Eppendorf () is a municipality in the district of

Mittelsachsen Mittelsachsen ("Central Saxony") is a district ('' Kreis'') in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. History The district was established by merging the former districts of Döbeln, Freiberg and Mittweida as part of the district reform of August ...

, in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Geography

The municipality of Eppendorf lies in the lower Ore Mountains, about 20 kilometres east of the city of

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

and 15 kilometres southwest of

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

. Eppendorf runs along the river of the Große Lößnitz, a tributary of the

Flöha Flöha () is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Flöha is situated on the confluence of the rivers Zschopau and Flöha, east of Chemnitz. Flöha station connects the town to Dresden, Chemnitz, Freiberg, Annaberg-Buch ...

. The neighbouring, formerly independent villages of Kleinhartmannsdorf and Großwaltersdorf were integrated in 1995 and 1998, respectively.

History

Eppendorf was founded in the 13th century as a new settlement in the form of a

Waldhufendorf The ''Waldhufendorf'' ("forest village"; plural: -''dörfer'') is a form of rural settlement established in areas of forest clearing with the farms arranged in a series along a road or stream, like beads on a chain.Dickinson, Robert E (1964). ''G ...

. The first official mention occurred in 1336. For most of its early history, it was a farming village and later also the location of a hunting lodge of Elector Augustus of Saxony. In the late 19th century, some industry developed (manufacturing of toys, shoes, textile products and furniture). Today, the economy is mostly based on small businesses and traditional craftsmanship, farming and tourism.

References

Mittelsachsen {{Mittelsachsen-geo-stub