Mining Towns and Villages
Citice
The earliest mention of the village Czyticz dates in 1360. In the Middle Ages belonged it to two important Upper Palatinate noble families, Leuchtenberg and Nothaft, who had brought German settlers to the region. The occurrence of coal near Citice was known already in the 16th century. The underground fires on the Hanemann hill above the village already was mentioned by Georgius Agricola. The development of coal mining occurred in the 19th century. In 1830 there was at Citice put into operation the Fischer Mine (since 1956 called Lidice), which was 130 m deep and worked until 1958. In 1859, the Gustav gallery was driven to the Jacob Shaft at a later Citice station. On the same place, the Feliciano Shaft worked from 1896 to 1948.
Steam locomotive Orenstein and Koppel in early 20th century
Residual reserves of these underground mines were later exploited by open pits. Between Citice and Bukovany it was the Gustav III open pit, active until 1974 and now covered by spoil heap. In 1872 was inaugurated the railway Chomutov-Cheb. In the 1950th, the Tisová power plant to the south of the river Eger was built.
Last coal from the Mine Gustav III
The main sights are the Church of the Holy Cross (1930), the first Czech school building in the district of Sokolov (1923), a memorial to the miners' strike (around 1920) and a monument to the fallen of both world wars and victims of Nazism and Fascism (1959).
Mining tradition reminds the character of the municipal coat of arms. It consists of divided greenish-black shield with gold winged railway wheel in the upper field and crossed gold mining hammers in the bottom.
Coat of Arms
Useful information
Source: Jiskra J. (1997): Z historie uhelných lomů na Sokolovsku od Johanna Davida Adler von Starcka po Sokolovskou uhelnou a. s. – Sokolovská uhelná Sokolov. 206 pgs.
