Horní Slavkov
| Horní Slavkov | |||
| Town | |||
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| Country | Czech Republic | ||
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| Region | Karlovy Vary | ||
| District | Sokolov | ||
| Commune | Sokolov | ||
| Municipality | Horní Slavkov | ||
| Elevation | 558 m (1,831 ft) | ||
| Coordinates | 50°8′19″N 12°47′59″E / 50.13861°N 12.79972°ECoordinates: 50°8′19″N 12°47′59″E / 50.13861°N 12.79972°E | ||
| Area | 36.81 km2 (14.21 sq mi) | ||
| Population | 5,503 (2016-01-01) | ||
| Density | 149/km2 (386/sq mi) | ||
| First mentioned | 1332 | ||
| Mayor | Alexandr Terek | ||
| Timezone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 357 31 | ||
   Location in the Czech Republic
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 Location in Sokolov District
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| Statistics: statnisprava.cz | |||
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Website: hornislavkov |
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Horní Slavkov (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɦorɲiː ˈslafkof]; German: Schlaggenwald) is a town in Sokolov District, Karlovy Vary Region, Czech Republic. It has a population of 5,503 (2016 est.).
Horní Slavkov is located in the middle of the “spa triangle” between Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad), Mariánské Lázně (Marienbad) and Františkovy Lázně in the northern half of the Slavkov Forest Protected Landscape Area. The Slavkov Forest Mountain Range belongs to the Krušné hory (Ore Mountains) region of the Bohemian Massif. This region is of importance for its rich raw-material resources (tin, wolfram, silver, copper, zinc, lead, uranium, feldspar, peat, building stone and semi-precious stones such as jasper, amethyst and serpentinite), with deposits of peat, sources of mineral water and extensive forest stands, which are the most important natural phenomena to affect the operation and significance of the broad Western Bohemian spa area. Although the protected landscape area lies in-between the spa towns, which have very high tourist traffic, its central section is very sparsely populated and so here too, there are invaluable natural elements, e.g. plant communities, preserved here, which create a suitable environment for rare flora both in the peat bogs and in the raised bogs in the mountains.
At the beginning of the 13th century, a new mining colony was established here not far from an older mining community. A small town developed from this after an influx of miners from Saxony around 1335. It acquires its name from its founders, the Slávkovs of Rýzmburk. The attribute “horní” stands for “hornický”, i.e. mining, and refers to the origins of the new settlement. The new owners, the Lords of Plavno, granted privileges such as the freedom of the town and under the rule of the powerful Pluh of Rabštejn family from 1494 to 1547, Horní Slavkov was one of the most renowned and important mining towns, thanks to its unprecedented development primarily of tin mining, as well as that of silver ore, which was then in its infancy. There was a great deal of construction work at the beginning of the 16th century as a result of a further influx of inhabitants. The significance of the town is borne out by the construction and operation of a mint from 1525 to 1526. Under the rule of the Pluh family, the town had 4000 inhabitants and it was of equal importance to Kutná Hora and Jáchymov. Annual output came to approximately 10 000 centyrs (around 500 tons) of tin up to the end of the 16th century, mostly from the Huberův peň deposit. From 1547 it was granted the status of a royal mining town. From the beginning of the 17th century, a continual decline in mining set in and in 1618 the property of the town was confiscated, although sanctions were eased when the inhabitants converted to Catholicism in 1627. A temporary revival of mining took place at the beginning of the 18th century but the Supreme Mining Authority was closed down in 1772. Then in the igth century, the fame of the mining town passed on to porcelain production. The first Czech porcelain works were established here in 1792. Products which at that time included Empire painted china, coffee pots, cups, pipes and so forth were awarded prizes at industrial exhibitions in Prague in 1828-1829.
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