Flascharův důl

Useful Information

Location:	On Veselský Hill near the town of Nový Svět u Oder. D1 motorway, exit at kilometer 321. (49.646321, 17.821568)
Open:	MAY to OCT Wed-Sun 9-17. Tours at 9, 11, 13, 15. [2020]
Fee:	Long tour: Adults CZK 120, Children (10-15) 60, Children (6-9) free, Students CZK 60, Seniors (60+) CZK 60, Disabled CZK 60, Family (2+3) CZK 250. Short Tour: Adults CZK 100, Children (10-15) 50, Children (6-9) free, Students CZK 50, Seniors (60+) CZK 50, Disabled CZK 50, Family (2+3) CZK 230. [2020]
Classification:	Slate Mine Diadochite
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	L=1 km.
Guided tours:	L=400 m, D=90 min.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Flascharův důl, Tel: +420-778-531-438. Odra Municipal Information Center, Městský úřad Odry, Masarykovo náměstí 16/25, 742 35 Odry, Tel: +420-556-768-162. 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

1890s	purchased by the merchant Gustav Mauler.
1898	leased to Alois Jambor.
1900	mine sold to JUDr. Karel Flaschar.
1918	mine closed.
2020	mine opened to the public.

Geology

The multiple cyclic alternations of fine-grained and coarse-grained sediments were deposited in the marine environment of the Lower Carboniferous. The sedimentation started in the Lower Visé (335–330 Ma), when the eroded rocks of the Bohemian Massif were flushed towards the northeast to the seabed. The sedimentation of Kulm rocks ended in the Upper Visé, 325 Ma. The Variscan orogeny created the Bohemian Massif and caused phases of uplift. During phases of uplift this caused coarse-grained sedimentation, the result of which is a formation with a predominance of offal and conglomerates. During phases of tectonic calm, finer sediments were formed, with a predominance of clayey shales and siltstones. When the tectonic forces reached the former sedimentation basin, the sediments were folded and subsided, higher pressure and temperature caused a weak metamorphosis. During the end of the orogeny the tectonic movements increased and caused the creation of faults, old faults were reactivated. But after the end of the orogenic process, the mountains were weathered and eroded, and today only shallow hills remain, but their geologic structure shows the faults and folds.

In Nový Svět on Veselský Hill, the shales of the Hradec-Kyjovice Formation reach the surface. Asymmetrical folds, hundreds of meters wide, form a complex succession of anticline and syncline areas. The axes of the folds have the direction NE–SW to NNE–SW. The cores of the folds are massive rock, the slate is found in the arms of the folds. So the miners removed the slate and the core remained.

Description

The Flascharův důl (Flaschar's mine) slate mine has two levels, and was named after its owner Karel Flaschar. The upper level is štola Johann, which is older, and several of the chambers where slate was mined have collapsed. The lower level is called štola Hortenzie, is younger and was named after Flaschar's wife Hortenzie. The mine had its heyday around 1900, when 52 active slate mines were counted in Silesia. The ground was originally owned by Johann Fadle and Stefan Foltas from the nearby village of Veselí, who operated a small-scale slate mine for construction purposes. It was purchased in the 1890s by the merchant Gustav Mauler after he moved to Odra. He intensified mining but did not invest enough money in modernization, and finally leased the mine to Alois Jambor in 1898. Then he sold the mine to JUDr. Karel Flaschar who was wise enough to invest money and expand and modernize the mining operation. He appointed Johann Fadle, the former owner of the mine, as mine manager.

Karel Flaschar started a new tunnel which was named after his wife, and followed the best quality slate. It was connected by an 18-meter ventilation chimney with the original mine. Wooden barracks were built near the entrance, which served as a workshops but also as for the miners. This worked until the end of World War I, Austria-Hungarian Empire disintegrated and the Austrian JUDr. Karel Flaschar returned with his family to Graz. He closed the mine and shale mining at Nový Svět ended. He was owner of the site until 1935 and Johann Fadle still lived in the area, but if he continued mining, there are no documents proving this.

The first thing when the mine is entered, is an oak door with a small chapel behind. It has a statue of sv. Barborku (Saint Barabara), the patron saint of the miners. Miners all over the world are quite supersticious, and they never enter the mine without asking Saint Barabara for protection.

While the tunnels are simply rectangular, the chambers where slate was mined are not. The slate is oriented at a 45° angle, and the mining followed the rock. As a result, all chambers are slanted. The dripping water from the ceiling contains dissolved minerals, similar to a karst cave. The minerals are deposited in the form of stalactites and stalagmites, similar to a karst cave. But the surrounding rock is not limestone, and the dissolved minerals differ very much from limestone, The speleothems are made of Diadochite.

The mine is entered in the lower level, and after 200 m tunnel the biggest chamber is reached. It is the main attraction and shows a fold in the rock. The fold was revealed by the slate mining. The good slate was mined, and as the tectonic movements result in different qualities of slate, the mining revealed the fold face. The walls of the chamber copy its bend, so the fold can be seen both in the section and from the outside. It's like a schematic painting of a fold from a tectonics book in true life, quite impressive.