Kemnath () is a small town in the district of Tirschenreuth, in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

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 ...

. It is situated near the

Fichtelgebirge The Fichtel MountainsRandlesome, C. et al. (2011). ''Business Cultures in Europe'', 2nd ed., Routledge, Abingdon and New York, p. 52. . (german: Fichtelgebirge, cs, Smrčiny), form a small horseshoe-shaped mountain range in northeastern Bavaria ...

, 24 km southeast of

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...

. The town's motto is "das Tor zur Oberpfalz," which translates into English as "The Door to the Upper Palatinate."

History

Kemnath was first referenced in historical documents on 6 July 1008 by the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Henry II when he donated ''Keminata'' to the

Diocese of Bamberg The Archdiocese of Bamberg (lat. ''Archidioecesis Bambergensis'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria and is one of 27 Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. In 2015, 32.9% of the population identified as Catholic, and 15.6% of tho ...

. In 2008, Kemnath celebrated its 1000th anniversary with a series of special events throughout the town culminating in a major celebration in August 2008.

Geography

The town is in the foothills of the

Mountains of northeast Bavaria and is approximately 55 km from the Czech border at

Mähring Mähring is a municipality in the district of Tirschenreuth in Bavaria, 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, an ...

. It is located in a valley formed by three streams, the Mühlbach, Flötzbach, and Schirnitzbach. The Steinwald Nature Park abuts the edge of the town as well and stretches from Kemnath to the Czech border.

Economy

The two largest employers in Kemnath are the Ponnath Meat Processing plant and a

Siemens Healthineers Siemens Healthineers AG (formerly Siemens Healthcare, Siemens Medical Solutions, Siemens Medical Systems) is a German medical device company. It is the parent company for several medical technology companies and is headquartered in Erlangen, Germ ...

production facility.

References

External links

Official homepage of the town of Kemnath (In German)
{{Authority control Tirschenreuth (district)