Hornické muzeum Ostrava, Mining museum in Ostrava-Petřkovice, Czech Republic

Hornické muzeum Ostrava occupies the preserved Anselm mine in Petřkovice, whose 40-metre headframe rises above a gallery level of 250 metres of tunnels at a depth of nine metres. The underground tour, entered by an original mine cage from the basement of a former compressor house, traces coal mining from 1782 to 1990 with full-size miner figures and working machinery.

Coal mining at Anselm began in 1835 and ended in 1991; the mining museum opened on 4 December 1993, the feast day of Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners. The seams under Landek were discovered for modern mining by surveyor Scholz in 1782 and had been worked since the Stone Age.

The museum keeps the original chain locker room and washroom of the Anselm mine, where miners changed and cleaned up after shifts. A memorial hall holds a plaque by Kurt Gebauer honouring rescue workers who died on duty, and ceremonies for the mine rescue service take place here.

The 10-hectare grounds sit below Landek hill in Petřkovice, partly in nearby Koblov, and hold sports facilities such as beach volleyball courts, tennis courts and a cyclocross track. The underground gallery is entered from the basement of the former compressor building, reached by an original mine cage. Allow time for the 3.5 km mining educational trail.

The museum displays a collection of mining rescue equipment including breathing apparatus that shows how safety technology evolved over time. This exhibition reveals the dangers workers faced underground.