Case study: The Battle for Jezeří Chateau: Difference between revisions

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==Introduction==
==Introduction==


For Jezeří Chateau, perched dramatically on the foothills of the Ore Mountains in North-West Bohemia, its struggle for survival has been an enduring one over the centuries and reached its most critical moments in the latter half of the 20th century long after pan-European wars were consigned to history. From its role as a troop base in the Hussite Wars, the various radical reconstructions it underwent, its numerous changes of ownership, and its use and misuse by German troops during the Second World War,  Jezeří Chateau still faced almost inevitable ruin through deliberate neglect from the 1950s onward when the communist regime became transfixed by extracting as much of the surrounding coal deposits as possible, even at the expense of demolishing the chateau itself. Even now, after a successful fight to preserve the building, the threat of demise looms over the chateau once again as part of the equation to lifting the territorial mining limits imposed in the early 1990s.[[File:Jezeri jezero.jpg|thumb|Jezeří Chateau in 1882]]
For Jezeří Chateau, perched dramatically on the foothills of the Ore Mountains in North-West Bohemia, its struggle for survival has been an enduring one over the centuries and reached its most critical moments in the latter half of the 20th century long after pan-European wars were consigned to history. From its role as a troop base in the Hussite Wars, the various radical reconstructions it underwent, its numerous changes of ownership, and its use and misuse by German troops during the Second World War,  Jezeří Chateau still faced almost inevitable ruin through deliberate neglect from the 1950s onward when the communist regime became transfixed by extracting as much of the surrounding coal deposits as possible, even at the expense of demolishing the chateau itself. Even now, after a successful fight to preserve the building, the threat of demise looms over the chateau once again as various interest groups lobby to lift the territorial mining limits imposed in the early 1990s.[[File:Jezeri jezero.jpg|thumb|Jezeří Chateau in 1882]]


==The early history of the chateau==
==The early history of the chateau==
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The main longitudinal building with its four perpendicularly adjacent wings formed an H-shaped ground plan, with the hall buttress coming out of the southern side. In front of the main frontispiece with a shallow central buttress ending in a prismatic tower, there was the court of honour. At each side of the main portal there are atlantes by Jan Adam Dietz from the mid-1800s.
The main longitudinal building with its four perpendicularly adjacent wings formed an H-shaped ground plan, with the hall buttress coming out of the southern side. In front of the main frontispiece with a shallow central buttress ending in a prismatic tower, there was the court of honour. At each side of the main portal there are atlantes by Jan Adam Dietz from the mid-1800s.
[[File:Jezeri chapel.JPG|thumb|Jezeří chapel under reconstruction]]
[[File:Jezeri chapel.JPG|thumb|Jezeří chapel under reconstruction]]
As Ferdinand Vilém had no male heirs, he bequeathed his estate to his brother Oldřích Felix, who took over after his tragic death. On 25 September 1713 there was another fire at the chateau. Oldřich Felix, who had gone hunting that day, returned to see the building ablaze – the fire had spread so much by then that it could not be extinguished. Thanks to the committee sent by the hetman of Žatec to ascertain the damage, we now know how some of the rooms at Jezeří had looked before the fire and we can tell that the chateau already had the outer shape it has today. Unlike its renaissance predecessor, which had a tiled roof, this one only had shingles. On the middle floor there was a “new, spacious and beautiful ballroom with an oval, stucco-decorated vault, with huge columns and mascarons which took a group of ten masons, two stuccoworkers and six carpenters a whole summer to complete”. The room had nine windows and the damage inflicted by the fire was worth at least 4500 guldens. The adjacent room, by the “new dining hall”, with stuccoed ceiling and a beautiful floor was also completely destroyed (damage worth 388 guldens); another of the long list of destroyed rooms had been painted „al fresco“ (damage amounted to 350 guldens), and the alcove had a stuccoed ceiling and a valuable floor, too (350 guldens). In two adjacent rooms the fire also ruined frescoes, stuccoes and floors and its heat melted two beautiful tile stoves. In the great dining hall next to the chapel, decorated with stuccoes, a big green tiled stove was destroyed as well as a double door made of oak (damage worth 400 guldens), the fire also devoured the red room next to the dining hall, and the room next to that, a gilded study with stuccoes and frescoes on the ceiling, and another alcove (1400 guldens in total). The main helical staircase was destroyed as well as the old and the new towers with their little chambers, the “forest room” and the painted chamber, the kitchen with its foreroom, Count Lobkowicz’s painted rooms, four offices, a closet as well as a great hall above the dining room with a beautiful ceiling and floor, four capuccin rooms and another office. The fire did not spare the middle tower with a clock and two bells either, nor two dormers. A separate building below the chateau with six rooms, three closets and a laundrette was burned to the ground. The orangery, the lathe workshop, the new sawmill and other well-documented rooms and space also turned to ashes. The total damage soared to 30,398 guldens, 19 kreutzers and 3 denari.
As Ferdinand Vilém had no male heirs, he bequeathed his estate to his brother Oldřích Felix, who took over after his tragic death. On 25 September 1713 there was another fire at the chateau. Oldřich Felix, who had gone hunting that day, returned to see the building ablaze – the fire had spread so much by then that it could not be extinguished. Thanks to the committee sent by the hetman of Žatec to ascertain the damage, we now know how some of the rooms at Jezeří had looked before the fire and we can tell that the chateau already had the outer shape it has today. Unlike its renaissance predecessor, which had a tiled roof, this one only had shingles. On the middle floor there was a “new, spacious and beautiful ballroom with an oval, stucco-decorated vault, with huge columns and mascarons which took a group of ten masons, two stuccoworkers and six carpenters a whole summer to complete”. The room had nine windows and the damage inflicted by the fire was worth at least 4500 guldens. The adjacent room, by the “new dining hall”, with stuccoed ceiling and a beautiful floor was also completely destroyed (damage worth 388 guldens); another of the long list of destroyed rooms had been painted „al fresco“ (damage amounted to 350 guldens), and the alcove had a stuccoed ceiling and a valuable floor, too (350 guldens). In two adjacent rooms the fire also ruined frescoes, stuccoes and floors and its heat melted two beautiful tile stoves. In the great dining hall next to the chapel, decorated with stuccoes, a big green tiled stove was destroyed as well as a double door made of oak (damage worth 400 guldens), the fire also devoured the red room next to the dining hall, and the room next to that, a gilded study with stuccoes and frescoes on the ceiling, and another alcove (1400 guldens in total). The main helical staircase was destroyed as well as the old and the new towers with their little chambers, the “forest room” and the painted chamber, the kitchen with its foreroom, Count Lobkowicz’s painted rooms, four offices, a closet as well as a great hall above the dining room with a beautiful ceiling and floor, four capuccin rooms and another office. The fire did not spare the middle tower with a clock and two bells either, nor two dormers. A separate building below the chateau with six rooms, three closets and a laundrette was burned to the ground. The orangery, the lathe workshop, the new sawmill and other well-documented rooms and space also turned to ashes. The total damage soared to 30,398 guldens, 19 kreutzers and 3 denari. [[File:P1030557 1.jpg|thumb|Former staff quarters]]


Oldřích Felix decided to use his “modest means” to renovate the chateau the same year, and probably barely managed to do so just before his tragic death in 1722. He was also the last member of the Nové Sedlo-Jezeří branch of the Lobkowicz family, therefore the will of 4 September 1722 leaves the estate to Karel Adam - once he attained his majority – and until then it was to be managed by his father, Jiří Kristián of Lobkowicz. Karel Adam then formally sold Jezeří to Ferdinand Filip Josef, Prince of Lobkowicz in Roudnice, in 1752, thus passing the chateau, as was expected, to the Roudnice-Bílina line of the family.
Oldřích Felix decided to use his “modest means” to renovate the chateau the same year, and probably barely managed to do so just before his tragic death in 1722. He was also the last member of the Nové Sedlo-Jezeří branch of the Lobkowicz family, therefore the will of 4 September 1722 leaves the estate to Karel Adam - once he attained his majority – and until then it was to be managed by his father, Jiří Kristián of Lobkowicz. Karel Adam then formally sold Jezeří to Ferdinand Filip Josef, Prince of Lobkowicz in Roudnice, in 1752, thus passing the chateau, as was expected, to the Roudnice-Bílina line of the family.
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In the years 1973-76, engineering-geological mapping was undertaken in the foregrounds of the Czechoslovak Army opencast mine, from whose conclusions stemmed a desperate need for more detailed research of the coal basin limits in 1980s. This mainly confirmed the fears that the extent of the crystalline massif of the Ore Mountains could significantly influence coal mining activities and vice-versa. It was found that it was necessary to urgently verify the state of the crystalline massif, its disrupted tectonic plates, efflorescent processes and landslide activity in the very places where the coal basin limits abutted the Jezeří chateau grounds. The responsibility for the research was given to Construction Geology Prague under the research management of RNDr. Jan Marek.  
In the years 1973-76, engineering-geological mapping was undertaken in the foregrounds of the Czechoslovak Army opencast mine, from whose conclusions stemmed a desperate need for more detailed research of the coal basin limits in 1980s. This mainly confirmed the fears that the extent of the crystalline massif of the Ore Mountains could significantly influence coal mining activities and vice-versa. It was found that it was necessary to urgently verify the state of the crystalline massif, its disrupted tectonic plates, efflorescent processes and landslide activity in the very places where the coal basin limits abutted the Jezeří chateau grounds. The responsibility for the research was given to Construction Geology Prague under the research management of RNDr. Jan Marek.  


In 1975, Dr Marek informed the Regional Office of State Cultural Heritage and Nature Conservation of the risk to the Jezeří Chateau heritage building and the surrounding mountainsides. He set up a permanent field office in an abandoned old tower of the chateau with the Regional Office’s approval.
In 1975, Dr Marek informed the Regional Office of State Cultural Heritage and Nature Conservation of the risk to the Jezeří Chateau heritage building and the surrounding mountainsides. He set up a permanent field office in an abandoned old tower of the chateau with the Regional Office’s approval.  


The critical site became popular after he submitted his final report on the engineering geological mapping and especially after his articles were published. Czechoslovak Television asked him to on their economics show “Is It Worth It?” from the chateau courtyard. Jezeří started to host journalists, political officials, leading scientists, entire busloads from the Regional Mining Authority in Most, Báňské projekty in Teplice, the Regional Office of State Cultural Heritage and Nature Conservation in Ústí nad Labem, the Central Geological Institute, various institutes of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, and universities in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Bratislava and Košice. Josef Velek – the only journalist with an openly pro-environmental focus – arrived. Dr Marel spent several evenings debating with this young author of such well-known books as “Jak jsem bránil přírodu” (“How I Protected Nature”), “Příběhy pro dvě nohy” (“Stories for Two Legs”) and others that the communists in control didn’t like much. He began to write a new book about the Jezeří problem, but never completed it: he died diving in the Red Sea soon afterwards. Wagging tongues said somebody pushed him.[[File:View of mines from Jezeri.JPG|thumb|View of mines from western side of Jezeří]]
The critical site became popular after he submitted his final report on the engineering geological mapping and especially after his articles were published. Czechoslovak Television asked him to on their economics show “Is It Worth It?” from the chateau courtyard. Jezeří started to host journalists, political officials, leading scientists, entire busloads from the Regional Mining Authority in Most, Báňské projekty in Teplice, the Regional Office of State Cultural Heritage and Nature Conservation in Ústí nad Labem, the Central Geological Institute, various institutes of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, and universities in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Bratislava and Košice. Josef Velek – the only journalist with an openly pro-environmental focus – arrived. Dr Marel spent several evenings debating with this young author of such well-known books as “Jak jsem bránil přírodu” (“How I Protected Nature”), “Příběhy pro dvě nohy” (“Stories for Two Legs”) and others that the communists in control didn’t like much. He began to write a new book about the Jezeří problem, but never completed it: he died diving in the Red Sea soon afterwards. Wagging tongues said somebody pushed him.[[File:View of mines from Jezeri.JPG|thumb|View of mines from western side of Jezeří]]
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Through Ing. Stoklasa, who had become an advisor to Minister Vavroušek in the meantime, the Association tried to promote the idea of making Jezeří a national centre for studies of possible rehabilitation of extremely damaged landscapes. Something similar exists in Austria, where the state has given Chateau Laxenburg, confiscated from the Habsburgs, to international environmental projects. Ing. Stoklasa brought up the proposal in various ministerial and environmental circles, including abroad, but did not succeed.
Through Ing. Stoklasa, who had become an advisor to Minister Vavroušek in the meantime, the Association tried to promote the idea of making Jezeří a national centre for studies of possible rehabilitation of extremely damaged landscapes. Something similar exists in Austria, where the state has given Chateau Laxenburg, confiscated from the Habsburgs, to international environmental projects. Ing. Stoklasa brought up the proposal in various ministerial and environmental circles, including abroad, but did not succeed.
===Limits placed on mining operations in the North Bohemian coal basin===
Territorial limits to the mining of brown coal in North Bohemia was approved in parliament in 1991 through the binding resolution of the government of the Czech Republic No. 444, which was passed at the instigation of the then Minister of Environment Ivan Dejmal. It defines the mining areas where coal reserves have been written off. [[File:North Bohemian mining limits.jpg|thumb|Limits to mining operations close to Jezeří Chateau]]
The main reason for the setting of the limits was to protect the environment and landscape in the North Bohemian region. The limits serve as a government guarantee to North Bohemia districts that henceforth their environment would not continue to deteriorate and that their long-term existence was assured (i.e. that it was worth purchasing property there, building and repairing houses, reconstructing roads, setting up businesses, etc…).
The limits also served to provide confidence to those wishing to protect, preserve and repair Jezeří Chateau as there would no longer be any prospect of encroaching mining operations undermining the slopes of the Ore Mountains upon which the chateau rests.


===Problems with funding of maintenance and ownership===
===Problems with funding of maintenance and ownership===
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Tours of the building take place at the same time reconstruction work is being carried out so that the chateau management is forced to adapt to situations as they arise. An important change in the tour circuit resulted from the erosion of the painted timbered ceiling on the second floor of the northern tower when it was necessary move the inventory and look for another suitable type of tour circuit. This happened in January 2004. Given that partial reconstruction of the ground floor of the lord’s manor had been completed, which permitted the use of this space for a cash desk and facilities for visitors, the entrance to the chateau was able to be moved from the inner forecourt. The inventory was moved to the southern part of the chateau, which had already been stabilised by the reconstruction work undertaken on the roof and ceilings.
Tours of the building take place at the same time reconstruction work is being carried out so that the chateau management is forced to adapt to situations as they arise. An important change in the tour circuit resulted from the erosion of the painted timbered ceiling on the second floor of the northern tower when it was necessary move the inventory and look for another suitable type of tour circuit. This happened in January 2004. Given that partial reconstruction of the ground floor of the lord’s manor had been completed, which permitted the use of this space for a cash desk and facilities for visitors, the entrance to the chateau was able to be moved from the inner forecourt. The inventory was moved to the southern part of the chateau, which had already been stabilised by the reconstruction work undertaken on the roof and ceilings.
==The battle begins anew==
The dawning of the democratic era did not, however, herald the end of the chateau's battle for survival. Although the first post-communist parliament approved territorial limits to mining operations in the North Bohemian coal basin in 1991, which provided a sense of security to the chateau and its neighbouring townships in Horní Jiřetín and Černice, in more recent years those limits have come under increasing pressure by the mining lobby and representatives of various political parties to be lifted or abrogated altogether.
The viability of the limits has long had doubt cast on them by the mining companies directly affected by the limits, Severočeské doly and the Czech Coal Group, and the electricity power company ČEZ. While the official stance of Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas<ref>My government will not break the brown coal mining limits, Nečas promises. Hospodařský noviny, 3.12.2011. [http://m.ihned.cz/c1-53960700-moje-vlada-prolamovat-limity-tezby-hnedeho-uhli-nebude-slibil-necas]</ref> and all political parties represented in the Czech parliament as of 2012 (apart from the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia<ref>Communist Party member of parliament, Karel Šidlo, stated “The Communist Party decided to support the breaching of the brown coal mining limits as a necessary condition for ensuring the long-term energy security and independence of the Czech Republic, which is a basis for the further development of the Czech economy. Further reasons are the maintenance of job opportunities and reducing the unemployment rate in a region which has been for a long time one of the highest in the Czech Republic.”[http://www.parlament-vlada.eu/index.php/energetika/843-bude-dost-hndeho-uhli-pro-energetiku]</ref>) was in favour of maintaining the North Bohemian mining limits, mining interests have or have had the support of at least some individual members of parliament. These include prominent members of the main government coalition partner, the Civic Democratic Party, such as deputy party leader and Trade and Industry Minister, Martin Kuba<ref>Kuba pushed for the maintenance of the state’s right to expropriate private property as part of negotiations over a draft amendment to the Mining Act in case a decision is made in future to breach the current mining limits. "Kuba wants to keep the option of expropriation because of coal mining." Deník, 28.2.2012. [http://www.denik.cz/ekonomika/kuba-chce-ponechat-moznost-vyvlastnovani-kvuli-tezbe-uhli-20120228.html] A group of environmental NGOs has also accused Kuba and his Ministry of continuing to push for increased mining beyond the limits by promoting a raw materials policy that is completely at odds with the draft State Energy Strategy 2012 which is based on maintenance of the current limits. See "Kuba’s draft energy plan doesn’t count on mining beyond the coal limits, otherwise it’s worth nothing". Greenpeace press release, 7 November 2012. [http://www.greenpeace.org/czech/cz/press/sek_limity_sea/]</ref> and Jan Bureš.<ref>Bureš is a member of the parliamentary subcommittee on energy who stated “Personally, I believe that breaching the limits is desirable, and the state, as the coal owner, should set conditions so that mining beyond today’s limits guarantees a supply of coal for an economically acceptable price for Czech heating plants”.[http://www.parlament-vlada.eu/index.php/energetika/843-bude-dost-hndeho-uhli-pro-energetiku]</ref>.
At the regional level, however, Czech Social Democratic Party politicians in the Ustí region have broken ranks with their national organisation by supporting a breach of the limits.<ref>The former deputy governor of the Ustí region for the CSSD, Pavel Kouda, is a well-known supporter of extended mining in the region, as is the CSSD district organisation in the city of Most. Kouda sent a letter on governor letterhead to the Ministry of Trade and Industry in late 2011 stating express support for the breaching of mining limits after 2014. "Usti region supports breaching of coal mining limits". ČeskáPozice.cz, 28 December 2011. [http://www.ceskapozice.cz/byznys/energetika/ustecky-kraj-podporil-prolomeni-limitu-tezby-uhli]</ref> Following regional elections in 2012, the Communists emerged as the largest regional party in the Ustí region, and its regional leader, Oldřich Bubeníček, restated the need from his party’s perspective to lift the limits to maintain regional employment, albeit “only if the miners agree with the local inhabitants and there is proper compensation".<ref>"Future Governor Bubeníček: I didn’t hang Lenin on the wall! But I won’t take him down." Hospodařský noviny, 18 October 2012.[http://zpravy.ihned.cz/politika/c1-57998550-budouci-hejtman-bubenicek-kscm-lenina-jsem-na-zed-nepovesil-ale-nesundam-ho]</ref> Negotiations between the Communist Party, the Czech Social Democratic Party and Severočeši.cz (North Bohemians) on forming a coalition regional government indicated that there was general agreement on breaching the mining limits.<ref>"A coalition of Social Democrats, Communists and North Bohemians is emerging in the Ústí region". iDnes.cz, 15 October 2012.[http://zpravy.idnes.cz/jednani-o-nove-koalici-v-usteckem-kraji-dyt-/domaci.aspx?c=A121015_161951_usti-zpravy_alh]</ref>
Other important energy policy stakeholders are also in favour of breaching the mining limits. The head of the Energy Regulatory Office, Alena Vitásková, for example, supports mining past the current limits in order to lower energy prices for consumers. "If the coal limits are breached, heating from coal will be the cheapest for customers, that’s obvious. I’m in favour of breaching the limits – that way we’ll get an energy source cheaper than gas and renewable sources.”<ref>"ERU head Vitásková: I’m for breaching the coal mining limits." Hospodařský noviny, 4 August 2011. [http://m.ihned.cz/c1-52481830-sefka-eru-vitaskova-jsem-pro-prolomeni-limitu-tezby-uhli]</ref>
Support nowadays for maintaining the limits and opposing expanded mining operations is led by a coalition of national NGOs, local civic associations and elected municipal officials from the towns most at threat from the lifting of the limits, e.g. Horní Jiřetín and Litvínov.
The most prominent opponent to expanded mining from among local municipal politicians is Vladimír Buřt, deputy mayor of Horní Jiřetín, who has been a member of the local council there since 2003. Buřt won a seat on the Ustí regional council as a member of the Green Party on the Hnutí PRO kraj ticket in the 2012 regional elections. He also has a very personal interest in protecting Jezeří Chateau - he resides in the chateau buildings with his partner, the chateau castellan.
He was the recipient of the 2009 Josef Vavroušek Prize<ref>The Josef Vavroušek Prize is named after a former well-known ecologist and is awarded for  the active promotion of sustainable living, working towards positive solutions to interconnected ecological, social, economic and other issues, or for exceptional acts or activities in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development.</ref> for his persistent defence of local communities against the private interests of mining companies. Buřt was also awarded the Ivan Dejmal Prize in 2011 for an outstanding positive achievement associated with the landscape by the Society for Landscape.<ref>ČeskáPozice.cz, 6 October 2011. "The second Ivan Dejmal laureate will be Horní Jiřetín deputy mayor Vladimír Buřt"[http://www.ceskapozice.cz/domov/ekologie/druhym-laureatem-ceny-ivana-dejmala-bude-mistostarosta-horniho-jiretina-vladimir-burt] (Czech)</ref>
Buřt has stated his conviction that in relation to Horní Jiřetín, there is little coal remaining following termination of coal mining operations in town’s cadastre in the late 1980s that made extensive use of deep mining technology, and therefore Horní Jiřetín represents more of a blockage to mining further afield rather than as a site resting on large coal reserves. “A large part of Jiřetín is built on the slopes of the Ore Mountains. If the miners wanted to get the rest of the coal directly under Jiřetín, they’d not only have to mine the built-up area, but also much of the slopes of the Ore Mountains. They'd have to remove the beech forests and hillsides up to another one hundred metres above the town. That in itself is incredible barbarity, and it’s nonsense of course from an economic point of view.”<ref>Deník.cz, 22.2.2010. “Vladimír Buřt: Horní Jiřetín will certainly remain”.[http://mostecky.denik.cz/zpravy_region/vladimir-burt-horni-jiretin-tu-urcite-zustane.html](Czech)</ref>
Buřt belives Jezeří itself may be threatened by fissures on the surrounding hills and new landslides allegedly caused by the mining. As the mining gnaws away at the surrounding hillsides there is the threat of a landslide into the valley. Jezeří has until now been supported and protected by its surrounding park, but visible crevices in the land have increasingly threatened its stability. The miners, however, claim that they are monitoring the area around the Czechoslovak Army open cast mine and any fears are unnecessary.
But according to Buřt, the machines are eating into the hills more and more and disrupting the stability of the land: "I'm watching regularly with great concern; it can happen anytime." <ref>Český rozhlas, 7.12.2010, "Jezeří again threatened by fissures". [http://www.rozhlas.cz/zpravy/politika/_zprava/820263]</ref>
There is only one access road to the chateau which more than 20,000 visitors used in 2010, which was about 50% more people than the previous year.<ref>Český rozhlas, 7.12.2010, "Jezeří again threatened by fissures". [http://www.rozhlas.cz/zpravy/politika/_zprava/820263]</ref> Paradoxically, visitors cannot tear their eyes away from the massive mining operations below the chateau as well. Should the mining limits be abrogated, then not only would the adjacent settlements disappear and the chateau foundations destabilised, but the chateau access road would be removed.
Czech Coal, however, has said that should the mining ever continue beyond the current limits, a new road to the chateau and to the settlements in the Ore Mountains that depend on access via Horní Jiřetín would be built, or the old disused E13 road from Chomutov would be restored.<ref>Český rozhlas, 7.12.2010, "Jezeří again threatened by fissures". [http://www.rozhlas.cz/zpravy/politika/_zprava/820263]</ref>
In early 2011, a large landslide occurred on the edge of the Czechoslovak Army Mine below Jezeří that Czech Coal wanted to backfill and landscape at a cost of CZK 100 mil., for which the company used financial reserves earmarked for recultivation projects.<ref>Lidový noviny, 5 February 2011, "Fractured slopes under Jezeří Chateau to cost 100 million". [http://www.koreny.cz/news/utrzeny-svah-pod-zamkem-jezeri-vyjde-na-100-milionu/]</ref> Czech Coal stated at the time that “in view of the lack of the lack of soil in connection with the territorial ecological limits it is necessary to ensure the long-term stability of the slopes partially through mining methods i.e. backfilling, in combination with structural landscaping.”
Buřt accused the mining company of defending its irresponsibility by blaming Jiřetín and the limits, adding that the company was essentially admitting that it know about the possible risks. Continuing mining along the foothills would simply escalate the problem, not resolve it, said Buřt.
Buřt said that landslides into the mining pit occurred every year, but the one in early 2011 was one of the biggest. The regional organisation of the Green Party said the miners did not respect the laws of nature in the area. Thirty years previously it had been decided that mining would be diverted to a safer distance from the Ore Mountain foothills with the remaining land under the chateau park being preserved as a stabilising pillar. The Green Party representatives believed the landslide had disturbed the pillar.
But Czech Coal did not agree with the ecologists even after the slide. Its spokespeople referred to their views as “non-expert discussions and speculation”. The company rejected “professionally unfounded” claims about the threat to the Ore Mountains, Jezeří chateau, nearby settlements and neighbouring towns further from the mine. “Discussions about the stability of the slopes and the influence of the mining should be held at a professional level and not in the form of speculation”, said Czech Coal spokesperson Gabriela Benešová.<ref>Lidový noviny, 5 February 2011, "Fractured slopes under Jezeří Chateau to cost 100 million". [http://www.koreny.cz/news/utrzeny-svah-pod-zamkem-jezeri-vyjde-na-100-milionu/]</ref>
===Immediate threat of expanded mining reduced===
Supporters of expanded brown coal mining beyond the existing limits took a major blow on 26 September 2012 when parliament agreed an amendment to the Mining Act which removed the right to expropriate private property for mining purposes. The amendment was criticised by the opposition parties in parliament: parliamentary Economic Committee chairman, Milan Urban, said the amendment could cause such large damage that it could be viewed in future as high treason, while Communist Party MP Kateřina Konečná said it could “wreck the state’s economic policy”.<ref>"Deputies remove the possibility of expropriation for mining." Aktuálně.cz, 26 September 2012. [http://aktualne.centrum.cz/domaci/zivot-v-cesku/clanek.phtml?id=758656]</ref>
President Vaclav Klaus provided some hope to the amendment’s critics when he exercised his right to veto the law change. Klaus justified his veto by saying the amendment would deprive the country of an important energy policy tool and would facilitate land speculation. “The law abolishes the institution of expropriation. Unlike the current version of the Mining Act, it provides for a very risky and problematic conflict between landowners and the owner of this mineral wealth, which is the state,” said Klaus as part of his rationale. “One can expect that the land underneath which are deposits owned by the state and which in exceptional cases it will not be possible to expropriate , will be purchased for speculative reasons  with an eye to recovering  a large amount of compensation from the state.” <ref>’Klaus vetoes Mining Act.  Expropriation ban would play into hands of speculators’, Lidový noviny, 19 November 2012 [http://www.lidovky.cz/klaus-vetoval-horni-zakon-ktery-rusi-moznost-vyvlastnovani-ptc-/zpravy-domov.aspx?c=A121119_160112_ln_domov_ape]</ref>
Parliament, however, overturned Klaus’s veto and reconfirmed its original amendment to the Mining Act removing the expropriation clause. The amendment was supported by 120 MPs, including the government coalition, six opposition Social Democrats, all Věci veřejné (English: Public Affairs) MPs and two independent MPs. <ref>’The end of expropriation for mining. MPs overturn Klaus’s veto’, Lidový noviny, 19 November 2012 [http://www.lidovky.cz/snemovna-prehlasovala-klause-a-zrusila-vyvlastnovani-kvuli-tezbe-1d4-/zpravy-domov.aspx?c=A121219_115704_ln_domov_pef]</ref>
===Pro-mining candidate wins Czech presidential eletions===
In January 2013, the Czechs elected Miloš Zeman, the former Social Democrat prime minister (1998-2002), as their new president in the first ever direction presidential election. Prior to the election, Zeman categorically stated that he was in favour of not only breaching the mining limits but expediting the whole process because it would help lower high unemployment in the region and the people of Horní Jiřetín would receive "decent" compensation for their property. "You can't let coal reserves lie dormant for 50 years ahead when our power stations would otherwise have to be shut down, or expensive coal would have to be imported from abroad," said Zeman.<ref>Česká televize, 21 February 2010. 'Miloš Zeman for breaching mining limits' [http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ct24/ekonomika/81726-ovm-milos-zeman-pro-prolomeni-tezebnich-limitu/]</ref>
Curiously, despite such statements, the residents of Horní Jiřetín voted 60-40<ref> Presidential elections results, Czech Statistical Office [http://www.volby.cz/pls/prez2013/pe311?xjazyk=CZ&xnumnuts=4205&xobec=567175]</ref> for Zeman over his opponent Karel Schwarzenberg, who was known to have 'green' sympathies. A possible explanation lies in the fact that Schwarzenberg had made statements during the presidential campaign that called into question the immediate post-war Beneš Decrees which laid the basis for the expulsion of approximately three million Germans from Czechoslovakia. As Horní Jiřetín lies on the Czech-German border in what was formerly the German Sudetenland, it is likely that the local population viewed Schwarzenberg's alleged 'pro-Sudeten' statements more negatively than Zeman's pro-mining statements.


==Resources==
==Resources==
1. Říha,M., Stoklasa, J., Lafarová, M., Dejmal, I., Marek, J., Pakosta, P., Beránek, K. Environmental mining limits in North Bohemian Lignite Region. Společnost pro krajinu, Praha 2005. Translation: Petr Kurfürst. Edited and modified by Andrew Barton.
1. J. Marek, 'A brief history of the thirty years' war for coal mining and land conservation' in Říha, M., Stoklasa, J., Lafarová, M., Dejmal, I., Marek, J., Pakosta, P., Beránek, K. Environmental mining limits in the North Bohemian Lignite Region. Společnost pro krajinu, Praha 2005. Translation: Petr Kurfürst. Edited and modified by Andrew Barton.


2. Jezeří Chateau history pages of the official chateau website http://www.zamek-jezeri.cz/. Partial translation: Andrew Barton. Edited and modified by Andrew Barton.
2. Jezeří Chateau history pages of the official chateau website http://www.zamek-jezeri.cz/. Partial translation: Andrew Barton. Edited and modified by Andrew Barton.
==References==
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{{License cc|Jan Marek, Andrew Barton}}
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[[Category:Ore Mountains case study]]

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