Plauen (; Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden,

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 Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in the Saxon Vogtland (German: ''Sächsisches Vogtland''). The city lies on the river White Elster (''Weiße Elster''; a tributary of the Saale), in the Central Vogtlandian Hill Country. Plauen is the southwesternmost city of a string of cities sitting in the densely populated foreland of the Elster and Ore Mountains, stretching from Plauen in the southwest via Zwickau, Chemnitz and Freiberg to Dresden in the northeast. It is the capital of the Vogtland District. Plauen borders Thuringia to the north, and it is also situated near the Saxon border with Bavaria ( Franconia) and the Czech Republic (

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

). Although being a Saxon city, the regional Vogtlandian dialect spoken in Plauen is a (

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

-influenced) East Franconian variant related to the dialects of neighbouring Franconia in Bavaria. The name of the city as well as the names of many of its boroughs are of Slavic origin. Plauen and the surrounding Saxon Vogtland are known as the centre of the German embroidery and lace industry.

History

Plauen was founded by Polabian Slavs in the 12th century as "Plawe" and was passed to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1327. The town was captured by the Archbishop of Magdeburg, Lippold von Bredow, in 1384. In 1466, it was passed to Albertine Saxony and later in 1569 to the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

. Plauen became incorporated into the Kingdom of Saxony in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars, and in 1871 it became part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. In the late-19th century, Plauen became a centre of textile manufacturing, specializing in Chemical lace, called

Plauen lace Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...

. Around 1910, Plauen, as an industrial 'boomtown' of the region, reached its population peak (1910 census: 121,000, 1912: 128,000). Plauen's population, however, has shrunk dramatically since the Second World War (1939: 111,000 inhabitants). In the 1930s, Plauen hosted the first chapter of the Nazi Party outside of Bavaria. During the war, the Nazis operated a prison in the town, and three subcamps of the Flossenbürg concentration camp. 500 women, mostly Polish, but also Russian, Italian, French, Yugoslavian and Croatian, were imprisoned and used as

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

in the first two subcamps, and 50 men from various countries were imprisoned in the third subcamp. It was occupied by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

troops on 16 April 1945 but was left to Red Army on 1 July 1945. On December 15, 1945, the city issued 7 semi-postal postage stamps of its own to raise money for reconstruction. From 1945 onwards, Plauen fell into the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, which later became the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990). Plauen hosted a large Red Army occupation garrison and, in the last years of the GDR (DDR), an officer school of the Border Guards ("Grenztruppen der DDR"). The first mass demonstration against the communist regime in the GDR began in Plauen on 7 October 1989; this was the beginning of a series of mass demonstrations across the country and ultimately led to the re-unification of Germany in 1990. The exposé '' Fast Food Nation'' gives special mention to Plauen as the first city of the GDR to have a McDonald's restaurant following the collapse of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

. In the district reform of 1 July 2008, Plauen lost its urban district status and was merged into the district Vogtlandkreis.

Politics

The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was

Rolf Magerkord Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic languages, Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' (Rudolph (name), Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The O ...

of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 2000. The mayor was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected.

Ralf Oberdorfer Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

of the

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP) was mayor between 2000 and 2021. The most recent mayoral election was held in two rounds on 13 June and 4 July 2021, in which Steffen Zenner (CDU) was elected. The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 20,717 , 23.7 , 11.7 , 11 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

(AfD) , 17,464 , 20.0 , New , 11 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 12,728 , 14.5 , 6.9 , 6 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Social Democratic Party (SPD) , 12,245 , 14.0 , 5.0 , 6 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(FDP) , 8,687 , 9.9 , 2.6 , 4 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

(Grüne) , 7,529 , 8.6 , 2.7 , 3 , 1 , - , , align=left, Initiative Plauen (WV) , 4,752 , 5.4 , 0.4 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=#0B6623, , align=left,

The III. Path The III. Path or The Third Path (german: Der III. Weg, ) is a far-right and neo-Nazi political party in Germany. It was founded on 28 September 2013 by former NPD officials, and activists from the banned ''Free Network South''. They have t ...

, 3,366 , 3.8 , New , 1 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 30,247 ! 98.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 556 ! 1.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 30,803 ! 100.0 ! ! 42 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 52,962 ! 58.2 ! 13.8 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
Wahlen in Sachsen

Industry and infrastructure

Plauen (Vogtland) Oberer Bahnhof lies on the Leipzig–Hof line. The section of this line through Plauen is part of the

Saxon-Franconian trunk line Saxon-Franconian trunk line (german: Sachsen-Franken-Magistrale) is a modern term for a double-track railway route between the German cities of Dresden and Nuremberg. It is 390 kilometres long and currently electrified from Dresden to Hof. The c ...

running between

Nürnberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...

, Hof, Plauen, Zwickau,

and Dresden. The city had another station,

Plauen (Vogtland) Unterer station Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...

(now defunct), on the Elster Valley Railway. There is a plan to rename the Oberer (Upper) station into Plauen Hauptbahnhof (Main Station). Vogtlandbahn (Vogtland Railway), a regional train company, operates services from Plauen to Hof, Werdau,

, Zwickau, Falkenstein and Adorf within Germany and Cheb in the Czech Republic. At these stations, there are other Vogtlandbahn services to Munich,

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, Marktredwitz, Dresden and Leipzig within Germany and

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. ...

and Prague in the Czech Republic. A Vogtlandbahn Express Bus service runs between Plauen and Berlin Schönefeld Airport and Zoological Garden. The

Plauen Straßenbahn The Plauen tramway network (german: Straßenbahnnetz Plauen) is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Plauen, a city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. Opened in 1894, the network has been operated since 1990 ...

is a tramway that has 6 lines connecting the centre of city, Plauen-Tunnel stop, to the surrounding areas and the Oberer railway station.

Main sights

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-W1117-006, VEB Plauener Spitze

* Embroidery Machine Museum *Museum Plauener Spitze *Galerie e.O. plauen *Old City Hall * Elster Viaduct – second largest brick bridge in the world *Friedensbrücke – largest stone arch bridge in the world *Johanniskirche *Old Elster Viaduct – oldest bridge in Saxony *Malzhaus

Education and science

Plauen is home to a University of Applied Sciences with about 300 students and a DIPLOMA Fachhochschule.

Twin towns – sister cities

Plauen is twinned with: *

Aš Aš (; german: Asch) is a town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Dolní Paseky, Doubrava (Aš), Doubrava, Horní Paseky, Kopaniny (Aš), Kopaniny, ...

, Czech Republic (1962) *

Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd l ...

, Austria (1970) * Hof, Germany (1987) * Siegen, Germany (1990) * Cegléd, Hungary (2005) * Pabianice, Poland (2006) * Šiauliai, Lithuania (2010) The urban district of Jößnitz is twinned with Heilsbronn, Germany.

Notable people

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1986-0617-031, Horst Dohlus

* Heinrich von Plauen (1370–1429), Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights *

Christoph Pezel Christoph Pezel (5 March 1539 – 24 February 1604) was an influential Reformed Theologian who introduced the Reformed confession to Nassau-Dillenburg and Bremen. Education and service in Saxony Pezel was born in Plauen and educated at the un ...

(1539–1604), theologian * Johann von Mayr (1716–1759), Prussian general *

Ferdinand Gotthelf Hand Ferdinand Gotthelf Hand (15 February 1786 – 14 March 1851), German classical scholar, was born at Plauen in Saxony. He studied at Leipzig. In 1810 he became professor at the Weimar gymnasium, and in 1817 professor of philosophy and Greek litera ...

(1786–1851), philologist * Eduard Friedrich Poeppig (1798–1868), botanist, zoologist and explorer * Gustav Hartenstein (1808–1890), philosopher * Charles Beyer (1813–1876), locomotive designer and engineer *

Emil Kautzsch Emil Friedrich Kautzsch (4 September 1841 – 7 May 1910) was a German Hebrew scholar and biblical critic, born at Plauen, Saxony. Biography He was educated at Leipzig, in whose theological faculty he was appointed privatdozent (1869) and ...

(1841–1910), theologian * Arwed Rossbach (1844–1902), architect in Leipzig * Hermann Vogel (1854–1921), illustrator * Kurt Helbig (1901–1975), weightlifter *

Friedrich Hielscher Friedrich Hielscher (31 May 19026 March 1990) was a German intellectual involved in the Conservative Revolutionary movement during the Weimar Republic and in the German resistance during the Nazi era. He was the founder of an esoteric or Neopagan ...

(1902–1990), religious philosopher, writer and resistance fighter against Nazism *

E.O. Plauen E. O. Plauen (often stylized as e.o.plauen) was the pseudonym of Erich Ohser (18 March 1903 – 5 April 1944) (some sources give his birth year as 1909), a German cartoonist best known for his strip '' Vater und Sohn'' ("Father and Son"). Life ...

(1903–1944), cartoonist *

Paul Wessel Paul Wessel (born 9 April 1904 in Plauen; d. 20 January 1967 in Berlin) was a member of the small secretariat of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the communist party of the former German Democratic Re ...

(1904–1967), politician (SED) * Egon Zill (1906–1974), Nazi SS commandant of the Flossenbürg concentration camp * Werner Hartenstein (1908–1943), war-time commander of U-156 *

Walter Ballhause Walter Ballhause (born in Hameln on 3 April 1911 – died in Plauen on 8 July 1991) was a German photographer. He was active politically and worked in social documentary photography. Biography Born in Hameln as the son of a shoemaker, Walter Ball ...

(1911–1991), photographer * Horst Dohlus (1925–2007), SED functionary * Karl Richter (1926–1981), conductor, organist, and harpsichordist * Hans Otte (1926–2007), composer and pianist *

Klaus Zoephel Klaus Zoephel (16 July 1929 – 27 January 2017) was a German composer and conductor. Life Born in Plauen, ready at a young age, during the Second World War, Zoephel worked as an organist in various places in his native Vogtland. After the Abi ...

(1929–2017), composer and conductor * Klaus Zink (born 1936), footballer * Angelika Bahmann (born 1952), slalom canoeist, Olympic champion *

Kornelia Ender Kornelia Ender (later Matthes now Grummt, born 25 October 1958 in Plauen, Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt) is a former East German swimmer who at the 1976 Summer Olympics became the first woman swimmer to win four gold medals at a single Olympic Games, ...

(born 1958), swimmer, Olympic champion *

Volker Eckert Volker Eckert (1 July 1959 – 2 July 2007) was a German serial killer, who killed six women in East Germany, France and Spain, between 1974 and 2006. Eckert confessed to only six murders, five of whom were sex workers, but is known to have kille ...

(1959-2007), serial killer *

Matthias Freihof Matthias Freihof (born 25 November 1961) is a German television actor and director. He has performed in many TV films and series including police drama Siska for 5 years. but also works on live stage performing as an actor and a singer. He is mos ...

(born 1961), television actor and director *

Andrea Stolletz Andrea Stolletz (born 30 October 1963) is a German handball goalkeeper. She participated at the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known ...

(born 1963), handball player * Olaf Schubert (born 1967), comedian and musician * Martin Dulig (born 1974), politician (SPD) * Christian Bahmann (born 1981), slalom canoeist * Christin Zenner (born 1991), swimmer *

Kassem Taher Saleh Kassem Taher Saleh (born 1 June 1993) is a German civil engineer and politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since the 2021 German federal election, representing the Dresden I district. Early ...

(born 1993), politician (Alliance 90/The Greens)

Honorary citizens

Martin Mutschmann Martin Mutschmann (9 March 1879 – 14 February 1947) was the Nazi Regional Leader (''Gauleiter'') of the state of Saxony ('' Gau Saxony'') during the time of the Third Reich. Early years Born in Hirschberg on the Saale in the Principality ...

, 1933 (revoked 1945)

Gallery

Plauen Innenstadt Bahnhofstrasse.jpg, Plauen downtown PL-Markt-1.jpg, Old market square Plauen Altes Rathaus.jpg, Old city hall Markuskirche.jpg, Church of St. Mark Das Vogtlandtheater .jpg, Vogtlandtheater Plauen Gedenktafel 7.Oktober.jpg, Commemorative plaque in Plauen for the mass demonstration of 1989

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Vogtlandkreis Populated places established in the 12th century