Nový Knín - history
The town of Nový Knín
is first mentioned in the 12th century [1]. In 1186 the local church witnessed
the peace negotiations between Prince Bedrich and the Moravian Margrave, Konrad
Ota. In the years 1218 and 1219 the town hosted King Premysl Otakar I, and
in 1341 King Jan of Luxembourg. Gold mining in this area started towards the
end of the 13th century. Between 1321 and 1331 the old settlement split into
the mining village of Nový (New) Knín, since 1331 the seat of
the Royal Officer in charge of Gold Procurement (Royal Purchaser of Gold),
and the original village of Starý (Old) Knín. In 1351 King Charles
IV granted a Charter to Nový Knín confirming its privileges
as a royal mining town, and established a Royal Mint famous for its gold ducats.
This was also the most flourishing period of gold mining in Nový Knín,
when all the shafts and galleries were opened. This period ended at the beginning
of the 15th century. The rich gold-bearing veins were exhausted and gold mining
was no longer economic. Moreover, the town, as well as the mines, still suffered
from the consequences of the Hussite riots and wars. Despite the gradual recovery
of the town and the mines, there was no return to the glory of the past. Also,
in 1639, during the Thirty Years´ War the town was destroyed and burnt
down by the Swedish army. In 1914 two of the allegedly richest galleries in
the Chvojná hill, out of the 19 original ones, were cleared and reopened
However, the attempts to resume mining failed, and in 1923 all mining ceased.
During World War II, more attempts at mining were made but failed and all
mining operations stopped finally in 1945.. The two cleared galleries are
now used to provide the vacuum storage of the High-speed Laboratory of the
Institute of Thermomechanics.
Official webpage of the town
Nový Knín
