Mikulov

The first two smelters came into the area of the current village of Mikulov in 1404 and they started mining in the "All Saints' Shaft ". When they found raw ore, they sold their mining rights to the Duke of Lobkowitz. He built five houses in Mikulov and he named this place "Neuschelenberg". In the course of time, this settlement expanded - the number of houses and inhabitants increased. The new residents were only miners and they did not like the name of the village. Finally, they officially applied for a new name. Emperor Joseph II issued a bull which gave them the status of a town with its own Municipal Coat of Arms and the Emperor's inscription. The new town was renamed to Saint Nicklasberg - Saint Nickel Hill. According to the chronicle and the Emperor's bull, the reason for this decision was as follows: "Since we see that the mining place called Neuschelenberg has achieved great extraction results, we give this place the name of St. Niklasberg." There were 549 extraction shafts in Mikulov of that time. Looking at the slopes of Mikulov from Nové Město today, one can see the mining places. Grass and spring crop have remained dark coloured in these places. In the seven years' war, the town suffered a lot. The mining works were stopped and the miners ran away into the woods. On 23 June 1759, 1,600 men of the Prussian army, passing through the area, plundered the town. The plundering took 12 hours. As the town did not want to pay any ransom, the Prussian soldiers took 36 heads of cattle and Mayor Kristian Harnisch was taken hostage. Then, the ransom, amounting to 211 Austrian guilders, was paid for him. On 17 November, the Prussians came back; they took 3 hostages - Severin Titell, Ondrej Krunger and Frantisek Neumann. The ransom had to be paid again - amounting to 300 Austrian guilders this time. The town houses were given numbers in 1771. In September 1813, the Russian army passed through the town. The Russians, though, behaved very well and caused no damage. On 27 September 1826, a big fire destroyed 14 houses and one resident was burnt to death. According to available, rather unclear records from the town chronicle, this man was an arsonist, who was probably thrown into the fire. In 1866, the Prussians passed through the town again, this time as friends of Austria. From time immemorial, a post stage road led through the town of Mikulov. The house, where the horse relay for these wagons was placed, is still called "At the Post Office". An Austrian post-office was established there in 1867. As the town administered its own justice, the so called "wheel of fate" (according to ostracism) has been preserved till today. This wheel has 70 black and 70 white balls in a small cabinet with holes into which the jury members threw balls - white (innocent) or black (guilty). The school was established in 1654 and the first teacher was Mr. Kristof Burghart. The school was placed at the current No 82 house, but the classroom has not come to our days. The school used to have two classes in 1872. On 4 July 1882, a new school was built at No 27 house. Currently, the municipal office is situated in the house. The school was consecrated on 27 August 1883. The school was closed in 1962. The chronicle comes from 1404, though damaged, its records are still readable very well. These records are written in German, in the Gothic script. This chronicle is deposited in the District Archive in the town of Teplice.