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Jesse Fisher
Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 629
Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Sep 24, 2016 16:52 Post subject: Location Question - "Schlaggenwald" |
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I recently acquired a specimen of fluorite on quartz (photo below). which was labeled as coming from "Horni Slavkov, (Schlaggenwald), Karlovy Vary Region, Bohemia, Czech Republic." The specimen came with several old labels, one of which gave the location as "Schlaggenwald, Saxonia," and another "Schlaggenwald, DDR." I assume that "DDR" means Deutsches Democratic Republic (East Germany).
Both Wikipedia and Mindat say that Schlaggenwald is the old German name for Horni Slavkov, in the Czech Republic. This appears to be within the Sudetenland area that was annexed by Germany between 1938-1945, but I find no reference to this area actually being part of modern Germany, otherwise. Can anyone offer any information on this?
Thanks, Jesse
Mineral: | Fluorite, Quartz, Fluorapatite, Chalcopyrite |
Locality: | Horní Slavkov (Schlaggenwald), Karlovy Vary Region, Bohemia, Czech Republic | |
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Dimensions: | 10x7x5 cm overall size |
Description: |
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Viewed: |
11850 Time(s) |
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Description: |
labels for Czech fluorite on quartz |
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Viewed: |
11826 Time(s) |
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alfredo
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Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Posts: 981
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Posted: Sep 24, 2016 18:39 Post subject: Re: Location Question - "Schlaggenwald" |
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One possibility is that it was just a careless label writer, who got the country wrong as well as the spelling of Schlaggenwald! Bohemia was part of Austria-Hungary, not Germany, until the end of WWI, although Schlaggenwald is MUCH closer to the current borders of Saxony/Germany than it is to the current borders of Austria.
Alternatively, could the piece be from Zinnwald (Cinovec) rather than Schlaggenwald? The Zinnwald mines crossed the border and were on both sides, Saxony and Bohemia. Label writer just got the wrong "...wald"?
A Czech collector could tell which of those mining districts it came from.... perhaps.
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Gerhard Brandstetter
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
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Posted: Sep 25, 2016 00:12 Post subject: Re: Location Question - "Schlaggenwald" |
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I would say you have got a really nice specimen from Horrni Slavkov. The combination of pink Apatite with the other minerals is so typical! Also the Fluorite "cross" speaks for it. I visited "Schlaggenwald" several times, also Cinovec/Zinnwald and other localities in the region. As a collector of the old Austro-Hungarian monarchy i own a few similar. Cinovec minerals are similar but in this case Horni Slavkov should be correct.
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Tobi
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Posts: 4112
Location: Germany
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Posted: Sep 25, 2016 05:08 Post subject: Re: Location Question - "Schlaggenwald" |
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Some confirmations, annotations and additions:
- Yes, Schlaggenwald is the German name for Horni Slavkov, a Czech city near the German (Saxon) border.
- Yes, DDR means Deutsche Demokratische Republik, the former East Germany.
- But no, Schlaggenwald never belonged to Saxony or to the DDR at all, that's a mistake on that label.
- One of the labels says Cinovec (in German: Zinnwald), a famous old mining area at the border of Germany (Saxony) and Czech Republic (Bohemia).
- Asking the question whether the specimen comes from Zinnwald or Schlaggenwald, I agree with Gerhard that it is for sure from Horni Slavkov (Schlaggenwald) because that pale pink apatite is really typical for that locailty.
I want to add that this is a really stunning and extremely beautiful specimen! :-)
Regards
Tobi
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Jesse Fisher
Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 629
Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Sep 25, 2016 06:54 Post subject: Re: Location Question - "Schlaggenwald" |
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Thank you for the information. It is always nice when one can get a history and geography lesson along with a good specimen! Would the old labels give any clue as to when the specimen was recovered?
Cheers,
Jesse
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Gerhard Brandstetter
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
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Posted: Sep 25, 2016 12:11 Post subject: Re: Location Question - "Schlaggenwald" |
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It is impossible to say how old this specimen is. Could be an old 19th century find, could also be from the 1980th when the mine was still in process. The wrong labels are unusual for Czech collectors. Normally they are very accurate. On many labels you will find the exact position inside th mine and the year when it was found. The collecting culture has always been very high in Czech/Slovakian Republics with often high educated people. So any wrong label for a Czech locality is rare i would say. The labels are not old for sure.
The oldest is from Poland btw. This tells us a lot why the error does continue ...................
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Jesse Fisher
Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 629
Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Sep 25, 2016 13:04 Post subject: Re: Location Question - "Schlaggenwald" |
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The labels all appear to be from institutions rather than private collectors. Perhaps that is why no one ever corrected the problem. The Polish label gives it as "Saxonia" but when it goes to Czechoslovakia it becomes "DDR." This suggests to me that the Polish label is pre-WWII, at least. How the third label fits in is still a mystery, but as it gives the location in the Slavic (Cinovec) rather than German (Zinnwald), I would guess that this too is after the war.
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