The Ore Mountain BasinEU Regional Profile Report for Central Europe Project 1CE084P4 "ReSOURCE"
at www.central2013.eu, p. 37. Accessed on 27 Feb 2011. or Erzgebirge BasinDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 624. . (german: Erzgebirgsbecken) is a

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

in the German federal state of

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 o ...

, that is part of the Saxon Lowland. To the north it borders on the Mulde Loess Hills and to the south on several natural regions in the Saxon Highlands and Uplands. The basin is a structural depression running from northeast to southwest in the Ore Mountain

peneplain 390px, Sketch of a hypothetical peneplain formation after an orogeny. In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage ...

that is filled with Devonian and Carboniferous sediments. The main communications from the Ore Mountains follow the valleys downhill and are collected by a major routeway to the north that follows this furrow and passes through the cities of

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (Germ ...

and

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 ...

.Elkins, T H (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, p. 292. . According to current categorisation the Upper Pleißeland (''Obere Pleißeland''), immediately to the east of the towns of Werdau and

Crimmitschau Crimmitschau () is a town in the district of Zwickau in Saxony, Germany. Geography Crimmitschau lies on the river Pleiße in the northern foothills of the Erzgebirge. Neighboring municipalities Adjacent communities include: Zwickau, Dennheri ...

, is also counted as part of the basin.BfN map services
(under the tab "Landschaften" each landscape fact file is clickable)Map of natural regions in Saxony
at www.umwelt.sachsen.de (pdf, 859 kB) The Ore Mountain Basin is an important centre of population in Saxony and a historically important industrial region, not least because of the Zwickau Field which contained most of East Germany's very minor reserves of coal and included the biggest former hard coal mining region in Saxony.

References

{{coord missing, Saxony Geography of the Ore Mountains Natural regions of Saxony Basins of Germany