, Gabriela / UNRRA 1 / Mír (Peace) 1 / Gabriela Colliery 106
• Karviná-Doly, Colliery no. VI / Gabzdyl / Jindřich Colliery 110
• Kunčičky, Alexandr Colliery 113
• Michálkovice, Imperial and Royal Colliery no. 3 / Michal / Petr Cingr Colliery 119
• Moravská Ostrava (Moravian Ostrava), Hlubina / Laušman / Hlubina Colliery 125
• Moravská Ostrava (Moravian Ostrava), Colliery no. X / Jindřich Colliery 133
• Moravská Ostrava (Moravian Ostrava), Jiří Colliery 137
• Nová Ves, Ignát no. 3 / Jan Šverma no. 3 ventilation shaft 140
• Petřkovice, Anselm / Petershoffen I-IV / Masaryk 1 / Eduard Urx Colliery / OKD Mining Museum 142
• Petřkovice, Oskar / Petershoffen V-VI / Masaryk II / Lidice Colliery 150
• Petřvald, Habsburg / Pokrok / Fučík I Colliery 153
• Poruba, Colliery no. I / Alpine / Václav / Czechoslovak Pioneer Colliery 157
• Přívoz, Odra Colliery 160
• Slezská Ostrava (Silesian Ostrava), Jan Marie Colliery 163
• Slezská Ostrava (Silesian Ostrava), Jan Nepomuk / Jan Michaeli / Michálka Colliery 166
• Slezská Ostrava (Silesian Ostrava), Terezie / Bergschacht / Petr Bezruč Colliery 170
• Slezská Ostrava (Silesian Ostrava), Holy Trinity / Trojice (Trinity) Colliery and Conical Spoil Tip 175
• Slezská Ostrava (Silesian Ostrava), Conical spoil tip of the Trojice Colliery and Coking plant / Emma-Lucie Colliery slag heap 178
• Sviadnov, Stařic 1 Sviadnov Colliery 180
• Vítkovice, Nová jáma (New shaft) / Louis / Steinbóck / General Jeremenko / Marshal Jeremenko Colliery 182

LITERATURE AND SOURCES 187

Literature 187

Sources 195