EN
The history of copper ore mining in the Kingdom of Hungary and especially in the Spiš – Gemer mining region was marked by an ambivalent relationship between the state and private producers from the introduction of a state monopoly on copper at the end of the 17th century to its end in the mid-19th century. It was no accident that this ambivalence appeared most strongly in the Spiš – Gemer region, because the greater part of production was in private hands here, and in the first half of the 18th century, this mountainous region gained first place in the production of copper in Hungary. During the troubled times of the financially exhausting War of the Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748), the relationship of the private Spiš – Gemer copper producers to the state was strained, because the payments for the purchase of copper were seriously delayed and the claims of the producers on the state grew from month to month. The representatives of the state chamber and mining administration reflected the needs of the producers, but state interests had priority, especially the current power-political and military priorities of the Monarchy.