SLATE MUSEUM
The history of mining roofing slate.
The largest production of roofing slate in the Czech Republic took place in the Moravian-Silesian Culm (hereinafter; ‚ MSZ‘ culm) in the Low Jeseniky Mountains and Oder Hills. The actual extraction of raw slate material has evolved since time immemorial. In the beginning, there was the quarrying of stone in quarries, extracted during the medievalera and used in early construction as a building material for masonry and paving. Slate, as a foundation and walling materials, planted cornices, parapets, paving, tiles etc., is found primarily in structural and architectural elements of sacred and rural buildings in Jeseníky and the Oder hills and surrounding area. A critical period of development in the slate industry in the Czech Republic occurred in approximately the middle of the 18th century with the advent of roofing slate. The oldest written record showing the extraction of slate roofing is referred to in 1776 in the vicinity of the Svobodný Heřmanice. In the mid-19th century, it had already become an industry where slate was being mined in the Nízké (low) Jeseniky Mountains at more than 50 locations and production from the first half of the century gradually shifted to the underground quarries providing better, purer material.
Initially slate was mined by hand. The miners used hand-tools and chisels, hoes, pickaxes and hand drills. Later, gunpowder was used to blast a hole for the drilling machines. The first lights that were used underground were powered by oil and gas, then later carbide. The slate mines were not at risk of the occurrence of mine gases, so miners could use open flames. Miners used ladders to descend below ground. In vertical stacks that were located between levels, the miners had to move the wooden ladders. Such stacks are called „komíny lezní“ (climbing stacks). Slate was mined in a method called komorovou těžbou (chamber mining). After the exposure of the stack – using an opening crosscut, a rich deposit was excavated and a chamber was created by chipping away at the rock, often up to 20 meters in width (corresponding to the thickness of mined deposits), usually 4-20 meters long by a height of 16-21 meters.
TRANSPORT In the horizontal tunnels, the slate was extracted on rails by mining wagons. The raw material was hauled up a vertical shaft to the surface. In ancient times, this was done using manual winches. For extraction from greater depths, horse or oxen were used to drive the winch. In the second half of the 19th century, steam engines were introduced. Carts with slate, at the point where the shaft tunnels joined at the individual levels, the so-called ‚nárazišti‘ (junction), they were moved onto a wooden platform and mounted on ropes. The platform was then, due to the ingeniously constructed wooden structure, pulled to the surface, hence the hand-pushed carts on rails were delivering to sites where the mined slate was further processed. Similar machines, tools and techniques were also used in surface mines.
Unique items are:
Hoe from Haschkeho underground quarry, Čermná in Silesia, aged at between 1890 – 1910, found during the excavation of the lower parts of the heap. Was used to modify the shape by chipping at the slate for roofing and paving. Display case 10;
Chisel ‚Canine‘ from Olejovické tunnel from the late 19th century. It is the most widely used tool by miners for the removal of weathered rock. Display case 10;
Miners‘ hoe ‚kracka‘ from the mine in Lhotka from the 2nd half of the 20th century. Served to rake and clean away removed rock from drainage reaches, Display case 10;
Trough from Hrubé Vody from the stařin mine, Libor, from the first half of the 20th century. Troughs were used to collect rock that was raked up with a hoe and were then tipped into wheel-barrows, wagons or transport containers. ‚Pucka‘ (mallet) from Kunzová underground quarry of the lower flooded floor of Čermná in Silesia from the early 20th century. The most important tool used by miners to crush rocks and other tasks. The subject was obtained from the flooded quarry by divers working at a depth of about 30m. Display case no. 11
Wooden gavel from Libavá, from the 1st half of the 20th century. It served for splitting slate in cleaving using chisels.
Hand drill from the first half of the 20th century, drill bits from different locations and explosive equipment. Drilling was carried out by alternation of hammer blows to the drill with manual turning of the drill. Display case no. 12
Also interesting is a collection of axes, carpenter, blacksmith and locksmith products presenting a craft that has been present at every mine.
Among the unique items include a wooden dugout trough from the Haschkeho underground quarry, from a tunnel in the western fringe of Čermná in Silesia, dating from the late 19th century. It served in the extraction of mine water. The original length of the trough, made from one log, was 13 m.
Electrical insulator from Velká Střelné, found at the ruins of the transformer in pit no. IV., dating from 1932. In 1932 it was equipped with electrical power at the mine owned by the company Jan Řihák et al. on an Olomouc hill from the power station in Prerov. It was the first electrified slate mine in Czechoslovakia.
TRANSPORT In the horizontal tunnels, the slate was extracted on rails by mining wagon. The raw material was hauled up a vertical shaft to the surface. In ancient times, this was done using manual winches. For extraction from greater depths, horse or oxen were used to drive the winch. In the second half of the 19th century, steam engines were introduced. Carts with slate, at the point where the shaft tunnels joined at the individual levels, the so-called ‚nárazišti‘ (junction), were moved onto a wooden platform mounted on ropes. The platform was then, due to the ingeniously constructed wooden structure, pulled to the surface, hence the hand-pushed carts on rails were delivering to sites where the mined slate was further processed. Similar machines, tools and techniques were also used in surface mines.
Mine transport is displayed by samples of rails used in mines and quarries in the MSZ culm, tools that were originally used to maintain the mine railways, railway sleepers and others. The main exhibits of mining transport are two unique trucks in the middle of the exhibition room.
Wagon no.1 – wooden cart – ‚platoňák‘ from the Goldová underground quarry, from the end of the 19th century.
Wagon No. 2 – a wooden cart with a pivoting and tilting flatbed that is more than one hundred years. It is a unique example of a wagon which allowed it to ride on vertical tracks. The wagon was raised from the bottom of the flooded quarry at Svobodné Heřmanice, from a depth of about 30m, during diving work.
Paleontology is represented by a complete summary of fossils from the MSZ culm, documented by discoveries of fossilized organisms, plants and tracks of organisms.
Significant findings include exposed goniatiti and posidonia from the animal kingdom as well as horsetails and ferns from the plant kingdom.
Exposition „The History of Budišov in a Timeline“
The display clearly follows the historical development of this significant Moravian border city since its founding in the 13th century until the present day.
Interesting items include issued copies of medieval documents and historical photographs. The most important period in the exhibition describes the establishment of craft guilds and the beginnings of industry in Budišovská (the Budišov area).
Garden exhibition
This small geological park in the garden includes a bat tunnel, equipped with life-size models bats in a slate stack that is overgrown by vegetation and includes samples of fossils in an authentic natural environment as well as a musical instrument – ‚břidlofon‘ (slate-o-phone) among other attractions. In the garden, there is a cleavage area for processing slate where visitors can experience the work of master splitters. Within the concept of the garden, there is a calligraphy workshop for 15 people where you can paint with a brush and water on a slate board.
Slate-trail Exposition
50 km of nature trails that are connected to another trail, the 5 km Legacy of slate, together create a natural exposition which leads you in the footsteps of slate quarrying in the Budišovská and Vítkovská area. The trail will take you around abandoned quarries, beautiful countryside and rural architecture.
The History of the Slate Museum
1966 – Initial plan. The intention, a document of 23 pages titled „slate mining and utilization,“ was drawn up by the former leadership of JKS Budisov and N/B Jan Řihák from Olomouc.
1996 – Establishment of the museum. The Town Museum in Budišov nad Budišovkou was founded in the summer of 1996. The location of the museum’s collections was housed by a decaying Baroque building of the former mill, redesigned by the city to be the town museum. Since the establishment of the exposition, the main theme has became slate and related slate industries. The first exhibition helped build momentum by enthusiasts and staff of the cultural center. The exposition was based on a private collection until 2014. The primary aim that led to the creation of an exposition was to increase awareness, encourage visitors to the area and to restore the slate industry, or at least to restore the craft production of slate and interest in the topic.
2008 – Renovation of the slate exhibition. The first big change since the founding of the museum was a new arrangement of collections based on the intent of J. Řihák in 1965. The exhibition was fitted with the first new illuminated display cabinets and a computer with a database of documentary films.
2015 – Complete rebuilding and extension of expositions. On May 9, 2015 the museum opened to the public in a completely new way. Important works and repairs were completed such as heating, air conditioning, security systems, equipping the museum with new technology etc. Exhibitions were filled with new collections and the exhibitions belong today to the city Budišov nad Budišovkou. A collection fund was established by activists who cooperated in the building of the museum. The museum exhibits were collected, restored and handed over to the city. Expositions in the building were improved by the addition of a valuable garden exposiiton in the form of a geological park.
SLATE MUSEUM
The history of mining roofing slate.
The largest production of roofing slate in the Czech Republic took place in the Moravian-Silesian Culm (hereinafter; ‚ MSZ‘ culm) in the Low Jeseniky Mountains and Oder Hills. The actual extraction of raw slate material has evolved since time immemorial. In the beginning, there was the quarrying of stone in quarries, extracted during the medievalera and used in early construction as a building material for masonry and paving. Slate, as a foundation and walling materials, planted cornices, parapets, paving, tiles etc., is found primarily in structural and architectural elements of sacred and rural buildings in Jeseníky and the Oder hills and surrounding area. A critical period of development in the slate industry in the Czech Republic occurred in approximately the middle of the 18th century with the advent of roofing slate. The oldest written record showing the extraction of slate roofing is referred to in 1776 in the vicinity of the Svobodný Heřmanice. In the mid-19th century, it had already become an industry where slate was being mined in the Nízké (low) Jeseniky Mountains at more than 50 locations and production from the first half of the century gradually shifted to the underground quarries providing better, purer material.
Initially slate was mined by hand. The miners used hand-tools and chisels, hoes, pickaxes and hand drills. Later, gunpowder was used to blast a hole for the drilling machines. The first lights that were used underground were powered by oil and gas, then later carbide. The slate mines were not at risk of the occurrence of mine gases, so miners could use open flames. Miners used ladders to descend below ground. In vertical stacks that were located between levels, the miners had to move the wooden ladders. Such stacks are called „komíny lezní“ (climbing stacks). Slate was mined in a method called komorovou těžbou (chamber mining). After the exposure of the stack – using an opening crosscut, a rich deposit was excavated and a chamber was created by chipping away at the rock, often up to 20 meters in width (corresponding to the thickness of mined deposits), usually 4-20 meters long by a height of 16-21 meters.
TRANSPORT In the horizontal tunnels, the slate was extracted on rails by mining wagons. The raw material was hauled up a vertical shaft to the surface. In ancient times, this was done using manual winches. For extraction from greater depths, horse or oxen were used to drive the winch. In the second half of the 19th century, steam engines were introduced. Carts with slate, at the point where the shaft tunnels joined at the individual levels, the so-called ‚nárazišti‘ (junction), they were moved onto a wooden platform and mounted on ropes. The platform was then, due to the ingeniously constructed wooden structure, pulled to the surface, hence the hand-pushed carts on rails were delivering to sites where the mined slate was further processed. Similar machines, tools and techniques were also used in surface mines.
Unique items are:
Hoe from Haschkeho underground quarry, Čermná in Silesia, aged at between 1890 – 1910, found during the excavation of the lower parts of the heap. Was used to modify the shape by chipping at the slate for roofing and paving. Display case 10;
Chisel ‚Canine‘ from Olejovické tunnel from the late 19th century. It is the most widely used tool by miners for the removal of weathered rock. Display case 10;
Miners‘ hoe ‚kracka‘ from the mine in Lhotka from the 2nd half of the 20th century. Served to rake and clean away removed rock from drainage reaches, Display case 10;
Trough from Hrubé Vody from the stařin mine, Libor, from the first half of the 20th century. Troughs were used to collect rock that was raked up with a hoe and were then tipped into wheel-barrows, wagons or transport containers. ‚Pucka‘ (mallet) from Kunzová underground quarry of the lower flooded floor of Čermná in Silesia from the early 20th century. The most important tool used by miners to crush rocks and other tasks. The subject was obtained from the flooded quarry by divers working at a depth of about 30m. Display case no. 11
Wooden gavel from Libavá, from the 1st half of the 20th century. It served for splitting slate in cleaving using chisels.
Hand drill from the first half of the 20th century, drill bits from different locations and explosive equipment. Drilling was carried out by alternation of hammer blows to the drill with manual turning of the drill. Display case no. 12
Also interesting is a collection of axes, carpenter, blacksmith and locksmith products presenting a craft that has been present at every mine.
Among the unique items include a wooden dugout trough from the Haschkeho underground quarry, from a tunnel in the western fringe of Čermná in Silesia, dating from the late 19th century. It served in the extraction of mine water. The original length of the trough, made from one log, was 13 m.
Electrical insulator from Velká Střelné, found at the ruins of the transformer in pit no. IV., dating from 1932. In 1932 it was equipped with electrical power at the mine owned by the company Jan Řihák et al. on an Olomouc hill from the power station in Prerov. It was the first electrified slate mine in Czechoslovakia.
TRANSPORT In the horizontal tunnels, the slate was extracted on rails by mining wagon. The raw material was hauled up a vertical shaft to the surface. In ancient times, this was done using manual winches. For extraction from greater depths, horse or oxen were used to drive the winch. In the second half of the 19th century, steam engines were introduced. Carts with slate, at the point where the shaft tunnels joined at the individual levels, the so-called ‚nárazišti‘ (junction), were moved onto a wooden platform mounted on ropes. The platform was then, due to the ingeniously constructed wooden structure, pulled to the surface, hence the hand-pushed carts on rails were delivering to sites where the mined slate was further processed. Similar machines, tools and techniques were also used in surface mines.
Mine transport is displayed by samples of rails used in mines and quarries in the MSZ culm, tools that were originally used to maintain the mine railways, railway sleepers and others. The main exhibits of mining transport are two unique trucks in the middle of the exhibition room.
Wagon no.1 – wooden cart – ‚platoňák‘ from the Goldová underground quarry, from the end of the 19th century.
Wagon No. 2 – a wooden cart with a pivoting and tilting flatbed that is more than one hundred years. It is a unique example of a wagon which allowed it to ride on vertical tracks. The wagon was raised from the bottom of the flooded quarry at Svobodné Heřmanice, from a depth of about 30m, during diving work.
Paleontology is represented by a complete summary of fossils from the MSZ culm, documented by discoveries of fossilized organisms, plants and tracks of organisms.
Significant findings include exposed goniatiti and posidonia from the animal kingdom as well as horsetails and ferns from the plant kingdom.
Exposition „The History of Budišov in a Timeline“
The display clearly follows the historical development of this significant Moravian border city since its founding in the 13th century until the present day.
Interesting items include issued copies of medieval documents and historical photographs. The most important period in the exhibition describes the establishment of craft guilds and the beginnings of industry in Budišovská (the Budišov area).
Garden exhibition
This small geological park in the garden includes a bat tunnel, equipped with life-size models bats in a slate stack that is overgrown by vegetation and includes samples of fossils in an authentic natural environment as well as a musical instrument – ‚břidlofon‘ (slate-o-phone) among other attractions. In the garden, there is a cleavage area for processing slate where visitors can experience the work of master splitters. Within the concept of the garden, there is a calligraphy workshop for 15 people where you can paint with a brush and water on a slate board.
Slate-trail Exposition
50 km of nature trails that are connected to another trail, the 5 km Legacy of slate, together create a natural exposition which leads you in the footsteps of slate quarrying in the Budišovská and Vítkovská area. The trail will take you around abandoned quarries, beautiful countryside and rural architecture.
The History of the Slate Museum
1966 – Initial plan. The intention, a document of 23 pages titled „slate mining and utilization,“ was drawn up by the former leadership of JKS Budisov and N/B Jan Řihák from Olomouc.
1996 – Establishment of the museum. The Town Museum in Budišov nad Budišovkou was founded in the summer of 1996. The location of the museum’s collections was housed by a decaying Baroque building of the former mill, redesigned by the city to be the town museum. Since the establishment of the exposition, the main theme has became slate and related slate industries. The first exhibition helped build momentum by enthusiasts and staff of the cultural center. The exposition was based on a private collection until 2014. The primary aim that led to the creation of an exposition was to increase awareness, encourage visitors to the area and to restore the slate industry, or at least to restore the craft production of slate and interest in the topic.
2008 – Renovation of the slate exhibition. The first big change since the founding of the museum was a new arrangement of collections based on the intent of J. Řihák in 1965. The exhibition was fitted with the first new illuminated display cabinets and a computer with a database of documentary films.
2015 – Complete rebuilding and extension of expositions. On May 9, 2015 the museum opened to the public in a completely new way. Important works and repairs were completed such as heating, air conditioning, security systems, equipping the museum with new technology etc. Exhibitions were filled with new collections and the exhibitions belong today to the city Budišov nad Budišovkou. A collection fund was established by activists who cooperated in the building of the museum. The museum exhibits were collected, restored and handed over to the city. Expositions in the building were improved by the addition of a valuable garden exposiiton in the form of a geological park.
