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142-581: Rittersgrün stretches from northwest to southeast in the Pöhlwasser valley, around seven kilometers south of the large district town of Schwarzenberg , at an altitude of up to 820 meters. Situated on the Rittersgrüner Pass , which has been actively used since the 16th century, the settlement is flanked to the west by the 792-metre-high Hirtenberg and the Kohlung to the south, and to the east by

284-489: 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 . Dresden Dresden ( / ˈ d r ɛ z d ən / , German: [ˈdʁeːsdn̩] ; Upper Saxon : Dräsdn ; Upper Sorbian : Drježdźany , pronounced [ˈdʁʲɛʒdʒanɨ] )

426-461: A central school building for all pupils in Rittersgrün was inaugurated above the railroad station. In the year of its opening, six teachers were responsible for 541 pupils. A further education school and a vocational school for women were also attached to the school. From the 1960s onwards, pupils from Tellerhausen also had to attend classes in Rittersgrün, which made an extension necessary, which

568-441: A heavy black silhouetted outline of the city blotting out Hitler's face. 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 Soviet 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

710-778: A large hole into which an additional 4,000 prisoners were to be disposed of. During the war, Dresden was the location of several forced labour subcamps of the Stalag IV-A prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs, and seven subcamps of the Flossenbürg concentration camp , in which some 3,600 men, women and children were imprisoned, mostly Polish , Jewish and Russian. In April 1945, most surviving prisoners were sent on death marches to various destinations in Saxony and German-occupied Czechoslovakia , whereas some women were probably murdered and some managed to escape. Dresden in

852-496: A later owner, it remained an independent estate district until the 20th century. At the end of the 16th century, the hammer master Nikolaus Klinger moved a blast furnace to Rittersgrün and thus formed the basis of another hammer mill, which was named the Schmertzingischer Hammer after his son-in-law and successor Rudolph von Schmertzing . It can be assumed that the first settlers came to Rittersgrün to work in

994-597: A major Nazi museum director and art dealer, to hide a large collection of artwork worth tens of millions of dollars that had been stolen during the Nazi era, as he claimed it had been destroyed along with his house which was located in Dresden. The Allies described the operation as the legitimate bombing of a military and industrial target. Several researchers have argued that the February attacks were disproportionate . As

1136-522: A major cultural centre of historical memory, owing to the city's destruction in World War II. Each year on 13 February, the anniversary of the British and American fire-bombing raid that destroyed most of the city, tens of thousands of demonstrators gather to commemorate the event. Since reunification, the ceremony has taken on a more neutral and pacifist tone (after being used more politically during

1278-629: A record calling the place "Civitas Dresdene". After 1270, Dresden became the capital of the margraviate. It was given to Friedrich Clem after the death of Henry the Illustrious in 1288. It was taken by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1316 and was restored to the Wettin dynasty after the death of Valdemar the Great in 1319. From 1485, it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony , and from 1547

1420-414: A result of inadequate Nazi air raid measures for refugees, mostly women and children died. American author Kurt Vonnegut 's novel Slaughterhouse Five is loosely based on his first-hand experience of the raid as a prisoner of war . In remembrance of the victims, the anniversaries of the bombing of Dresden are marked with peace demonstrations, devotions and marches. Following his military service

1562-623: A sister relationship with Pöhla , with which it shares a priest. In addition to the Evangelical-Lutheran church, there is also an Evangelical-Methodist congregation in the village with a community hall built in 1901/1902 at the foot of the Rothenberg and a local branch of the Landeskirchliche Gemeinschaft with a parish hall consecrated in 1924 on Karlsbader Straße. A chapel set up in 1966 in the hall of

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1704-471: A skeleton previously used as a model for drawing art classes was found in the ruins of the Dresden Art Academy, the photographer Edmund Kesting with the assistance of Peter posed it in a number of different locations to produce a series of haunting photographic images to give the impression that Death was wandering through the city in search of the dead. Kesting subsequently published them in

1846-574: A tornado that passed through the Pöhlwasser valley from Rittersgrün to Pöhla on August 13, 2003. Another tornado at the end of July 2005 caused considerable breakage damage in a forest area near Tellerhäuser, which resulted in the clearing of the affected area. In the Middle Ages , the Pöhlwasser formed the border between the Schwarzenberg dominion and the estates of the Lords of Schönburg to

1988-507: A tourist office for Rittersgrün and Tellerhäuser in the main building of the railroad museum. Schwarzenberg, Saxony 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,

2130-920: A wasteland before it was rebuilt in the socialist style at the beginning of the 1960s. However, the majority of historic buildings were saved or reconstructed. Among them were the Ständehaus (1946), the Augustusbrücke (1949), the Kreuzkirche (until 1955), the Zwinger (until 1963), the Catholic Court Church (until 1965), the Semperoper (until 1985), the Japanese Palace (until 1987) and the two largest train stations. Some of this work dragged on for decades, often interrupted by

2272-654: A wood grinding shop on the site of the former Schmertzing'schen Hammer and converted it into a cardboard factory. Two sawmills emerged from the Schmertzing hammer buildings a little further upstream. Carl Ludwig Flemming , the son of a brush maker from Schönheide, founded a wooden goods factory in Oberglobenstein in 1864, which is still in operation. The opening of the Pöhlatalbahn in 1889, a narrow-gauge railroad that connected Rittersgrün with Grünstädtel on

2414-547: Is a relatively recent city that grew from a Slavic village after Germans came to dominate the area, the area had been settled in the Neolithic era by Linear Pottery culture tribes c. 7500 BC . Dresden's founding and early growth is associated with the eastward expansion of Germanic peoples , mining in the nearby Ore Mountains , and the establishment of the Margraviate of Meissen . Its name comes from Sorbian Drježdźany (current Upper Sorbian form), meaning "people of

2556-532: Is about 150 kilometres (93 miles) to the south and Wrocław (Poland) 200 kilometres (120 miles) to the east. Dresden is one of the greenest cities in all of Europe, with 62% of the city being green areas and forests. The Dresden Heath ( Dresdner Heide ) to the north is a forest 50 km (19 sq mi) in size. There are four nature reserves . The additional Special Conservation Areas cover 18 km (6.9 sq mi). The protected gardens, parkways, parks and old graveyards host 110 natural monuments in

2698-506: Is also home to a car dealership, various craft businesses and smaller stores, a hotel with a restaurant, several guesthouses and restaurants and a large number of private vacation accommodations. The aims of the Rittersgrün Tourist Association, founded in 1991, include the coordination of important tourism-related tasks between the municipality, tourism-oriented associations and landlords. The association maintains

2840-537: Is bound up with this time. In 2004, the writer Volker Braun also treated the topic. Changes in population: 1834 to 1950 1960 to 1998 1999 to 2004 2005 to 2006 The current mayor is Ruben Gehart ( CDU ), elected in October 2020. Schwarzenberg's arms show the dragon slayer Saint George , who according to legend is held to have taken on the lindworm at the Totenstein (“Dead Man’s Stone”), which

2982-474: Is certain is that in 1832 a new school building was erected near the church to replace a building that had been demolished in 1830. In the mid-1830s, around 200 pupils were taught in two classes each by a girls' and a boys' teacher. For capacity reasons, further school buildings were opened in the upper part of the village and on the Hammerberg in 1851 and 1878 and the number of teachers was increased. In 1905,

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3124-596: Is covered with wooded and meadow-covered weathered soils of light-colored mica schist. In the Rothen-Adler-Stollen in the south-eastern area of the settlement known as Hammerberg above the Rothenhammer, red ironstone was mined from the original magnetic ironstone; pyroxene, calcite, fluorspar and brown spar were also found. Massive mica schist rocks form the summit of the Ochsenkopf . The Sonnenberg

3266-595: Is dominated by high-tech branches , often called " Silicon Saxony ". According to the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) and Berenberg Bank in 2019, Dresden had the seventh best prospects for the future of all cities in Germany. Dresden is one of the most visited cities in Germany with 4.7 million overnight stays per year. Its most prominent building is the Frauenkirche located at

3408-673: Is fed by the waters of the Cunnersbach, a tributary of the Pöhlwasser. Today, Rittersgrün is mainly home to the Erzgebirgszweigverein, which was re-established in 1991, the Schützenverein 1883 and the Freie Sportverein 1907 with its handball, skiing, recreational soccer and fistball sections. The gymnasium at the northern entrance to the village, inaugurated in 1926, was replaced by a new building at

3550-528: Is located in a building above the school that was inaugurated in 1979 as the Soyuz-31 kindergarten. A private daycare center founded in 1997, which uses Montessori teaching methods , is located in Globenstein. The oldest church register of the parish mentions a schoolmaster in Rittersgrün as early as the end of the 17th century. It is not known whether a school building already existed at this time. What

3692-677: Is marked by the opposing rocks Ottenstein and Totenstein , which like the Schlossberg consist of Augen 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 . The Old Town with market square, castle and St.-Georgen-Kirche (main church) forms

3834-537: Is not one of the woodland villages typical of the Ore Mountains , as the rocky subsoil hardly allowed for agriculture. The starting point for the settlement of the valley section was the hammer mills located on the Pöhlwasser. While the houses on the left side of the river are mostly grouped along the S 271, the scattered settlement on the Hammerberg above the former Rothenhammer forms the settlement core on

3976-713: 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 the Zwickau to Schwarzenberg , Schwarzenberg to Johanngeorgenstadt and Annaberg to Schwarzenberg railway lines, and is served by Regionalbahn trains, operated by Erzgebirgsbahn (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn ) between Zwickau and Johanngeorgenstadt . No regular passenger trains operate to Annaberg . Schwarzenberg has at its disposal four elementary schools (Neuwelt, Sonnenleithe, Heide and Crandorf)

4118-399: Is probably closely linked to the construction of a hammer mill on the Pöhlwasser in the 15th century. In 1748, Johann Paul Oettel reported that "J acob Kleinhempels, who without fault in 1440, worked on the hammer mill at Rittersgrün ". It is not known whether this hammer mill and the associated buildings already had a name. It was not until 1534 that Rittersgrün was mentioned in a tax list of

4260-425: Is roughly on a par with Oberwiesenthal (1058.7 mm), significantly higher than in the neighboring town of Schwarzenberg (871.3 mm) and considerably higher than in the major Saxon cities of Dresden (583.7 mm) and Leipzig (584.6 mm). Due to the dry air in the area surrounded by dense forest, Rittersgrün was a high-altitude climatic health resort in the first half of the 20th century. The flood of

4402-618: Is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig . It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth largest by area (after Berlin , Hamburg , and Cologne ), and the third most populous city in the area of former East Germany , after Berlin and Leipzig. Dresden's urban area comprises the towns of Freital , Pirna , Radebeul , Meissen , Coswig , Radeberg and Heidenau and has around 790,000 inhabitants. The Dresden metropolitan area has approximately 1.34 million inhabitants. Dresden

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4544-565: 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 Germany's surrender in the Second World War , Schwarzenberg remained, for historically unclear reasons, unoccupied at first. The city issued 42 postage stamps in 1945, all showing

4686-837: Is the second largest city on the River Elbe after Hamburg. Most of the city's population lives in the Elbe Valley , but a large, albeit very sparsely populated, area of the city east of the Elbe lies in the West Lusatian Hill Country and Uplands (the westernmost part of the Sudetes ) and thus in Lusatia . Many boroughs west of the Elbe lie in the Ore Mountain Foreland , as well as in the valleys of

4828-467: The Cold War ). Beginning in 1999, right-wing Neo-Nazi white nationalist groups have organised demonstrations in Dresden that have been among the largest of their type in the post-war history of Germany . Each year around the anniversary of the city's destruction, people convene in the memory of those who died in the fire-bombing. The completion of the reconstructed Dresden Frauenkirche in 2005 marked

4970-547: The Elbe to flood 9 metres (30 ft) above its normal height, i.e., even higher than the old record height from 1845, damaging many landmarks (see 2002 European floods ). The destruction from this "millennium flood" is no longer visible, due to the speed of reconstruction. The United Nations' cultural organization UNESCO declared the Dresden Elbe Valley to be a World Heritage Site in 2004. After being placed on

5112-741: The Elbe , mostly in the Dresden Basin , with the further reaches of the eastern Ore Mountains to the south, the steep slope of the Lusatian granitic crust to the north, and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to the east at an altitude of about 113 metres (371 feet). Triebenberg is the highest point in Dresden at 384 metres (1,260 feet). With a pleasant location and a mild climate on the Elbe, as well as Baroque-style architecture and numerous world-renowned museums and art collections, Dresden has been called "Elbflorenz" ( Florence on

5254-523: The Fichtelberg . The ore deposits around Rittersgrün formed the basis for the mining development of the municipality. Magnetite skarns with tin content and non-ferrous magnetite skarns in andalusite-bearing muscovite schists were mined in the pits near Ober- and Niederglobenstein. Magnetic iron ore, zinc blende and limestone were mined in a wooded area of the Hirtenberg. The slope of the Hirtenberg

5396-756: The Group of Soviet Forces in Germany after the war. Apart from the German army officers' school ( Offizierschule des Heeres ), there have been no more military units in Dresden since the army merger during German reunification, and the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1992. Nowadays, the Bundeswehr operates the Military History Museum of the Federal Republic of Germany in the former Albertstadt garrison. Two book burnings were organised in

5538-664: The Grünes Gewölbe and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon . Strengthening ties with Poland, postal routes to Poznań , Toruń and Warsaw were established under Augustus II the Strong. In 1726 there was a riot for two days after a Protestant clergyman was killed by a soldier who had recently converted from Catholicism. In 1745, the Treaty of Dresden between Prussia, Saxony, and Austria ended

5680-635: The Neumarkt . Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, before being rebuilt between 1994 and 2005. Other famous landmarks include the Zwinger , the Semperoper and Dresden Castle . Furthermore, the city is home to the renowned Dresden State Art Collections , originating from the collections of the Saxon electors in

5822-671: The Second Silesian War . Only a few years later, Dresden suffered heavy destruction in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), following its capture by Prussian forces, its subsequent re-capture, and a failed Prussian siege in 1760. Friedrich Schiller completed his Ode to Joy (the literary base of the European anthem ) in Dresden in 1785. In 1793, preparations for the Polish Kościuszko Uprising started in

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5964-653: The Semper Opera House and the Zwinger Palace , although the city leaders chose to rebuild large areas of the city in a "socialist modern" style, partly for economic reasons, but also to break away from the city's past as the royal capital of Saxony and a stronghold of the German bourgeoisie. Until the end of the Cold War, the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Army and the 7th Panzer Division of

6106-546: The Soviet occupation zone . The supply situation was poor due to the quartering of refugees. Production in the Rittersgrün factories resumed immediately after the end of the war. The first mayor after the end of the war, Paul Seidel ( KPD ), was replaced by Fritz Uloth ( CDU ) on September 1, 1946. From 1949 to 1954, SDAG Wismut mined uranium ore in several shafts on Rittersgrün land, for which hundreds of miners were housed in Rittersgrün families. The collectivization of farms led to

6248-428: The electors as well. The Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I became King Augustus II the Strong of Poland in 1697. He gathered many of the best musicians, architects and painters from all over Europe to Dresden. His reign marked the beginning of Dresden's emergence as a leading European city for technology and art. During the reign of Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland most of

6390-458: The federal highway 101 in Raschau, via which the highway can be reached. A connecting road, which joins the S 271 in the center of the village, leads to neighboring Breitenbrunn. There is a regular bus service between Schwarzenberg and Tellerhäuser. In winter, ski buses run between Johanngeorgenstadt , Rittersgrün, Boží Dar and Oberwiesenthal . From 1889 to 1971, Rittersgrün was located on

6532-597: The "Pearl of the Erzgebirge", Schwarzenberg's main attraction is its historic centre. 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 KUKA Corporation of Augsburg . Tourism

6674-1078: The 16th century. Dresden's Striezelmarkt is one of the largest Christmas markets in Germany and is considered the first genuine Christmas market in the world. Nearby sights include the National Park of Saxon Switzerland , the Ore Mountains and the countryside around Elbe Valley , Moritzburg Castle and Meissen , home of Meissen porcelain . [REDACTED] Margravate of Meissen , 1319–1423 [REDACTED] Electorate of Saxony , 1423–1806 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Saxony , 1806–1848 [REDACTED] German Empire , 1848–1849 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Saxony , 1849–1918 [REDACTED] North German Confederation ( Kingdom of Saxony ), 1867–1871 [REDACTED] German Empire ( Kingdom of Saxony ), 1867–1918 [REDACTED] Weimar Republic ( Free State of Saxony ), 1918–1933 [REDACTED] Nazi Germany , 1933–1945 [REDACTED] Soviet occupation zone of Germany , 1945–1949 [REDACTED] East Germany , 1949–1990 [REDACTED]   Germany ( Free State of Saxony ), 1990–present Although Dresden

6816-426: 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

6958-526: The 1960s and 1970s, respectively, using large-block construction (a precursor of plattenbau 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,

7100-481: The 1st Advent, the Rittersgrün open-air Christmas pyramid is set up with the participation of the head of the village, the pastor and the brass choir of the Evangelical Lutheran parish and the Rittersgrün miners' association. The Rittersgrün association with the longest tradition is the Knappschaft Rittersgrün 1713 e. V. , which was founded in 1713 as a mining burial fraternity and today, in addition to ceremonial funerals, mainly takes part in mining parades and maintains

7242-413: The 20th century was a major communications hub and manufacturing centre with 127 factories and major workshops and was designated by the German military as a defensive strongpoint, with which to hinder the Soviet advance. Being the capital of the German state of Saxony , Dresden not only had garrisons but a whole military borough , the Albertstadt . This military complex, named after Saxon King Albert,

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7384-403: The 700-metre-high Sonnenberg and the 836-metre-high Ochsenkopf . State road 271 runs through the village from Raschau to Oberwiesenthal , into which a connecting road from Breitenbrunn , around 2.5 kilometers away, joins in the village. The border to the Czech Republic runs to the south of the village, over which there are border crossings for skiers, pedestrians and cyclists. Rittersgrün

7526-406: The 86.5 kg iron meteorite during clearing work and initially stored it in front of his house as it could not be melted in various ironworks. Following a tip-off from Pfeilhammer's shift foreman, Freiberg mineralogy professor August Breithaupt traveled to Rittersgrün and bought the lump for the Freiberg Mining Academy's mineralogical collection. A plaster model of the meteorite is on display in

7668-408: The Altmarkt. From 1955 to 1958, a large part of the art treasures looted by the Soviet Union was returned, which meant that from 1960 onwards many state art collections could be opened in reconstructed facilities or interim exhibitions. Important orchestras such as the Staatskapelle performed in alternative venues (for example in the Kulturpalast from 1969). Some cultural institutions were moved out of

7810-417: The Annaberg-Buchholz-Schwarzenberg line, simplified the transportation of products from the Rittersgrün businesses and helped to open up Rittersgrün to tourism. In the early years of the 20th century, the municipality's infrastructure was improved. In 1912, Rittersgrün was connected to the electricity grid. With the construction of today's Karlsbader Straße on the slope of the Unterrittersgrün district, traffic

7952-402: The Arnoldshammer inn was dissolved in 1997 due to the declining number of members and unresolved ownership issues. The few Catholic inhabitants of Rittersgrün travel to Schwarzenberg for church services. A Catholic service is held once a month in the parish hall of the Evangelical-Lutheran parish. Exact figures on the population development in the early days of the settlement are not known due to

8094-406: The Behlwasser with a Renwergk " built on the site of today's church. The statement " Undt seint daruber drey wüste Hammerstede und darunter auch eine " suggests that a lively iron processing operation was already underway beforehand. Hans Kleinhempel's hammer was built a little further downstream, presumably on the site of Jakob Kleinhempel's hammer mill mentioned by Oettel. Named Arnoldshammer after

8236-417: The Elbe). The incorporation of neighbouring rural communities over the past 60 years has made Dresden the fourth largest urban district by area in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne . The nearest German cities are Chemnitz 62 kilometres (39 miles) to the southwest, Leipzig 100 kilometres (62 miles) to the northwest and Berlin 165 kilometres (103 miles) to the north. Prague (Czech Republic)

8378-406: The Freie Wählergemeinschaft WIR (65.4% of all votes) and two by the CDU (34.6% of all votes). Saxon Narrow Gauge Railway Museum The terminus of the Grünstädtel-Oberrittersgrün narrow-gauge railroad, which closed in 1971, was founded in 1977 as the first railroad museum in the GDR and is now run as the Saxon Narrow-Gauge Railway Museum Rittersgrün. It comprises the station building, which houses

8520-419: The GDR , the exodus of young people. Before the incorporation into Breitenbrunn, the population was around 1,800. In 2009, just over 1,600 people lived in Rittersgrün. In the local council elections on June 7, 2009, three of the six seats went to the independent voter association WIR (53.1% of all votes) and the CDU (46.9%). In the elections to the local council on May 25, 2014, four of the six seats were held by

8662-463: The German press photographer and photojournalist Richard Peter returned to Dresden and began to document the ruined city. Among his best known works Blick auf Dresden vom Rathausturm ( View of Dresden from the Rathaus Tower ). It has become one of the best known photographs of a ruined post-war Germany following its appearance in 1949 in his book Dresden, eine Kamera klagt an ("Dresden, a photographic accusation", ISBN   3-930195-03-8 ). When

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8804-465: The Hammerberg ski jump. In 2004, the Rittersgrün Fox Hunt, which was first held in 1978, was brought back to life by a support association. At the event, which takes place annually on the first Sunday in October, a rider marked with a foxtail is hunted. Participants include a partner equestrian club from Děpoltovice near Karlovy Vary . The supporting program includes falconry demonstrations, equestrian games, hunting horn blowing and riding for everyone. On

8946-403: The Hammerberg. After reunification, many businesses in Rittersgrün also closed down. Many residents lost their jobs, resulting in a high unemployment rate of 15 to 20 percent at the end of the century. Tellerhäuser was incorporated into Rittersgrün on March 1, 1994. On January 1, 2007, Rittersgrün was incorporated into Breitenbrunn/Erzgeb. As the population of Rittersgrün grew steadily towards

9088-444: The Krefeld company Huppertz and Feltgen employed only women, apart from the manager. It was operated after the Second World War, including as VEB Kinderbekleidung Modesta, with more than 100 female workers. The JUNGHANS SÖHNE factory was also one of the main employers, employing up to 200 workers in the 1930s. During the Second World War, the industrial companies in Rittersgrün were converted for war purposes, which led to high profits for

9230-415: The National People's Army were stationed in and around Dresden. Following reunification in 1989, the Soviet / Russian troops were withdrawn from Germany in the early 1990s and the NVA dissolved in accordance with the provisions of the Two-Plus-Four Treaty of 1990 . From 1985 to 1990, the future President of Russia, Vladimir Putin , was stationed in Dresden by the KGB , where he worked for Lazar Matveev ,

9372-412: The Polish uprisings of 1831 , 1848 and 1863 many Poles fled to Dresden, including the artistic and political elite, such as composer Frédéric Chopin , war hero Józef Bem and writer Adam Mickiewicz . Mickiewicz wrote one of his greatest works, Dziady , Part III , there. Dresden itself was a centre of the German Revolutions in 1848–1849 with the May Uprising , which cost human lives and damaged

9514-451: The Pöhla-Rittersgrün mining nature trail. The Gut Heil German Gymnastics Club was founded in 1880, followed by a military choral society in 1890, the Frei Heil workers' sports club in 1907, a cyclists' club in 1919, a workers' choral society in 1922 and a military shooting club in 1923. The community's club life was supplemented by the Rittersgrün/Pöhla woodcarving club, the Waldfrieden gardening club and an ore mountain branch club. With

9656-450: The Rittersgrün hammer works, Johann Heinrich von Elterlein, owner of the hammer works in Großpöhla and Karl Heinrich von Elterlein, owner of the Pfeilhammer in Kleinpöhla , were abducted and released in the course of the Peace of Teschen . The Rittersgrün parish priest Ephraim Gottlieb Löscher noted in the church register: Some of the men "scattered through the village, broke into the houses and took what they found. They also broke into

9798-404: The Schwarzenberg office as the name of the first house on the left side of the Pöhlwasser. Where the name Rittersgrün came from and whether it was possibly used for the right-hand side of the stream cannot be determined due to the poor source situation. A few years later, two new hammer mills were built on the right bank of the Pöhlwasser. Hans Schwarz, the mayor of Annaberg , had a " new hammer, on

9940-473: The Schwarzwasser inside the town. However, the town's overall situation is in a basin. The most prominent peaks surrounding it, in addition to the Schlossberg, are the Hirschstein (641 metres (2,103 ft)), the Hohe Hahn (674 metres (2,211 ft)), the Hohe Henne (728 metres (2,388 ft)), the Rockelmann (580 metres (1,900 ft)), the Galgenberg (557 metres (1,827 ft)) and the Raschau Knochen (551 metres (1,808 ft)). The town's silhouette

10082-449: The Second World War, there were around 60 different accommodations for holidaymakers in the municipality. The number of overnight stays rose to 16,837 from October 1940 to September 1941 due to vacation trips as part of the National Socialist "Strength through Joy" organization. After the end of the Second World War, Rittersgrün was initially not occupied by Allied troops for a few weeks (see: Republic of Schwarzenberg ) and then belonged to

10224-645: The Soviet and American occupation zones in May/June 1945. Schwarzenberg is in the southwestern Ore Mountains. It lies at elevations stretching from 428.5 to 823 metres (1,406 to 2,700 ft) above sea level . The Old Town with church and castle is located on a rock (the Schlossberg, 593 metres (1,946 ft)) around which a meander of the River Schwarzwasser has formed; the Mittweida flows into

10366-556: The area to the left of the Pöhlwasser, which is still referred to today as the Amtsseite in allusion to its affiliation to the former Amt Schwarzenberg, was Nisius Lebe from Breitenbrunn, who built his house there in 1534. In 1536, a tax list states "Rittersgrun is a Heuslen". By 1560, eleven houses had already been built and a small settlement had developed. At the beginning of the 17th century, iron processing in Rittersgrün had reached its peak. An Öder sheet from around 1610 mentions

10508-853: The bombing saved their lives. The Semper Synagogue was destroyed in November 1938 on Kristallnacht . During the German invasion of Poland at the start of World War II , in September 1939, the Gestapo carried out mass arrests of local Polish activists. Other non-Jews were also targeted, and over 1,300 people were executed by the Nazis at the Münchner Platz, a courthouse in Dresden, including labour leaders, undesirables, resistance fighters and anyone caught listening to foreign radio broadcasts. The bombing stopped prisoners who were busy digging

10650-582: The book Dresdner Totentanz ( Dresden's Death Dance ). The damage from the Allied air raids was so extensive that following the end of the Second World War, a narrow gauge light railway system was constructed to remove the debris, though being makeshift there were frequent derailments. This railway system, which had seven lines, employed 5,000 staff and 40 locomotives, all of which bore women's names. The last train remained in service until 1958, though

10792-594: The century in August 2002, when the Pöhlwasser overflowed its banks in many places, caused considerable damage. Rittersgrün is listed by the Saxon State Office for the Environment , Agriculture and Geology as part of a black water flooding area characterized by low water infiltration, low water retention, high terrain gradients, heavy rainfall and snowmelt. Several trees were uprooted and vehicles damaged in

10934-916: The city by Tadeusz Kościuszko in response to the Second Partition of Poland . In 1806, Dresden became the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony established by Napoleon . During the Napoleonic Wars the French Emperor made it a base of operations , winning there the Battle of Dresden on 27 August 1813. As a result of the Congress of Vienna , the Kingdom of Saxony became part of the German Confederation in 1815. Following

11076-542: The city center (for example the state library in Albertstadt). The Outer Neustadt, which was almost undamaged during the war was threatened with demolition in the 1980s following years of neglect, but was preserved following public protests. To house the homeless large prefabricated housing estates were built on previously undeveloped land In Prohlis and Gorbitz. Damaged housing in the Johannstadt and other areas in

11218-578: The city center were demolished and replaced with large apartment blocks. The villa districts in Blasewitz, Striesen, Kleinzschachwitz, Loschwitz and on the Weißen Hirsch were largely preserved. Dresden became a major industrial centre of East Germany, with a great deal of research infrastructure. It was the centre of Bezirk Dresden (Dresden District) between 1952 and 1990. Many of the city's important historic buildings were reconstructed, including

11360-610: The city in 1933, one by the SA on Wettiner Platz, the second one by German Student Union at the Bismarck Column on Räcknitzhöhe. During the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945, the Jewish community of Dresden was reduced from over 6,000 (7,100 people were persecuted as Jews) to 41, mostly as a result of emigration, but later also deportation and murder. One of the survivors was Victor Klemperer with his non-Jewish wife, who believed that

11502-973: The city's baroque landmarks were built. These include the Zwinger Royal Palace , the Japanese Palace , the Taschenbergpalais , the Pillnitz Castle and the two landmark churches: the Catholic Hofkirche and the Lutheran Frauenkirche . In addition, significant art collections and museums were founded. Notable examples include the Dresden Porcelain Collection , the Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs ,

11644-635: The city. The Dresden Elbe Valley is a former world heritage site which is focused on the conservation of the cultural landscape in Dresden. One important part of that landscape is the Elbe meadows, which cross the city in a 20 kilometre swath. Saxon Switzerland is located south-east of the city. Like most of eastern Germany, Dresden has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ), with significant continental influences due to its inland location. The summers are warm, averaging 19.0 °C (66.2 °F) in July. The winters are slightly colder than

11786-422: 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

11928-466: The construction of Rittersgrün's own church towards the end of the 17th century. In 1704, Johann August von Elterlein acquired the Arnoldshammer and six years later also took possession of the Schmertzing'schen Hammer, which he had already operated as a tenant since the 1690s. For the next 100 years, the Rittersgrün hammers remained the family's main employer. The second half of the 18th century

12070-504: The craft, which was mainly used by women as a sideline. At this time, ironworking in Rittersgrün was becoming less and less important, partly because it could not compete with the modern businesses in Westphalia and England . In the 1840s, the two hammer mills became the property of Nestler & Breitfeld, who introduced blast furnace operations and converted production. The decline in mining, ironworking, forestry and lace-making led to

12212-475: The east. Along the stream was the Rittersgrüner Pass, which crossed the Erzgebirge ridge and, for chroniclers, was an indication of early settlement in the area. The 750th anniversary of Rittersgrün was celebrated in 2000. It is doubtful that a settlement actually existed in the area of today's municipality as early as the 13th century and cannot be proven. The first settlement of the later Rittersgrün

12354-506: The end of the 17th century, so did the desire to no longer have to go to Breitenbrunn for church services. Although the people of Breitenbrunn had built their church at the upper end of the village to make the arduous journey easier for the people of Rittersgrün, the walk over the mountain was too inconvenient, especially in the winter months. The Escher Hammer, which had not been rebuilt after the Thirty Years' War and had been donated to

12496-405: The exception of the Rittersgrün miners' association, all of the community's clubs were disbanded after the Second World War. Winter sports, athletics, handball, fistball, artistic cycling and chess were practiced in the Rittersgrün sports community founded in 1949. Together with the municipality, the sports community completed the construction of an outdoor swimming pool, which was started in 1938 and

12638-627: The fall of communism in 1989/90, most of the larger industrial companies were closed down. Several former production sites, including the large factory complex of the Junghans Söhne company between the church and the railroad station, are now empty. The Modesta textile factory building was demolished. Globenstein is now home to Globensteiner Holzwerkstätten GmbH and the trading company Henka Werkzeuge und Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH . Werkzeugbau Weigel GmbH i n Arnoldshammer manufactures tools primarily for injection molding and press shops. Rittersgrün

12780-514: The first step in rebuilding the Neumarkt area. The areas around the square were divided into eight "quarters", with each being rebuilt as a separate project, the majority of buildings to be rebuilt either to the original structure or at least with a facade similar to the original. The quarters I, II, IV, V, VI and VIII have since been completed; quarters III and quarter VII were still partly under construction in 2020. In 2002, torrential rains caused

12922-516: The following facilities downstream: " Nicol Klingers Erben Zehnhammer " above the confluence of the Mückenbach and Pöhlwasser rivers, " der Klingerische Erben hohe ofen " on the site of the later Schmertzing'schen Hammer, " Paul Eschers hohe ofen " on the site of the later Junghans und Söhne factory, " Paul Eschers Hammer " on the site of today's church and, as the presumed first settlement nucleus, " Caspar Arnolts Hammer ". In 1617, Escher's hammer

13064-404: The following years, the city became a major centre of economy, including motor car production, food processing, banking and the manufacture of medical equipment . In the early 20th century, Dresden was particularly well known for its camera works and its cigarette factories. During World War I , the city did not suffer any war damage, but lost many of its inhabitants. Between 1918 and 1934, Dresden

13206-562: The forest", from Proto-Slavic *dręzga ("woods, blowdowns"). Dresden later evolved into the capital of Saxony . Around the late 12th century, a Sorbian settlement called Drežďany (meaning either "woods" or "lowland forest-dweller" ) had developed on the southern bank. Another settlement existed on the northern bank, but its Slavic name is unknown. It was known as Antiqua Dresdin by 1350, and later as Altendresden, both literally "old Dresden". Dietrich, Margrave of Meissen , chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in

13348-408: The founding of relief and workers' support associations. After the merger of Ober-, Unter- and Hammerrittersgrün to form the municipality of Rittersgrün in 1856, new industries were established. The buildings in Arnoldshammer were used as a wood grinding shop, wood pulp factory and board cutting shop. Daniel Simon Junghans , a tanner from Raschau , together with the lace merchant August Wenzel, founded

13490-525: The founding of the Rittersgrün Agricultural Production Cooperative in 1960. In 1972, all farms with more than ten employees were forcibly nationalized. The narrow-gauge railway line Grünstädtel-Oberrittersgrün had already been closed in 1971 because freight traffic had increasingly shifted to the roads. In the wake of reunification, the mayor Brigitte Burger (SED), elected in 1984, resigned in February 1990 and

13632-596: The hamlet Jägerhaus, Crandorf and Erla in 1999, and Pöhla in 2008. The communities that border on the town are Grünhain-Beierfeld in the northeast, Raschau in the east, Breitenbrunn and Sosa in the south and Bockau and Lauter in the west. 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 , aspen , mountain ash , hazel and wild cherry grows on

13774-541: The hammer mills. Almost a quarter of all heads of household worked as miners, ten woodcutters and six charcoal burners worked in the forest, hammer smiths, blast furnace workers, coal cutters, carters and day laborers ensured the operation of the hammer mills. Overall, living conditions were poor for the majority of the population. Infant mortality was high and incomes were low. Older inhabitants in particular had to work as day laborers, some women earned some extra money by making lace , and at least five people lived as beggars in

13916-406: The hammers and settled in their vicinity. An earlier settlement in the area is unlikely, as the harsh climate and rocky subsoil hardly allowed for agriculture and therefore offered neither a livelihood nor an attraction. While little is known about the early history of the right bank of the Pöhlwasser, the settlement on the opposite side of the river is better documented. The first settler to settle on

14058-526: The historic inner city. Since German reunification in 1990, Dresden has once again become a cultural, educational and political centre of Germany. The Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative . The economy of Dresden and its agglomeration is one of the most dynamic in Germany and ranks first in Saxony. It

14200-498: The historic town of Dresden. The uprising forced Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to flee from Dresden, but he soon after regained control over the city with the help of Prussia. In 1852, the population of Dresden grew to 100,000 inhabitants, making it one of the biggest cities within the German Confederation. As the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony, Dresden became part of the newly founded German Empire in 1871. In

14342-601: The impoverishment of the population, which reached its peak in 1846 and 1847 with a famine and outbreaks of scarlet fever and smallpox. A report by the Rittersgrün pastor Moritz Heinrich Rosenhauer , who was elected to the Saxon state parliament shortly afterwards, on the adverse conditions in his parish was published in the Leipziger Illustrirte Zeitung in March 1847. The hardship was alleviated by state grants and private donations in kind and money and

14484-631: The last official debris clearance team was only disbanded in 1977. Rather than repair them, German Democratic Republic (East Germany) authorities razed the ruins of many churches, royal buildings and palaces in the 1950s and 1960s, such as the Gothic Sophienkirche , the Alberttheater and the Wackerbarth-Palais as well as many historic residential buildings. The surroundings of the once lively Prager Straße resembled

14626-409: 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

14768-552: The list of endangered World Heritage Sites in 2006, the city lost the title in June 2009, due to the construction of the Waldschlößchenbrücke , making it only the second ever World Heritage Site to be removed from the register. UNESCO stated in 2006 that the bridge would destroy the cultural landscape. The city council's legal moves, meant to prevent the bridge from being built, failed. Dresden lies on both banks of

14910-475: The local entrepreneurs. In the first half of the 20th century, the development of tourism continued. Friends of local history founded a tourist association and the Reich Association for German Youth Hostels set up a district youth hostel in 1926, which was run (most recently privately) until 2008. At times, Rittersgrün was advertised as a high-altitude climatic health resort . Before the outbreak of

15052-480: The middle of the 19th century, and in 1978 the whole of Globenstein became part of Rittersgrün. This was followed in 1994 by Tellerhäuser with the district of Zweibach . Today, only Rittersgrün and Tellerhäuser are designated as districts of Breitenbrunn under municipal law. Rittersgrün is located in the southwest of the Paleozoic Ore Mountains, a few kilometers from the highest peak in Saxony,

15194-525: The municipal administration was relocated to Breitenbrunn. Individual departments of the municipal administration hold regular consultation hours in a citizens' office in the station building. The Rittersgrün tourist information office is housed in the same building. The nearest police station is in Schwarzenberg. The depot of the volunteer fire department is located at the upper end of Rittersgrün. The district has two daycare centers. The AWO-Kinderland

15336-585: The narrow-gauge railway museum. In addition to a number of smaller hiking trails, the cross-border Anton-Günther-Weg hiking trail, which passes the Wettinplatz with an Anton-Günther memorial stone at Ehrenzipfel, and the Pöhla-Rittersgrün mining nature trail, which can be used to reach various old mining and bismuth facilities, lead through Rittersgrün. A partially completed combined cycle and hiking trail between Rittersgrün and Raschau runs along

15478-478: 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 Duke Heinrich II 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

15620-503: The opposite side. The political municipality of Rittersgrün was only created in 1856 through the merger of the municipalities of Oberrittersgrün , Unterrittersgrün and Rothenhammer Rittersgrün in the Schwarzenberg court office. The Ehrenzipfel group of houses, which probably originated in the 17th century, has always belonged to Rittersgrün. In 1921, the previously independent estate district of Arnoldshammer became part of Rittersgrün. Oberglobenstein had already been incorporated in

15762-593: The overall economic situation in the GDR. The ruins of the Frauenkirche were allowed to remain on Neumarkt as a memorial to the war. While the Theater and Schloßplatz were rebuilt in accordance with the historical model in 1990, the Neumarkt remained completely undeveloped. On the other hand buildings of socialist classicism and spatial design and orientation according to socialist ideals (e.g. Kulturpalast) were built at

15904-569: The parish by the Elector in 1685, was quickly found to be a suitable location for a place of worship. The ruins of the Hammer lords' house were converted into a church, which was consecrated in 1693. Due to opposition from the Breitenbrunn parish priest, Rittersgrün initially remained a branch of Breitenbrunn and only became an independent parish with its own priest in 1718. Today, the parish has

16046-500: The parsonage here, beat my mother, the old pastor's mother, miserably, took about 200 thalers worth of clothes, linen and other things, smashed cupboards and boxes and finally chased me and mine out of the house." The 19th century was characterized by the decline of the hammer industry and the emergence of new branches of industry. In 1812, only 51 people were still working in the two hammer mills. In 1818 and 1819, two lace-making schools were founded in Rittersgrün, where children learned

16188-434: The poor availability of sources. What is certain is that the population increase in the first centuries was mainly due to the influx of workers in the hammer mills and surrounding mines. The first reliable indication of the number of inhabitants in all three parts of Rittersgrün is a family list from 1701, according to which around 115 families lived in Rittersgrün at this time, the majority of whom were economically dependent on

16330-475: The removal of the communist government. Dresden has experienced dramatic changes since the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s. The city still bears many wounds from the bombing raids of 1945, but it has undergone significant reconstruction. Restoration of the Dresden Frauenkirche, a Lutheran church, began in 1994 and was completed in 2005, a year before Dresden's 800th anniversary; this

16472-574: The rivers rising there and flowing through Dresden, the longest of which are the Weißeritz and the Lockwitzbach . The name of the city as well as the names of most of its boroughs and rivers are of Sorbian origin. Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony , who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor, and

16614-566: The route of the narrow-gauge railroad, which was discontinued in 1971. Since 2009, a 30-kilometre cross-border bridle path has led from Rittersgrün via Halbemeile , Pernink and Nejdek to Děpoltovice and the Karlovy Vary district of Stará Role . Every year in June, a three-day station festival is held on the grounds of the Saxon Narrow Gauge Railway Museum, including a mat jumping event for children on

16756-549: The school. The Hammerbergschanze , inaugurated in 1986, is located near the railroad station. There is also the Rittersgrüner Fuchsjagd support association, a tourist association, a senior citizens' association, the Chronistenstammtisch and the Rittersgrün volunteer fire department, which was founded in 1879 and has 25 active members. Rittersgrün is located on the state road 271, which leads to

16898-546: The senior KGB liaison officer there. On 3 October 1989 (the so-called "battle of Dresden"), a convoy of trains carrying East German refugees from Prague passed through Dresden on its way to the Federal Republic of Germany . Local activists and residents joined in the growing civil disobedience movement spreading across the German Democratic Republic, by staging demonstrations and demanding

17040-479: 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 machines 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

17182-426: The telephone network were gradually replaced. The cultural life of the community was promoted with the founding of new clubs and the establishment of a tourist office. As part of a village renewal program, a total of eight million euros was invested in the infrastructure of Rittersgrün during the term of office of Mayor Frank Siegel from 1994 to 1998. A large number of homes were built in the Arnoldshammer district and on

17324-514: The terraces at the forest edge. Sporadic beech and Weymouth pine can be found on the Ottenstein . The feverfew -like Tanacetum parthenifolium , 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

17466-473: The tourist office and a small exhibition, an engine shed and an outdoor area with historic carriages and locomotives. Holzschleiferei Weigel The Holzschleiferei Weigel Technical Museum, which was set up in 1990 after production was shut down, displays old machines, transmissions, turbines and a large water wheel for driving. A meteorite found in the forest near Ehrenzipfel in 1833 attracted national attention. The forest worker Karl August Reißmann came across

17608-469: The town in 1425, and sold it to Elector 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. Schwarzenberg's skyline is dominated by the ensemble of church and palace,

17750-610: 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

17892-479: 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

18034-508: The two remaining hammer mills. In 1670, Hannibal von Schmertzing obtained permission to build 17 houses for his workers and hereditary jurisdiction over the settlement. A few decades later, the number of buildings on the Hammerberg above Schmertzing's hammer mill had more than doubled. The rapid increase in population, which was due not least to exiles from neighboring Bohemia as a result of the Counter-Reformation there, prompted

18176-647: The upper section of the Grünstädtel-Oberrittersgrün narrow-gauge railroad. The Unterrittersgrün stop and the Oberrittersgrün station, which has been home to the Saxon Narrow Gauge Railway Museum since 1977, were located in the municipality. Today, the nearest railroad station on the Johanngeorgenstadt-Schwarzenberg line is in Breitenbrunn. Even before the incorporation of Rittersgrün into Breitenbrunn,

18318-402: The village. Due to the flourishing hammer mill business, the number of inhabitants rose sharply over the course of the 19th century. By 1834, it had risen to over 2000 and reached its peak of almost 3000 inhabitants in the middle of the 20th century. Since then, the number of inhabitants has fallen due to the decline in the birth rate and, since the fall of communism and the peaceful revolution in

18460-479: 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. Schwarzenberg is twinned with [REDACTED] Wunsiedel since 1990; [REDACTED] Nové Sedlo since 2006; and [REDACTED] Borchen since 2007. Often called

18602-457: Was built on a non-ferrous metal skarn with magnetite and tin content. The ore minerals included zinc blende, chalcopyrite, magnetic pyrites and magnetic iron ore. Due to its altitude, the temperatures in Rittersgrün are below those of the lower-lying municipalities in the surrounding area all year round. In the winter months, the higher areas of Rittersgrün are often covered in snow for long periods. The average annual precipitation of 1024.4 mm

18744-466: Was characterized by disease, famine and war. In 1756 and 1762, a leaf epidemic ravaged the village. Due to a famine in 1772, the number of deaths rose to 268, many times the usual number in the Rittersgrün community (1773: 35 deaths). In 1778, Rittersgrün was affected by the Bavarian War of Succession . During the invasion of a Free Corps, the three brothers August Benjamin von Elterlein, owner of

18886-426: Was completed in 1971. Since then, the school has been run as a Polytechnic Secondary School . After the collapse of the GDR, it initially housed a primary and secondary school. The secondary school was closed in 2007 and relocated to Breitenbrunn. In return, the primary school pupils from Breitenbrunn attend the school in Rittersgrün, which has only one class of around 80 pupils (as of the 2008/09 school year). After

19028-686: Was controversial. On the night of 13–14 February 1945, 773 RAF Lancaster bombers dropped 1,181.6 tons of incendiary bombs and 1,477.7 tons of high explosive bombs, targeting the rail yards at the centre of the city. The inner city of Dresden was largely destroyed. Widely quoted Nazi propaganda reports claimed 200,000 deaths, but the German Dresden Historians' Commission, made up of 13 prominent German historians, in an official 2010 report published after five years of research concluded that casualties numbered between 22,500 and 25,000. The destruction of Dresden allowed Hildebrand Gurlitt ,

19170-541: Was done with the help of privately raised funds. The gold cross on the top of the church was funded officially by "the British people and the House of Windsor". The urban renewal process, which includes the reconstruction of the area around the Neumarkt square on which the Frauenkirche is situated, was expected to take decades, but numerous large projects were under way in the first part of the 21st century. Dresden remains

19312-655: Was not specifically targeted in the bombing of Dresden . During the final months of the Second World War, Dresden harboured some 600,000 refugees, with a total population of 1.2 million . Dresden was attacked seven times between 1944 and 1945, and was occupied by the Red Army after the German capitulation . The bombing of Dresden by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) between 13 and 15 February 1945

19454-475: Was once by personal union the family seat of Polish monarchs. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its Baroque and Rococo city centre. The controversial American and British bombing of Dresden towards the end of World War II killed approximately 25,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre. After the war, restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of

19596-581: Was replaced in the same year by the newly elected Arnfried Viertel (CDU), whose party won 15 seats in the local elections, well ahead of the SPD (two seats), the BfD and the PDS (one seat each). With the help of federal subsidies, extensive renovation work was carried out at the beginning of the 1990s. The open-air swimming pool was put back into operation, roads and bridges were renewed, street lighting, drinking water pipes and

19738-401: Was routed out of the narrow valley. The First World War, in which over 100 Rittersgrün residents were killed, and the inflation up to 1923 had a severe impact on the Rittersgrün economy. Many Rittersgrün residents found work in the metal industry in Schwarzenberg during the 1920s. The construction of new industrial plants also created more jobs in Rittersgrün. The stocking factory built in 1911 by

19880-430: Was severely damaged by water and fire and destroyed in 1633 by the imperial troops of General Heinrich von Holk , who used the Rittersgrün Pass as a route from Bohemia to Saxony and back, as were all the iron processing plants in Rittersgrün. While the hammer mills of Arnold and von Schmertzing were rebuilt and put back into operation, the Escher hammer remained deserted. In August 1661, a flood again caused severe damage to

20022-453: Was the capital of the first Free State of Saxony as well as a cultural and economic centre of the Weimar Republic . The city was also a centre of European modern art until 1933. During the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, a large military facility called Albertstadt was built. It had a capacity of up to 20,000 military personnel at the beginning of the First World War . The garrison saw only limited use between 1918 and 1934, but

20164-428: Was then reactivated in preparation for the Second World War . Its usefulness was limited by attacks on 13–15 February and 17 April 1945, the former of which destroyed large areas of the city. However, the garrison itself was not specifically targeted. Soldiers had been deployed as late as March 1945 in the Albertstadt garrison. The Albertstadt garrison became the headquarters of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army in

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