Bedřich Mine
Founded in Zábřeh nad Odrou in 1900 by Hornoslezské koksovny a chemické továrny company (Upper Silesian Cokeries and Chemical Plants) represented by Marie-Anna, a joint-stock company of coal miners of Moravia and Ostrava.
The name Bedřich was chosen because the archbishop of Olomouc, Bedřich of Fürstenberk, was the first to start mining operations in mariánsko-novoves area in 1854.
Construction of the Bedřich Mine
On the first of March 1900 works on the 4,8 m diametre wide ventilation shaft began, on the first of april 1900 works on the the 5,6 m wide mining shaft began, both shafts only 60 m apart. At the same time the buildings on the surface were being built, like the engine room, the heating house, the administrative house, the warehouse and more. In 1905 they‘ve been still building additional buildings for compressors and ventilation and new mining equipment.
The flooding of the mine and the end of mining operations
On the ninth of March 1902 during a boring operation the borehole got flooded with waste water with carbon dioxide. It took 90 minutes for the water to raise up to 147 m. During the accident 3 workers died: Eduard Josinek, Ján Korta and Mr. Martínek. The second accident happened on fifth of June 1902, one miner died.
In 1906 there was an attempt to bore the ventilation shaft again but because of the water it was not possible to continue. In 1910 any attempts at stopping the water and protecting the mine from flooding stopped. The surface buildings of the mine were torn down, the waste material poured in the shafts, other buildings on the surface had been abandoned, later they were used for storage and the property was sold with no plans for future mining operations on the land.
In 1958 a part of the land with both shafts of Bedřich Mine got included into the area of Ján Šverma Mine. On the nineteenth of October 1971 the shafts have been filled. Two streets bear names of the miners dying during the first accident – Jasinkova street and Kordova street.
Brickhouses of Bedřiška
There is a brickhouse, former heating house build in 1902, in the street Chalupeckého, by the left side of entrance to Bedřiška. When the mine had been closed, after the world war one the heating house was repurposed for housing, originaly with four apparetments. In the present day half of the appartments is missing including the tall chimney, so only two appertments are left.
Apartment House on Bedřišská Street
The brick building that now serves as the community center was built between 1900–1902 as miners’ housing. After the closure of the Bedřich Mine, it was used as a workshop and storage facility for the Ignát Mine (later renamed Ján Šverma Mine). In 1922, it was re-approved for residential use, containing 16 one-bedroom apartments (1+1). A similar brick house in Nová Ves has been declared a cultural monument.
History of the "Finnish" Houses
With the end of the world war two so called finnish houses have been built in the Bedřiška colony as temporary housing for miners of Jan Šverma Mine. The finnish houses are wooden buildings expected to last 30-40 years. They been built in other parts of Ostrava, for example in Silesian Ostrava, Radvanice, Bártonice, Heřmanice or in Lhotka. These house can last even decades longer with proper maintanance as we can see in Lhotka u Ostravy. (The common Czechoslovak prefabricated panel buildings have comperable expected lifespan and they are still being repaired and used.)
There had been 28 houses built in 1950, since then until 2016 only five in total got torn down.
Between 1951-1953 more finnish houses have been built, this time for workers of state owned Vítkovické stavby (Vítkovice Constructions). There have been 33 more houses build, each with 2 appartments. Only 11 of these remain (in 2016). In 1969 a laudery house and a shop have been built, only remains of these can be seen now. The locality even used to have place for children to play.
Between 1980 – 1987 some of the houses had been torn down so the Ferona company could expand, even some of the streets had been shortened.
Literature:
Petr Přendík: Důl Bedřich v Zábřehu nad Odrou
Martin Jemelka (ed.): Ostravské dělnické kolonie III. Ostrava, 2015
Antonín Barcuch – Eva Rohlová: Místopis starého Zábřehu nad Odrou a Hulvák (pokračování).