Ore mines and alchemists

In the 16th century ore mines were major centres of alchemy, and Jáchymov was no exception. Between 1527 and 1533 the celebrated writer on metals and mining Georg Bauer Agricola (1494–1555), born on the northern side of the Krušné mountains, worked here as a physician. His most important work, On Mining, was published posthumously in Basel in 1556. In it Agricola gathered descriptions of mining and smelting techniques and the fundamentals of mineralogy that he had collected on both sides of the mountains. He was also the first to describe miners' occupational illnesses. His friend Johannes Mathesius (1504–1565), Jáchymov's Lutheran pastor and chronicler, and Mathesius's son were keen alchemists. Although Mathesius spoke against alchemists in his sermon collection Sarepta oder Bergpostilla (1562), he otherwise accepted the possibility of transmuting metals. Jáchymov's mining captain was Sebald Schwertzer, an alchemist and confidant of Emperor Rudolf II. He came to Prague and Jáchymov through Elector Augustus's court in Dresden.