The ore mountain mining region (Erzgebirge/Krušnohoři) located across Germany and the Czech Republic is exceptional. It was exploited for over 800 years for its polymetallic minerals (silver, copper, cobalt, nickel, iron, etc.) and was the first to open a uranium extraction facility. The output produced was used locally and a thermal spa was opened in 1906. Its most significant contribution, however, was to building the Soviet nuclear power edifice up until the 1990s. Its cultural value thus results from a combination of its technical history, its political and geostrategic importance and its social history. Little of the site is still intact as a result of the systematic demolition of the site after the closure of the mines. The many buildings that do remain are used for administration and cultural and social purposes and they constitute a unique site that both countries propose to register with UNESCO as part of its list of World Heritage of Mankind sites.