Chapters from the history of Boží Dar

Stanislav Burachovic

 

Silver and tin mining in the Boží Dar area

There is a clear connection between silver and tin mining in Boží Dar and founding the town. The area where Boží Dar was later to rise belonged until 1424 to the Czech squires of Tetov. After Jiří Vilém of Tetov died, the area devolved to Jiří of Poděbrady, who passed it on to the Saxon elector Albrecht as a wedding gift for his daughter Zdenka. Therefore, the Boží Dar area became part of the Saxon dominion of Schwarzenberg. In 1528, rich silver ore deposits were discovered in the region. Therefore, a year later - on May 13, 1529 - the Saxon elector Johann Friedrich proclaimed the freedom of mining for the region north of Jachymov. In 1534, Boží Dar was given a mining code. The rapid development in mining brought about numerous disputes over where exactly the state border lies between Bohemia and Saxony. The region became part of Elector Johann Friedrich's property in 1533 based on the agreement with the inheritors of the esquires of Tetov. In the same year, construction of Boží Dar started from the initiative of Schneeberg miners, according to a given overall building plan. The story goes that initially, the new municipality was called Wintersgrün. The name Boží Dar („Godsend" in Czech) is supposed to originate from words of Elector Johann Friedrich, who, at his visit to Boží Dar in 1546, was offered by miners a silver seat to have some rest on. The sovereign refused it by saying: „This fine ore is your bread, your godsend."

The primary way of mining silver and tin was surface mining of the reefs and panning in the sediments of streams. Along the Černá stream, west of Boží Dar, are preserved many remnants of past panning. After exhausting easily accessible primary deposits, miners started underground exploitation by running drifts and shafts. Extracted ores were processed in grinders, mills, smelt-houses and iron-mills. The mine of St. Lawrence was the richest silver shaft in Boží Dar in about 1540. The exports of refined silver ore and tin ore from so-called forest tin mines in the Boží Dar, Horní Blatná, Pernink, Abertamy and Hřebečná areas were significant in the 16th century. Tin from the Ore Mountains used to be traded all over Europe.

Besides silver and tin, also iron, cobalt and bismuth ores were mined in the Boží Dar area. In 1561, several gold grains were found here, which were handed over to the king. The significance of Boží Dar mining started to decline by the end of the 16th century. Local mining suffered considerable loss when Lutheran miners and mine entrepreneurs were made to emigrate to Saxony after 1624. Tin mining went on, though in very low quantities, until early 19th century and it ceased entirely in 1820.

Founding and development of Boží Dar

The charter of Boží Dar was given to it on June 6, 1546 by the Saxon elector Johann Friedrich in the form of privilege of free mining town. It allowed the town's inhabitants to mine silver and tin, to found a parish church, to trade freely, to profess crafts and to hold weekly and annual markets. This crucial town privilege was acknowledged in Prague on July 25, 1608 by the Roman emperor and Czech king Rudolph II, who also granted the town the rights of town court, of salt trade and of brewing. Five years later (January 3, 1613), these privileges were also confirmed in Vienna by the Roman emperor and Czech king Matthias II. The parchment originals of all these three documents are nowadays stored in the State District Archive in Karlovy Vary.

In 1546-47, Boží Dar became part of the Czech Crown Lands. After that, there were still disputes over the border areas but these were once for all over when so-called Schneeberg Agreement was signed on October 26, 1556 between the Czech kingdom and the Saxon electorate. The agreement outlined the exact borderline between the two countries and in summer 1558, border stones were laid.

The boom of mining in Boží Dar hit its peak in 1550s and 1560s, when the town's inhabitants totaled over 2000.

In 1580, King Rudolph II raised the status of the town to „royal mining town".

During the Thirty-year War, Boží Dar was left open to sacking and violence. In 1643 the Swedes plundered it.

After mining declined in the 17th and 18th centuries, this lively center of mining gradually transformed into a quiet mountain town whose inhabitants earned their living doing various domestic manufacturing. Around 1800, Boží Dar had almost 1400 inhabitants and about 200 houses.

During WW1, 88 men from Boží Dar died. To honor them, a memorial was raised on the square in 1925.

After WW1, Boží Dar became a popular summer destination as well as a center of winter sports.

 

 Boží Dar as a center of winter sports and tourism

Already since the end of the 19th century, Boží Dar, the only town in Central Europe situated this much upland, has been a favorite center of winter sports. First skiers discovered local convenient terrain in winter 1890. They were young Norwegians studying in Mitweid in Saxony. They had founded the skiing tradition in Boží Dar. In 1901, the Austria Skiing Club came into existence here, first of its kind in the Ore Mountains.

Klínovec, the highest (1244 m) summit in the Ore Mountains had been the major trip destination and sight of the whole area since early 19th century. The number of its visitors raised substantially after the lookout tower was built in 1884. More and more visitors both from the Czech and German side of the border would come here. Also spa guests from Karlovy Vary would for a trip to Klínovec. Building the Klínovec lookout tower by Jáchymov's The Ore Mountains Society started the tradition of local tourism. As the summer and winter tourism developed, more and more restaurants and hotels were gradually started in Boží Dar. Among the favorite ones before 1945 were these restaurants and hotels: Zeleny dum, Hieke, so-called Naturfreundehaus, Zur Höhenluft, Oppel, Wunderblume and others. The number of visitors in Boží Dar also went up after the radioactive spa in Jachymov was founded in 1906. Boží Dar and The Klínovec Area Foreign Travel Society founded in 1930 and Upper Ore Mountains Winter Sports Society (Obererzgebirger Wintersportverein) are largely credited for having promoted Boží Dar as a tourist destination. There was a new downhill run and ski jump complex in Klínovec in 1922, which became an important base for winter sports. The tourist industry around 1930 surged after new regular bus service lines were established between Boží Dar, Jachymov and Karlovy Vary. The most memorable pub and hotel in Boží Dar is Zelený dům ("Green House"), one of the oldest buildings in Boží Dar, built in the former part of the 16th century.

In the hotel's lobby, there is a mural of Johann Friedrich, the Saxon elector, being welcomed to Boží Dar. In 1542, the reformer Martin Luther stayed overnight in Zelený dům on his way from Wittenberg to Jachymov. There is a commemorative inscription dedicated to this event.

For over 70 years, Neklid ("Unrest"), Klínovec's shoulder with several ski runs, tows and a parking area, has been the main ski ground in Boží Dar.

In more recent decades, the opening of a border crossing with East Germany in 1971, and, in particular, the fact that the borders were completely opened after 1989 both contributed to the development of Boží Dar as a winter destination.

After 1990, extensive technical modernization of the ski grounds and its facilities was carried out in the Boží Dar area, bike paths and several information centers were built. There is a prominent establishment of the Czech Mountain Rescue Service in Boží Dar.

 

Art historical sights in Boží Dar

Only a few buildings of the old built-up area survived, as the great fire on May 4, 1808 destroyed most of the houses. A total of 104 houses, including the old town hall, the vicarage and the school, burnt down. The parish church of St. Anna is the dominant and the most important sight in Boží Dar. It was built in 1771 according to a project by Philip Heger on a site where a Renaissance church had been since 1593. There is an art historic jewel in the church - an octagonal tin font of 1612, made by Leonhard Dürr, a tinner from Jáchymov. It is decorated with a masterly embossing containing the motifs of the seven free arts. The second most important building in the town is the classicist town hall built in 1845 on a site where an older building had been.

Next to the Zelený dům hotel, there is a column commemorating Franz Wilhelm Tippmann, a local vicar and later a suffraqan bishop in Prague. Thanks to him a hospital for the poor was built in Boží Dar. Timmpann's memorial was unveiled in 1888.

Among the Baroque sights, the statue of St. John Nepomuk of 1707 is particularly noteworthy. On the square close to the town hall, there is a monument of Anton Günther, The Ore Mountains' singer and a native of Boží Dar. The modern sculpture of a famous Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis is to commemorate his stay in Boží Dar in 1929-32.

 

Boží Dar Peat Moor

There is an unwonted native locality in Boží Dar - the state reservation Boží Dar Peat Moor (929.57 hectares or 2,296 acres). It obtained the status of conservation area in 1965. In 1972, a 3.2-km nature trail with 12 stops was created, acquainting visitors in detail with the most precious botanical, faunal and historical features of the peat moor ecosystem. A botanical curio of the peat moor is the dwarf birch (in Latin: Betula nana), a glacial relict (a vestige from the Ice Age). In large areas of dwarf pine, one can find - besides other scarce and endangered plant species - the carnivorous sundew (Drosera rotundifolia).

The turf had been dug here since the 18th century and used, after being dried, for heating.

The peat moor is dominated by Boží Dar Špičák (1115 m), the highest basalt mound of volcanic origin in Central Europe, abundant with tales about a miraculous flower growing there. A favorite restaurant was named after it; earlier located at the foot of the peak "Wunderblume", i.e. the miraculous flower, and it does not exist any more.

 

Anton Günther

The best-known native of Boží Dar was the popular songster Anton Günther (June 5,1876-April 29, 1937). The Ore Mountains patriotism and admiration of its natural sights motivated most of the songs he wrote. Not only did he write songs; he also sang them with the guitar, the violin or the accordion. He used his own money to print his songs together with illustrations on special postcards. While he was still alive, dozens of song books, notes and lyrics collections were published with his work.

Originally, Anton Günther wanted to study forestry, however that was not possible because his parents were poor. He started to be trained in lithography in Annaberg. He received his vocational certificate from A. Haase's printing house in Prague. Though offered a lucrative job in Denmark, Anton Günther went back home to Boží Dar. During W.W.I, the already well-known songster was seriously injured on the Italian front. After he came home from the military hospital, he was never to leave Boží Dar again in his lifetime. Until the end of his days, he lived a simple life in his modest house, earning his regular living and singing to get some extra money. He ended his life by his own hand, the motives for his suicide never being quite clear. Dr. Gerhard Heilfurth became his autobiographer, publishing a monograph about him with the texts of all his songs in 1937. There have been nine editions of the book already, the last one in 1994.

Günther's songs became very popular in the Ore Mountains, being the spiritual property of several generations of the German inhabitants. Here are a few names of his very popular songs randomly chosen: Greeting to the Ore Mountains, March of the Skiers, Home is Home, The Forest is Falling Asleep, The Blueberry Song, Don't forget Your Home, When the Work Is Done, etc.

Anton Günther's grave, with his embossment by Hermann Ros, is a Boží Dar pilgrimage destination that has been visited for decades by numerous fans of Günther's work.

 

Nikos Kazantzakis

The famous Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957) was the person with years-long ties to Boží Dar most famous worldwide. He came to Boží Dar on advice of the Czech journalist and writer Egon Ervin Kisch in order to work in tranquility on his two books of reportage and film scripts. Kazantzakis stayed in Boží Dar twice. The first time from May 10, 1929 till April 9, 1930, the second time he came in late June 1931 and left on May 31, 1932. He resided in the Myslivny colony close to the road between Boží Dar and Horní Blatná. He rented two rooms in the house of Mr. Filip Kraus. There, the Greek writer found tranquility needed for his work. Boží Dar provided him with solitude he needed. He loved strolling in the plains around and he used to go shopping 2 km away to Boží Dar. Kazantzakis loved solitude. He said once: "I wish I could live every nine months in absolute solitude and the remaining three months traveling. That's exactly what I need. Being in contact with people, socializing and activity don't inspire me; for me, they're useless and depressive. A lot of solitude, hectic travels and solitude again - that's my rhythm." Boží Dar was an ideal place for Nikos Kazantzakis: it calmed down his mind and the mountain countryside brought him creative inspiration. This was reflected in his later works.

 

Christmas in the Ore Mountains

Winters in the Ore Mountains used to be full of snow, long and also distressful. The main event there, both custom-wise and church-wise, was the Christmas. The proximity of Saxony can be felt in Boží Dar through many Christmas customs artifacts adopted from behind the Saxon border. Boží Dar households would be decorated with crèches, moving models of mines, arched candlesticks, nut crackers in the form of male figures, smoking male figures with aromatic pastilles and particularly a big amount of wooden engraved figures. Those could be bought particularly on the Saxon side of the mountains where they would be favorite goods on the Christmas markets.

Boží Dar woodcutters and carpenters made local specials - wooden crosses made of hundreds of little pieces.

Among the main parts and symbols of Christmas were a crèche, a decorated spruce, a festive dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas box with Father Christmas called "Little Jesus" in Czech.

The Christmas-Eve dinner in the Ore Mountains' poor households used to be much more modest than in the Karlovy Vary foothills regions. It consisted of soup, a fried fish and a piece of either the Christmas cake or strudel. Buns dipped in hot milk and mushroom sauce with potato dumplings would also be eaten at this time.

 

Home manufacture and trades

After mining ceased here, the Ore Mountains inhabitants had to search for new sources of income. Already by the end of the 16th century and particularly after the Thirty-year War some specific home manufactures appeared in the mountains. Most important in the region between Kraslice and Boží Dar was making bobbin lace, adopted from Annaberg in Saxony as early as 1561.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, folk-musicianship was an important trade. Local wandering musicians went around all Europe, would play in small wandering groups or spa orchestras in Karlovy Vary, Teplice and elsewhere. Boží Dar musicians were known as "Fatzer". They would sometimes travel long distances to earn their living, well-known are their trips to Frankfurt, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Turkey and elsewhere. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Anton Günther went on with this tradition of folk-musicianship.

In the 19th century, gloves and stockings were sown and paper cartons made in Boží Dar.

Making bobbin lace, needlework, timbering, mushroom and wild-berry picking and selling (blueberries, cranberries), carrying trade, turf digging, cross-border smuggling and box making were common in Boží Dar up till 1945.

In the Wunderblume restaurant, no longer existing, at the foot of Boží Dar Spicak peak, there was an exhibition of a unique series of paintings by Gustav Zindel, that depicted many typical Boží Dar occupations, e.g. mowing, cutting down trees, making bobbin lace, turf digging, blueberry picking, carrying trade and wood carving.