Slovenské Technické Múzeum


Useful Information

Location: Hlavná 88, Košice (48.724116, 21.255903)
Open: All year Tue-Fri 9-17, Sat. Sun 12-17.
[2020]
Fee: Adults EUR 5, Children EUR 2, Students EUR 2, Seniors EUR 2, Seniors (70+) free, Photo Permit EUR 1.
[2020]
Classification: SubterraneaMining Museum
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:  
Guided tours:  
Photography: allowed with permit
Accessibility: yes
Bibliography:  
Address: Slovenské Technické Múzeum, Hlavná 88, 04001 Košice, Tel: +421-55-62-240-35, Tel: +421-55-72-606-12. 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

1947 museum established.
1948 Technické múzeum opened to the public.
1967 Foundry in Medzev opened to the public.
1983 renamed Slovenské technické múzeum, STM.

Geology


Description

The Slovenské Technické Múzeum (Slovak Science Center) is located in the town Košice in the historical building Kapitánsky palác (Captain Palace). It has a huge mining exhibition plus various mining related exhibitions, like metallurgy, blacksmithing, development of geodetic technology and cartography and communication electrical engineering. There is also an artificial mine which is located in the basement, the Huta Karol (Karol Blast Furnace) in Vlachovo, and the foundry in Mezdev which belong to the museum.

The mining exhibition in the basement is a sort of artificial mine, but actually various aspects of mining were reconstructed, which are possibly never found in this proximity. It starts with the entrance, which shows two typical mining portals with the names of famous persons of Štiavnica mining history, Jozef Karol Hell (*1713-✝1789) and Krištof Traugott Delius (*1728-✝1779) The tour starts with historic mining tools like hammer and chisel, the international symbols for mining, but also other tools for manual mining. The lamp exhibition shows the development of miner lamps from the early oil lamps to modern carbide security lamps and the use of rechargeable electric lamps in mining. There is a map of all mines of Slovakia and the type of ore. The operation and function of machines for basic work operations, like drilling and blasting work, loading and extraction, is explained with working examples. All machines are in working condition. The original basement walls are either covered by a examples of ground support or rocks and ore veins from local mines, which gives the realistic impression of a mine. The different mine types include mining of manganese ore by the method of walling in the locality of Kišovce-Švábovce, mining of the copper ore deposit in Slovinky, and several others. Highlights are the NL 12 bucket loader of the Kovolis Hedvíkov company from 1958, a drilling car Manda, type VVM 06, and a scraper bucket and a small winch. Those machines were used in the first half of the 20th century. A single-arm stamping machine, produced by Salzgitter Maschinen AG in 1957, was used for ore processing.

As different section of the artificial mine were created with rocks from different mining areas, this s actually a patchwork of different mines showing al aspects of Slovak mmining. The exposition of mining is probably the most attractive in the museum, because of its realistic display and the working machines. It is completed by various products and artworks connected to the mining. Guided tours with demonstrations of the machines are offered for groups over 7 persons after reservation.