In 1946, the Soviet company Wismut began extracting uranium from the Oberschlema region in the Saxon Metaliferous Mountains. Over the next 44 years, the Schlema-Alberoda deposit supplied about 80,000 tons of uranium, all sent to the USSR. This mining activity had a dramatic impact on the local area. Starting in May 1952, the village center, church, municipal buildings, and the once-famous thermal spa were demolished due to ground subsidence. By 1952, the ground had sunk 67 cm, making the thermal spa unstable. A new thermal center was later opened in 2005 on the site of the redeveloped area. Oberschlema had become a popular thermal spa known as Radiumbad after 1918, offering treatments with radioactive waters. The Uranium Museum of Aue-Bad Schlema notes that the area has the highest natural concentration of radon in the world, a claim made exclusively by the museum. The official title Radiumbad Oberschlema was granted in 1924, and a modern Kurhotel opened in 1935, attracting more than 17,000 visitors in 1943. However, in 1946, the spa treatments ended, as the USSR began searching for uranium beneath the Kurhaus for its nuclear program. Wismut was initially a Soviet company and later a joint German-Soviet enterprise. It used the existing underground galleries from the former spa as a starting point for mining. The uranium was so close to the surface that the ground began to sink, with subsidence reaching 36 cm in 1951 and 67 cm in 1952. Residents were relocated starting in 1951, and by 1952, the entire thermal quarter was demolished due to safety concerns. The railway line to Schneeberg closed in 1952 after the track had sunk nearly a meter. According to the local community site ZeitFenster, nearly all the buildings visible in a 1935 photo were demolished between 1952 and 1956. The radon sources were affected as the mining galleries passed through them, causing them to dry up. The Schlema-Alberoda deposit left behind 42 heaps of rock, covering about 313 hectares—equivalent to 440 football fields. The German government is responsible for cleaning up the area, with an estimated cost of 9 billion euros until 2050. By the end of 2023, about 7.5 billion euros had already been spent. In 2005, the Saxon government restored the title Bad to the town, recognizing it as a thermal spa again. The redeveloped valley now hosts a thermal park, where visitors can see remnants of the past, including postcards of the former Kurhaus and markers showing where buildings once stood. The 371 shaft complex in Alberoda, built starting in 1956, still features a 50-meter-high headframe, a lasting symbol of the region's uranium mining history.