Schöneck (also: Schöneck/Vogtl.) is a town in the

Vogtlandkreis The Vogtlandkreis () is a ''Landkreis'' (rural district) in the southwest of Saxony, Germany, at the borders to Thuringia, Bavaria, and the Czech Republic. Neighboring districts are (from south clockwise) Hof, Saale-Orla, Greiz, Zwickau and Erzg ...

district, in the Free State of Saxony,

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 southeast of

Plauen Plauen (; 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 largest city in the S ...

, and north of

Cheb Cheb (; german: Eger) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře. Before the 1945 expulsion of the German-speaking population, the town was the centre of the German-s ...

. Schöneck is known as the biggest ski resort in the eastern part of Germany. With more than 700 m (church) it is the highest-located town in the Vogtland district. It is in the 'music corner', a region so-called because of its history of production of musical instruments.

Town structure

The districts of Schöneck are Arnoldsgrün, Eschenbach, Gunzen, Korna, Kottenheide, Schilbach and Zwotental.

History

Schöneck became a town in 1370, but was first mentioned a century before this, when the castle ''castrum Schoennecke'' was mentioned as a mediaeval manor. After some devastating major fires (1632, 1680, 1761 and 1856), Schöneck took part in the industrialization of the 19th century. The town's main business became the cigar manufactory. In 1875, the railroad to Falkenstein and

Klingenthal Klingenthal is a town in the Vogtland region, in Saxony, south-eastern Germany. It is situated directly on the border with the Czech Republic opposite the Czech town of Kraslice, 29 km southeast of Plauen, and 33 km northwest of Karlov ...

was built. The population grew significantly until World War II, but later the population contracted again.

Historical population

Historical population growth and decline ''(from 1998, as of 31 December)'': Einwohnerentwicklung von Schöneck-Vogtland

: Data source since 1998: the state office of statistics of Saxony

Personalities

* Christian Gottlob Steinmüller (1792-1862), organ builder, born in Arnoldsgrün *

Kurt Demmler Kurt Demmler (12 September 1943 Posen – 3 February 2009 Berlin) was a German songwriter, who in the earlier part of his life was a dissident East German songwriter. Accused of alleged sexual abuse of underage girls during castings for a fem ...

(1943-2009), songwriter and lyricist, completed an internship in the hospital in 1962/63 *

Birgit Klaubert Birgit Klaubert (born 28 September 1954) is a German politician ( Die Linke) and former vice president of the Thuringian regional parliament (''"Landtag"''). From 2014 to 2017 Klaubert served as Thuringia's Minister for Education, Youth and Spo ...

(born 1954),

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

in ( The Left), former vice president of the Thuringian parliament, since 2014 Minister of Education, Youth and Sports in Thuringia

References

Vogtlandkreis {{Vogtlandkreis-geo-stub