Olbernhau is a town in the district

Erzgebirgskreis Erzgebirgskreis is a district ('' Kreis'') in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is named after the Erzgebirge ("Ore Mountains"), a mountain range in the southern part of the district which forms part of the Germany–Czech Republic border. I ...

, 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 ...

. It is situated in the Ore Mountains, 35 km southeast of Chemnitz, and 23 km north of Chomutov,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

History

Presumably, the town's name arose from the old German name Albert (Albernhaw, Alberthau, Albernhau, Albretshain). Olbernhau has its origins back in the 13th century. Encouraged by Archbishop Albert I. of Meissen, the so-called White Monks ( Cistercians) from

Osek OSEK (''Offene Systeme und deren Schnittstellen für die Elektronik in Kraftfahrzeugen''; English: "''Open Systems and their Interfaces for the Electronics in Motor Vehicles''") is a standards body that has produced specifications for an embedded o ...

founded the first settlement in the upper

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-Buc ...

valley, shortly after ore was found here. Olbernhau was first mentioned in records in 1434 (as "Albernaw") in a contract documenting the sale of Olbernhau to the patritian Caspar von Berbisdorf. Ore mining started in 1511. In the course of the

Protestant reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

Olbernhau became a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

in 1539. A school is mentioned for the first time in 1556. The solidly built church was consecrated in 1590. About 1684 the industrial art of gunsmithing was introduced in Olbernhau. In 1690, Olbernhau's first barrel forge was erected in the Rungstock valley, and in 1708 the gun manufactory delivered 12,000 guns to the Saxonian Army. In 1815, a

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

mill was founded, which was partly destroyed by explosions in the years 1835, 1850 and 1865. The last gun left the Olbernhau factory in 1854. The launch of the Pockau-Lengefeld–Neuhausen railway (also known as the ''Flöhatalbahn''—Flöha Valley Railway) in May 1875 linked Olbernhau to the railway network. A Kindergarten was built in 1878. In the 1880es, Olbernhau gained a hospital, gasworks and gas street lights, and in 1892 Saxony's very first electric power station began operation in Olbernhau. From 1895, steam trains ran on the section of line between Olbernhau and Neuhausen. On 1 January 1902 Olbernhau received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

. In 1906, the beautiful

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

Concert and Ball Hall "Tivoli" was inaugurated. A public swimming bath opened in 1930. In 2002, one of the worst Flöha floods in history destroyed parts of the town centre and many houses on the river's banks. Thanks to many private donations from all over Germany, most of the enormous damages (amounting to several million Euros) was repaired within one year.

Tourism

Olbernhau is a popular tourist destination. Among the town's major sights are: * the Copper Hammer Mill "Althammer" on which the Russian tzar Peter the Great once rode * the open-air museum "Saigerhütte" (founded in 1493, ore processing technology + tiny workmen's houses) * the museum, located in a former manor, offering a wide range of information about local traditions * the "Tanz- und Ballhaus Tivoli", a ballroom with beautiful Art Deco glass window * the pittoresque Oberneuschönberg church (consecrated in 1695). Snuggled in the beautiful Flöha Valley with its six sub-valleys, Olbernhau offers scenic views and attractive paths for hiking and winter sports.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Erzgebirgskreis