Banícke Múzeum Gelnica

Miner's Museum Gelnica - Gelnica Mining Museum

Useful Information

Location:	Gelnica
Open:	All year Mon-Fri 8-12, 12:30-16, last entry 15. Tunnel Jozef: All year Mon-Fri 8-15. [2020]
Fee:	Adults EUR 2, Children (0-6) EUR 1, Students EUR 1, Seniors EUR 1, Disabled EUR 1. Tunnel Jozef: Per Person EUR 3. [2020]
Classification:	Mining Museum
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Banícke múzeum Gelnica, Banícke námestie č. 8, 056 01 Gelnica, Tel.: +421-53-482-1468. 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

1766	mining archive by the town council in Gelnica.
1932	collection by Leopold Gruss, headmaster of the Bürgerschule.
1938	teacher Samuel Fabriczy displays exhibition in forme stable building.
15-MAR-1939	museum closed due to the impending war.
1948	reopened as a temporary installation.
01-FEB-1949	9-member local museum board appointed.
1963	new museum opened to the public.
01-FEB-1965	became a branch of the Museum of National History in Spišská Nová Ves.
01-APR-2005	museum became independent again and is operated by the town of Gelnica.
AUG-2016	Štôlňa Jozef opened to the public.

Geology

Description

The Banícke Múzeum Gelnica (Gelnica Mining Museum) displays documents, pictures, models of mining machinery and even a mine tunnel with ore cart. The collection includes material of the area from the 19th and 20th century. The started under Maria Theresia, in 1766 the town council in Gelnica was ordered to archive all documentary material related to mining and also to take care of its proper storage. This is the core of the modern museum. In 1932 Leopold Gruss, headmaster of the Bürgerschule, started collecting material from miners and their families, which he stored on the school premises. He used the collection for his lessons. After his death the teacher Samuel Fabriczy continued the collection and applied for a granary and stable building from the city council, to display the exhibition. The building was adapted for the purposes of the museum and opened to the public in 1938. The museum was closed to the public on 15-MAR-1939 due to the impending war, but was reopened 1948 as a temporary exhibition. Since 1949 a 9-member local museum board planned activities and the repair and maintenance of the museum building. After a general overhaul of the interior of the building, an exhibition was installed and opened to the public in 1963.

The mining exhibition included the topics astronomy, geology of Czechoslovakia, Spiš geology, anthropology, archeology and mining for feudalism. In 1965 the Mining Museum became a branch of the Museum of National History in Spišská Nová Ves. It became independent again in 2005 and is now operated by the town of Gelnica. The modern museum has exhibitions on mining, ethnography, city history, geology and guilds.

The museum building was erected in 1802 with material from the castle walls. Its core is from the Renaissance, but extensions were made in the spirit of the Theresian Baroque, including a massive baroque tower. The museum als has an open air part which has three main exhibits. The Štôlňa Jozef (Jozef Tunnel) is visited on underground tours after appointment. The Banský stroj Pochwerk (Ore Crusher) was used to crush the ore and the Taviaca pec (furnace) was used to melt the ore.

The Štôlňa Jozef was first created to mine the south-eastern part of the Gelnická vein, it is 1.5 km long and of unknown age. It was also used as an adit, to drain the water from the mine. It was closed in the mid-19th century due to the decline of copper mining, but was reopened in the 1970s to connect the lower corridors on the Krížová vein with a ventilation chimney. The works were completed in the 1990s but the tunnel was soon flooded at the entrance and discarded again.