After the discovery of the rich silver deposits around 1471 and the great "Berggeschrey", mining in Schneeberg developed rapidly and with it a self-confident status: the miners. The hard-working men and their families often lived in modest circumstances, but their labour contributed significantly to the prosperity of the region. After 25 years of intensive mining, silver discoveries began to dwindle. It was necessary to dig deeper, the effort required became ever greater, operating the mines became expensive and the yield lower. In 1496, the mine owners - the Gewerken - therefore decided to "break" the miners' weekly wage of ten groschen by one groschen. The miners then stopped working and this attempt was fended off by a trade union - the miners' union.
But as early as 1498, the miners tried again to cut the miners' wages. This time, the miners in the Schneeberg silver mines stopped working and marched out of the town waving flags. The strike was effective and the miners had to take back the wage cut.
The successful and, for the time, highly progressive "industrial action" went down in history as "Miners' Strike Day" and is celebrated in Schneeberg every year on 22 July with a large mining parade, a mountain church service in St. Wolfgang and a closing concert.
The "Miners' Strike Day" is still an essential part of Schneeberg's history and tradition to this day. Not only the town itself, but also the people - above all the participants in the mining parade with their colourful costumes - bear witness to the awareness of the mining profession that has been preserved to this day.