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| Area: | 51.1 Km&2 |
| Population: | 3,143 ''(2003)'' |
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''For other places called Joachimsthal, see
Joachimsthal (disambiguation) ''
(in
German originally ''Thal'',
later ''Sankt Joachimsthal'' or ''Joachimsthal'', as it is best known in English) is a
Spa town in north-west
Bohemia in the
Czech Republic belonging to the
Karlovy Vary Region , formerly ''Karlsbad''. It is situated at an altitude of 733 m above sea level in the eponymous St. Joachim's valley in the
Ore Mountains on the
Weseritz .
At the beginning of the
16th Century Silver was found in the
area of Joachimsthal. The exploitation of this valuable resource caused the place to grow rapidly, and coincidentally 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'', and gave their name to the
Taler 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.
In
1523 the
Reformation 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 for that reason.
In the 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 was almost entirely burnt down.
At the beginning of the
20th Century ,
Marie Curie discovered in a piece 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 uranium in the world.
The first
Radon spa in the world was founded in Jáchymov in
1906 .
After the
Communist party took control of Czechoslovakia in
1948 , a large prison camp was established in 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.
Not far from here, at the foot of the
Plessberg , there once stood the
Capuchin monastery ''Mariasorg'' (''Mariánská''); it was razed to the ground in the 1950s.
From the valley of the Weseritz a
Chairlift goes to the highest peak in the Ore Mountains, the 1244m high
Klínovec or ''Keilberg''.
- Georgius Agricola (1494-1555), town doctor and chemist, the "Father of Mineralogy "
- Johannes Mathesius (1504-1565), from 1532 Rector of the Latin School and since 1542 "mine preacher" (''Bergprediger'')
- Samuel Fischer (1547-1600), professor, clergyman and Superintendent
''This article is based on a translation of that in the German Wikipedia''
