Research in existing literature gave information about the terms “Kadaň Green” and “Bohemian Green”: The Kadaň Green earth was mined and distributed in great quantities during the 19th and 20th century. As there are no other comparable deposits of green earth in Bohemia, “Kadaň Green” apparently is identical to “Bohemian Green”. That is to say, the original meaning of “Bohemian Green” is the green earth from Kadaň. The usage of this term implied both its olive green and warm colour. Today the term “Bohemian Green” is only related to its colouring; the actual Bohemian deposit has been forgotten.
Research in Czech archives produced several documents from the Státní okresní archive in Kadaň; these documents had not been inspected and analysed before. Boxes number 756 and 766 contain files about the “Atschauer Grünerdefarbgesellschaft” and the mine. These documents have been sifted and partly transliterated. A copy has been deposited at the Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Technische Universität München. Details about the formation of the company in 1838/39 have been documented by archive material. All founder members and all properties which became part of the company are listed (see appendix/Transkription). Also from the Kadaň archive, an information brochure (LAUBE/BECKER/PALM 1903) edited by the owners of the mine, contains substantial information about mining, processing and trade with green earth.
During own field research, remaining traces of the mining activities in the former military area could be located. The green earth was used as a pigment during the 19th and 20th century, mostly as a paint, which is why it was sold to neighbouring countries. In the middle of the 20th century, the Kadaň green earth was an ingredient of the “Frontón 14” paint by the Prague company “Pragolack”. This paint has been used by the military, probably as a camouflage colour. Each year up to the 1950s, 200 tons of green earth have been bought by Pragolack. One chapter of this thesis discusses the mineralogy and geology of the mine: it is located to the
south-west of Kadaň, close to the Doupouv and the Erz Mountains. To understand the geological situation of the mine in this context, a geological overview on western Bohemia and the Doupouv Mountains is given. The volcanic Doupouv Mountains, which redominantly evolved during Miocene, mostly consist of basalts and tuffs. The green earth layer goes down to a depth of 70m at the foot of the Úhošt, located at the north-eastern border of the mountains. The deposit at this location is linked to the existence of fresh-water lime. The mineralogical characterisation of green earth has resulted from various analytical methods: microsections, thin-ground sections and powder compounds analysed with a polarisation microscope gave information about the microstructure of green earth. The usage of a scanning electron microscope yielded surface images. Comparative analyses of Kadaň and other green
earths were performed using an x-ray diffractometer and an infrared spectroscope. This revealed a structural similarity of the celadonite-containing earths (green from Kadaň and Monte Baldo, Italy) and the glauconitic earths (green from Benediktbeuern, Germany), although macroscopical differences could be identified. Glauconite is a mineral formed sedimentarily whereas Celadonite
does evolve from the decomposition of igneous rocks. This difference is the basis for the mineralogical classification of both minerals.
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Research in existing literature gave information about the terms “Kadaň Green” and “Bohemian Green”: The Kadaň Green earth was mined and distributed in great quantities during the 19th and 20th century. As there are no other comparable deposits of green earth in Bohemia, “Kadaň Green” apparently is identical to “Bohemian Green”. That is to say, the original meaning of “Bohemian Green” is the green earth from Kadaň. The usage of this term implied both its olive green and warm colour. Today the te...
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