Ore Mountain Mining Region, Mining heritage site in Ore Mountains, Czech Republic and Germany
The Ore Mountain Mining Region is a heritage site spanning about 95 kilometers along the border between Saxony and North Bohemia. It contains over 20 preserved mining monuments, including mine shafts, processing plants, and museums that document the extraction of silver, tin, cobalt, iron, and uranium.
Mining in this region started around 850 years ago with silver extraction and continued until 1990, with workers extracting tin, cobalt, and uranium over time. It became one of Europe's most significant mining centers for several centuries.
Mining shaped how people built their towns and organized their lives, visible in the old mining cities with distinctive buildings and churches that still stand today. Local crafts and customs developed around the work below ground and remain part of how residents connect with their heritage.
The site has several entry points and museums in different locations, so you can choose where to begin based on your interests. Planning ahead to decide which sites to visit is helpful, since the region spreads across a wide area.
The region contains five distinct mining landscapes, each shaped by different mineral deposits and extraction methods that evolved over centuries. These varied areas tell different stories about how mining techniques and priorities changed through time.
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