Schwarzenberg, Saxony
Encyclopedia
Schwarzenberg is a town in the district of Erzgebirgskreis
in Saxony
’s Ore Mountains
, near the German–Czech border. The town lies roughly 15 km southeast of Aue
, and 35 km southwest of Chemnitz
.
Founded in the 12th century to protect a trade road, the small mountain town became the centre of a territory known as Herrschaft Schwarzenberg and later Amt Schwarzenberg. During the division of Germany, Schwarzenberg was part of East Germany and became the greatest producer of washing machine
s in Eastern Europe
. Schwarzenberg became more widely known in 1987, when Stefan Heym
coined the term Free Republic of Schwarzenberg
for a small gap between the Soviet and American occupation zones in May/June 1945.
. The Old Town with church and castle is located on a rock (Schlossberg, 593 m) around which a meander
of the river Schwarzwasser has formed, but the town's overall situation is in a basin.
gneiss. Other stones include quartz
(only some of it pure as rock crystal), biotite
, muscovite
and feldspar
. The Schwarzenberg mining area is pervaded by ore veins
of complex origin. Skarn
deposits contain magnetite
, iron pyrite
, arsenopyrite
, chalcopyrite
, sphalerite
and galena
. The ore deposits are up to 6 metres thick and permeated by silver
and cobalt
minerals as well as cassiterite
.
construction). The plattenbau
residential area Sonnenleithe at the town's northern border was built in the 1980s.
Although the town has incorporated several nearby communities over recent years, its population numbers remained stable at approximately 20,000 inhabitants. Sachsenfeld, Neuwelt, and Wildenau/Brückenberg were already incorporated into Schwarzenberg between 1913 and 1920. Grünstädtel followed in 1996, Bermsgrün, the hamlet Jägerhaus, Crandorf and Erla in 1999, and Pöhla
in 2008.
in the northeast, Raschau
in the east, Breitenbrunn
and Sosa in the south and Bockau
and Lauter
in the west.
, mountain ash
, hazel
and wild cherry
grows on the terraces at the forest edge. Sporadic beech and Weymouth pine
can be found on the Ottenstein. The feverfew
-like tanacetum
partheniifolium, known locally as Schwarzenberger Edelweiß, has found a curiously isolated habitat in Schwarzenberg and has resisted attempts at shifting or cultivation.
Schwarzenberg was first documented in 1282 as “civitas Swartzenberg”, but potsherds excavated in 1977 date back somewhat further to c.1200 and the official year of establishment has been fixed at 1150.
The town developed out of a fortification which is believed to have been created by Henry II, Duke of Austria
to protect an important trade route between Pleissnerland and Bohemia
in the otherwise unsettled area.
Schwarzenberg is German for black mountain. According to legend, an emperor of the Ottonian dynasty founded the town and named it after the colour of the rock. It is generally believed that the town was in fact named after the appearance created by the thick, dark forest.
The town is said to have passed to Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
in 1170, and then to his son, Emperor Henry VI
. Later, numerous changes of ownership occurred. In 1334 the house of Lobdeburg held Schwarzenberg and the surrounding area as a fief. The house of Tettau obtained the town in 1425, and sold it to Elector John the Magnanimous of Saxony in 1533.
Villages began to form around Schwarzenberg Castle, and for c.1500, 48 families are documented in Schwarzenberg, which was then the seat of the superintendent of the mines in the area. During the reformation, the town became protestant.
Once the buildings within the town could no longer handle the steadily growing population, houses were built outside the town’s walls. In the aforesaid drawing, the first “suburban” buildings can already be seen beneath the church.
troops marched in. In 1984, the writer Stefan Heym
coined the term “Republic of Schwarzenberg” in his novel Schwarzenberg, which was based on the episode. A lively accumulation of legends is bound up with this time. In 2004, the writer Volker Braun
also treated the topic.
1 29 October
2 31 August
representative got 52.9% of the votes.
, who according to legend is held to have taken on the lindworm
at the Totenstein (“Dead Man’s Stone”), which was a lasting threat to the townsfolk. While fleeing from the figure, Saint George is said to have tried to leap across the river Schwarzwasser on his horse, landing on the Ottenstein on the other side. It is furthermore said that his horse’s horseshoe print may still be seen in the river even today.
Corporation of Augsburg
. Tourism
is now the main industry, with the town being an excellent base for hiking tours during summer.
Through the town runs the Silver Road.
The town has a station at the junction of lines to Zwickau, Johanngeorgenstadt and Annaberg and is served by Regionalbahn
trains, operated by Erzgebirgsbahn (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn
) between Zwickau and Johanngeorgenstadt
. No regular passnger trains operate to Annaberg
.
s (Neuwelt, Sonnenleithe, Heide and Crandorf) a middle school
(“Stadtschule”), a Gymnasium (“Bertolt-Brecht-Gymnasium”) and a vocational school
centre for economy and social welfare. There are also a school for students with learning difficulties, a special school for the mentally handicapped and a folk high school
.
Erzgebirgskreis
Erzgebirgskreis is a district in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is named after the Erzgebirge , a mountain range in the southern part of the district which forms part of the Germany–Czech Republic border...
in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
’s Ore Mountains
Ore Mountains
The Ore Mountains in Central Europe have formed a natural border between Saxony and Bohemia for many centuries. Today, the border between Germany and the Czech Republic runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range...
, near the German–Czech border. The town lies roughly 15 km southeast of Aue
Aue
Aue is a small town in Germany at the outlet of the river Schwarzwasser into the river Mulde in the Ore Mountains, and has roughly 18,000 inhabitants. Aue was the administrative seat of the former district of Aue-Schwarzenberg in Saxony, and is part of the Erzgebirgskreis since August 2008...
, and 35 km southwest of Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
.
Founded in the 12th century to protect a trade road, the small mountain town became the centre of a territory known as Herrschaft Schwarzenberg and later Amt Schwarzenberg. During the division of Germany, Schwarzenberg was part of East Germany and became the greatest producer of washing machine
Washing machine
A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...
s in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. Schwarzenberg became more widely known in 1987, when Stefan Heym
Stefan Heym
Helmut Flieg was a German-Jewish writer, known by his pseudonym Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States between 1935 and 1952, before moving back to the part of his native Germany which was, from 1949–1990, German Democratic Republic...
coined the term Free Republic of Schwarzenberg
Free Republic of Schwarzenberg
The Free Republic of Schwarzenberg is a term now used for an unoccupied area in Western Saxony that existed for several weeks after the German capitulation on May 8, 1945. After the surrender of Germany, the districts of Schwarzenberg, Stollberg and Aue, in the Ore Mountains, were left unoccupied,...
for a small gap between the Soviet and American occupation zones in May/June 1945.
Geography
The town lies at elevations stretching from 428.5 to 823 m above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. The Old Town with church and castle is located on a rock (Schlossberg, 593 m) around which a meander
Meander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
of the river Schwarzwasser has formed, but the town's overall situation is in a basin.
Geology
The town's silhouette is marked by the opposing rocks Ottenstein and Totenstein, which like the Schlossberg consist of AugenAugen
Augen are large, lenticular eye-shaped mineral grains or mineral aggregates visible in some foliated metamorphic rocks. In cross section they have the shape of an eye.Feldspar, quartz, and garnet are common minerals which form augen....
gneiss. Other stones include quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
(only some of it pure as rock crystal), biotite
Biotite
Biotite is a common phyllosilicate mineral within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . More generally, it refers to the dark mica series, primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more aluminous endmembers...
, muscovite
Muscovite
Muscovite is a phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula KAl22, or 236. It has a highly-perfect basal cleavage yielding remarkably-thin laminæ which are often highly elastic...
and feldspar
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
. The Schwarzenberg mining area is pervaded by ore veins
Lode
In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock....
of complex origin. Skarn
Skarn
Skarn is an old Swedish mining term originally used to describe a type of silicate gangue, or waste rock, associated with iron-ore bearing sulfide deposits apparently replacing Archean age limestones in Sweden's Persberg mining district. In modern usage the term "skarn" has been expanded to refer...
deposits contain magnetite
Magnetite
Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...
, iron pyrite
Pyrite
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...
, arsenopyrite
Arsenopyrite
Arsenopyrite is an iron arsenic sulfide . It is a hard metallic, opaque, steel grey to silver white mineral with a relatively high specific gravity of 6.1. When dissolved in nitric acid, it releases elemental sulfur. When arsenopyrite is heated, it becomes magnetic and gives off toxic fumes...
, chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS2. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Its streak is diagnostic as green tinged black.On exposure to air, chalcopyrite...
, sphalerite
Sphalerite
Sphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...
and galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
. The ore deposits are up to 6 metres thick and permeated by silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
and cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
minerals as well as cassiterite
Cassiterite
Cassiterite is a tin oxide mineral, SnO2. It is generally opaque, but it is translucent in thin crystals. Its luster and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem...
.
Constituent communities
The Old Town with market square, castle and St.-Georgen-Kirche (main church) forms the town's historical core. The Vorstadt was originally a southward extension outside the (now vanished) town walls, originally formed around a mill. Late 19th century factories and workers' housing around the station became the Neustadt north of the Old Town, now housing the civic centre with town hall and employment centre. North-west and south-west of the Old Town, the Hofgarten and Heide low-rise residential areas were built in the 1960s and 1970s, respectively, using large-block construction (a precursor of plattenbauPlattenbau
Plattenbau is the German word for a building whose structure is constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of Platte and Bau...
construction). The plattenbau
Plattenbau
Plattenbau is the German word for a building whose structure is constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of Platte and Bau...
residential area Sonnenleithe at the town's northern border was built in the 1980s.
Although the town has incorporated several nearby communities over recent years, its population numbers remained stable at approximately 20,000 inhabitants. Sachsenfeld, Neuwelt, and Wildenau/Brückenberg were already incorporated into Schwarzenberg between 1913 and 1920. Grünstädtel followed in 1996, Bermsgrün, the hamlet Jägerhaus, Crandorf and Erla in 1999, and Pöhla
Pöhla
Pöhla was a municipality lying in the valley of the river Pöhlwasser, in the district of Aue-Schwarzenberg in Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2008, it is part of the town Schwarzenberg.- Constituent communities :...
in 2008.
Neighbouring communities
The communities that border on the town are Grünhain-BeierfeldGrünhain-Beierfeld
Grünhain-Beierfeld is a town in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony, Germany lying 8 km east of Aue. It came into being on 1 January 2005 through the merger of the town of Grünhain and the community of Beierfeld.- Location :...
in the northeast, Raschau
Raschau
Raschau is a former municipality in the district of Aue-Schwarzenberg in Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2008, Raschau and Markersbach have formed the municipality Raschau-Markersbach.- Location :...
in the east, Breitenbrunn
Breitenbrunn, Saxony
Breitenbrunn is a community in the Ore Mountains in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in the Free State of Saxony in Germany.- Constituent communities :...
and Sosa in the south and Bockau
Bockau
Bockau is a community in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in the Free State of Saxony in Germany. The community is known for growing and researching herbs...
and Lauter
Lauter, Saxony
The town of Lauter lies in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, between the two towns of Aue and Schwarzenberg. It lies in the Ore Mountains, 4 km southeast of Aue, and 4 km northwest of Schwarzenberg, has 4,927 inhabitants in an area of 21.55 km²...
in the west.
Flora
Schwarzenberg is located in the midst of forested hills in the Erzgebirge/Vogtland Natural Park. The flat Galgenberg dome is mostly covered by coniferous forest. Thick copse of sycamore, aspenPopulus tremula
Populus tremula, commonly called aspen, common aspen, Eurasian aspen, European aspen, trembling poplar, or quaking aspen, is a species of poplar native to cool temperate regions of Europe and Asia, from the British Isles east to Kamchatka, north to inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and...
, mountain ash
Sorbus aucuparia
Sorbus aucuparia , is a species of the genus Sorbus, native to most of Europe except for the far south, and northern Asia...
, hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
and wild cherry
Prunus avium
Prunus avium, commonly called wild cherry, sweet cherry, bird cherry, or gean, is a species of cherry, native to Europe, west Turkey, northwest Africa, and western Asia, from the British Isles south to Morocco and Tunisia, north to the Trondheimsfjord region in Norway and east to the Caucasus, and...
grows on the terraces at the forest edge. Sporadic beech and Weymouth pine
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
can be found on the Ottenstein. The feverfew
Feverfew
Feverfew is a traditional medicinal herb which is found in many old gardens, and is also occasionally grown for ornament. The plant grows into a small bush up to around high, with citrus-scented leaves and is covered by flowers reminiscent of daisies...
-like tanacetum
Tanacetum
Tanacetum is a genus of about 160 species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to many regions of the Northern Hemisphere.Common names include Tansy , Costmary , and Feverfew ; several other species are also known as tansies.Tanacetum species...
partheniifolium, known locally as Schwarzenberger Edelweiß, has found a curiously isolated habitat in Schwarzenberg and has resisted attempts at shifting or cultivation.
Establishment and early history
The town developed out of a fortification which is believed to have been created by Henry II, Duke of Austria
Henry II, Duke of Austria
Henry II , Count Palatine of the Rhine, 1140–1141, Margrave of Austria from 1141 to 1156 and, as Henry XI, also Duke of Bavaria from 1141 to 1156, Duke of Austria, 1156–1177, was a prince of the Babenberg dynasty....
to protect an important trade route between Pleissnerland and Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
in the otherwise unsettled area.
Schwarzenberg is German for black mountain. According to legend, an emperor of the Ottonian dynasty founded the town and named it after the colour of the rock. It is generally believed that the town was in fact named after the appearance created by the thick, dark forest.
The town is said to have passed to Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
in 1170, and then to his son, Emperor Henry VI
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...
. Later, numerous changes of ownership occurred. In 1334 the house of Lobdeburg held Schwarzenberg and the surrounding area as a fief. The house of Tettau obtained the town in 1425, and sold it to Elector John the Magnanimous of Saxony in 1533.
Villages began to form around Schwarzenberg Castle, and for c.1500, 48 families are documented in Schwarzenberg, which was then the seat of the superintendent of the mines in the area. During the reformation, the town became protestant.
Townsite
Schwarzenberg’s skyline is dominated by the ensemble of church and palace, the latter having been built on an old castle’s foundation walls. This former castle can be considered one of the town’s first fortified buildings. The St.-Georgen-Kirche (church) on the other hand is clearly newer, having been built only in the late 17th century. With the help of the oldest known drawing of Schwarzenberg, a pen and ink work by Wilhelm Dilich from the late 1620s, one can get an idea of the town’s original appearance. At the end of today’s Oberen Schloßstraße rises the palace (Schloss), which was once built as a castle, and which, over the course of its history, has been expanded and remodelled many times. Right on the marketplace, at the other end of the aforesaid street, is found the Town Hall. The third conspicuous building in the town’s historic centre was the church, which became too small in the 17th century and was replaced by the St.-Georgen-Kirche. Beside the old church lay the graveyard on the site today known as the Unterer Markt (“Lower Market”). It was not long before it, too, became too small, and it was supplemented – and later wholly supplanted – by another graveyard outside the town’s walls. Already in Dilich’s drawing, nothing more is to be seen of the town’s walls. All that remains of them now is the names Oberes Tor and Unteres Tor (“Upper Gate” and “Lower Gate”).Once the buildings within the town could no longer handle the steadily growing population, houses were built outside the town’s walls. In the aforesaid drawing, the first “suburban” buildings can already be seen beneath the church.
After the Second World War
After Germany’s surrender in the Second World War, Schwarzenberg remained, for historically unclear reasons, unoccupied at first. On 11 May 1945, several antifascist Schwarzenberg citizens took the initiative of filling the resulting power vacuum. This episode lasted only until 25 June 1945 when SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
troops marched in. In 1984, the writer Stefan Heym
Stefan Heym
Helmut Flieg was a German-Jewish writer, known by his pseudonym Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States between 1935 and 1952, before moving back to the part of his native Germany which was, from 1949–1990, German Democratic Republic...
coined the term “Republic of Schwarzenberg” in his novel Schwarzenberg, which was based on the episode. A lively accumulation of legends is bound up with this time. In 2004, the writer Volker Braun
Volker Braun
Volker Braun is a German writer. His works include Provokation für mich -- a collection of poems written between 1959 and 1964 and published in 1965, a play, Die Kipper , and Das ungezwungne Leben Kasts .-Life:Volker Braun, who worked in...
also treated the topic.
Religion
- Evangelical Lutheran parish of St.-George
- Evangelical Methodist parish
- Catholic parish “Holy Family”
- Parish of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Population development
Development of population figures (from 1960, 31 December):1834 to 1950
|
1960 to 1998
|
1999 to 2004
|
2005 to 2006
|
- Source as of 1998: Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen
1 29 October
2 31 August
Mayor
Heidrun Hiemer, the Oberbürgermeisterin of Schwarzenberg, was born in 1952. At the mayoral election on 10 June 2001 the CDUChristian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
representative got 52.9% of the votes.
Coat of arms
Schwarzenberg’s arms show the dragon slayer Saint GeorgeSaint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
, who according to legend is held to have taken on the lindworm
Lindworm
Lindworm in British heraldry, is a technical term for a wingless bipedal dragon often with a venomous bite.-Etymology:In modern Scandinavian languages, the cognate lindorm can refer to any 'serpent' or monstrous...
at the Totenstein (“Dead Man’s Stone”), which was a lasting threat to the townsfolk. While fleeing from the figure, Saint George is said to have tried to leap across the river Schwarzwasser on his horse, landing on the Ottenstein on the other side. It is furthermore said that his horse’s horseshoe print may still be seen in the river even today.
Town partnerships
- WunsiedelWunsiedelWunsiedel is the county town of the Upper Franconian district of Wunsiedel in northeast Bavaria, Germany. The town became well known for its annual Luisenburg Festival and the Rudolf Hess Memorial March held by the Neo-Nazis here until 2005.- Geography :...
, since 1990 - Nové Sedlo (Czech Republic), since 2006
- BorchenBorchenBorchen is a municipality in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Location:Borchen is situated in the Paderborn tableland, approximately 5 km south of Paderborn. The municipality also contains a small part of the eastern Hellweg area...
, since 2007
Culture and sightseeing
Often called the "Pearl of the Erzgebirge", Schwarzenberg’s main attraction is its historic centre.- Palace with museum
- St.-Georgen-Kirche (built between 1690 and 1699)
- The Grenzlandfeierstätte (“Borderland Celebration Place”), dedicated in 1938, affords roughly 15,000 visitors seats for great cultural events as a Waldbühne (“forest stage”).
- Weiße Frau (“White Woman”) on Jägerhäuser Straße
 |
Clubs
- FSV Blau-Weiss Schwarzenberg 1921 e.V.
- Modelleisenbahn-Club Schwarzenberg e.V. (model railways)
- Erzgebirgszweigverein Schwarzenberg
Regular events
- Fest alter Musik im Erzgebirge (“old music in the Ore Mountains”, since 1994)
- Schwarzenberger Ostermarkt (Easter market)
- Schwarzenberger Altstadt- und Edelweißfest (“Old Town and Edelweiss festival”, since 1993)
- Schwarzenberger Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market, since 1534)
Economy and infrastructure
From being a small industrial centre in East Germany, and home to two large companies, Foron and Formenbau Schwarzenberg, Schwarzenberg has lost most of its heavy industry over the last two decades. Only the latter company has stayed in business, and that as a subsidiary of the KUKAKUKA
KUKA is a leading German producer of industrial robots for a variety of industries - from automotive and fabricated metals to food and plastics...
Corporation of Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
. Tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
is now the main industry, with the town being an excellent base for hiking tours during summer.
Through the town runs the Silver Road.
The town has a station at the junction of lines to Zwickau, Johanngeorgenstadt and Annaberg and is served by Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
trains, operated by Erzgebirgsbahn (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
) between Zwickau and Johanngeorgenstadt
Johanngeorgenstadt
Johanngeorgenstadt is a mining town in Saxony’s Ore Mountains, 17 km south of Aue, and 27 km northwest of Karlovy Vary. It lies in the district of Erzgebirgskreis, and right on the border with the Czech Republic, is a state-recognized health resort , and calls itself Stadt des...
. No regular passnger trains operate to Annaberg
Annaberg
Annaberg is a former district in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It was bounded by the Czech Republic and the districts of Aue-Schwarzenberg, Stollberg and Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis. Its national colors are pink, green, and blue.- History :In the Middle Ages the Ore Mountains were virtually...
.
Education
Schwarzenberg has at its disposal four elementary schoolElementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
s (Neuwelt, Sonnenleithe, Heide and Crandorf) a middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
(“Stadtschule”), a Gymnasium (“Bertolt-Brecht-Gymnasium”) and a vocational school
Vocational school
A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...
centre for economy and social welfare. There are also a school for students with learning difficulties, a special school for the mentally handicapped and a folk high school
Folk high school
Folk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
.
Honorary citizens
- Hans Brockhage (1925–2009), designer and sculptor
- Harry Schmidt (1927–2003), woodcarver
Sons and daughters of the town
- Arthur VogelArthur VogelWilhelm Arthur Vogel was a German merchant, photographer and publisher of Ore Mountain picture postcards which form an important part of the heritage of the Ore Mountains.- Life and works :...
(1868–1962), merchant, photographer and publisher of Ore Mountain picture postcards - Elisabeth RethbergElisabeth RethbergThe German soprano Elisabeth Rethberg was an opera singer of international repute active from the period of the First World War through to the early 1940s. Some hailed her as the greatest soprano of her day...
(1894–1976), singer - Friedrich Emil Krauß (1895–1977), industrialist, bathtub and washing machine maker
- Kurt Weisflog (b. 1906), Member of the Reichstag
- Hans Brockhage (1925–2009), designer and sculptor
- Axel KöhlerAxel KöhlerAxel Köhler is a German countertenor and opera director. He won the Handel Music Prize in 1994.-Sources:*http://www.axelkoehler.com/*http://www.buehnen-halle.de/...
(b. 1960), countertenor and film director
Celebrities who have worked in town
- Louis Krauß (1862–1927), born in what is now the constituent community of Neuwelt, industrialist, bathtub maker
- Dr. iur. Ludwig Günther Martini (1647–1719), between 1672 and 1677 a jurist in Schwarzenberg, writer and later court official in Wernigerode.
- Ernst Schneller (1890–1944), from 1919 a teacher in the town, latter KPD Member of the Reichstag. His workplace, today’s Stadtschule Schwarzenberg, bore his name for more than 40 years
- Walter HesseWalter HesseWalther Hesse is best known for his work in microbiology, specifically his work in developing Agar as a medium for culturing microorganisms.-Biography:...
(1846–1911), county physician, unveiled Schneeberger Bergkrankheit as lung cancer, later fellow worker of Robert Koch - Ricco Groß (b. 1970), many times world champion and Olympic medallist in biathlon, grew up here.
- Markus BeyerMarkus BeyerHeight 176 cmMarkus Beyer is a German boxer at super middleweight and the former WBC Champion, who resides in Lilienthal, Germany. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics, in the light middleweight division...
(b. 1971), boxer and former world champion in super middleweight, grew up here.