The center of industry in Handlová is the underground mining of brown-coal. Its origins go back to the beginning of the 20th century, when Count Pálfy was also interested in brown coal deposits. The mine was established in 1906, and the subsequent beginning of industrial coal mining dates back to 1909. In connection with the development of mining activity, the necessary buildings (coal sorter, changing rooms, bathrooms, administration building...) and a mining colony with typical buildings for the accommodation of miners and their families are starting to grow around the mine. Among the dominant buildings, directly or indirectly related to the mining activity, was also a cable railway for the removal of tailing rock and flue ash, as well as a system of chimneys from the adjacent power plant. Handlová was established by the charter of King Ludovít I dated March 8, 1376, in which he allowed the settler, Henrich Kricker, to establish a permanent settlement in a place called “Beautiful Forest.” About 200 German families came from Kremnica together with Kricker. It is an example of colonization typical for the Upper Nitra area, where the German-speaking population, later referred to as the Carpathian Germans, settled. In 1839, the village received city rights and the right to organize four fairs a year from Emperor Ferdinand I. The first records of the occurrence of coal in the area date back to 1784. Its industrial mining began just before the First World War.
