Zschopau (), is a town in the

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 ...

district 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 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 ...

Geography

The town is located on the northwestern slopes of the Ore Mountains, on both

banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

of the

Zschopau River The Zschopau (, cs, Sapava or Šopava ) is a 130-kilometre-long river in Saxony, Germany, and a left tributary of the Freiberger Mulde. The origin of the name is not precisely documented, possibly Slavic ''skapp''; ''rock'', ''cliff'' or sorb ...

, about south-east from

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 ...

. The highest point is Mt. Pilzhübel with an elevation of . The municipal area comprises the village of

Krumhermersdorf Krumhermersdorf is a village in the large county borough of Zschopau in the district Erzgebirgskreis in eastern Germany. It was first mentioned in the records in 1369. Sources * * ''Die Parochie Krumhermersdorf.'' in: ''Neue Sächsische Kirch ...

, incorporated in 1999. Since

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, Zschopau has lost about one fourth of its population. Zschopau is famous for its

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

industry, particularly the

DKW DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...

and

MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk GmbH Motorenwerke Zschopau GmbH (formerly MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk GmbH) is a German motorcycle manufacturer located in Zschopau, Saxony. The acronym MZ since 1956 stands for ''Motorenwerke Zschopau'' GmbH (German for Zschopau engine factory). F ...

brands, and the toy business

VEB Plasticart VEB Plasticart was a model and toy manufacturer established in 1958 in Zschopau, East Germany. VEB Plasticart produced around 40 different kits and a few games (e.g. the mancala game "Badari") made of plastic. Most kits were static models and ...

. Zschopau has a handsome parish church dedicated to St Martin, a town hall and a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

(Schloss Wildeck), whose construction started in the twelfth century.

Historical population

Notable people

* Heinz Auerswald (1891-1974), painter not to be confused with

Heinz Auerswald Heinz Auerswald (26 July 1908 – 5 December 1970) was a German lawyer and member of the SS in Nazi Germany, which he joined in 1933. In 1937 he became member of the NSDAP. Early years Heinz Auerswald was born on 26 July 1908 in Berlin He spent ...

German lawyer, Nazi party, 1908 - 1970 *

Marcus Burghardt Marcus Burghardt (born 30 June 1983) is a former German professional road bicycle racer, who has retired from professional racing as a result of a severe wrist injury suffered at the Tour of Poland in 2021, where he crashed at a roundabout clos ...

(born 1983), bicycle racer *

Ulf Findeisen Ulf Findeisen (born 2 March 1962) is an East German former ski jumper. Career He won a silver medal in the team large hill at the 1984 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Engelberg , neighboring_municipalities = Attinghausen (UR), Gadmen ...

(born 1962), ski jumper *

David Füleki David Füleki (born 24 August 1985 in Zschopau, East Germany) is a German comic artist. His comics were and are published by the publishing houses Carlsen Verlag, Tokyopop, New Ground Publishings, Delfinium Prints, the manga anthology ''Shounen ...

(born 1985), comic artist and non-fiction author *

Rebekka Haase Rebekka Haase (born 2 January 1993) is a German athlete specialising in the sprinting events. She won three gold medals at the 2015 European U23 Championships, a gold medal at the 2017 IAAF World Relays, and has been the European Champion with ...

(born 1993), athlete (sprinter) *

Axel Jungk Axel Jungk (born 13 April 1991) Is a German skeleton racer who represents his nation in the Skeleton World Cup. Jungk finished in third place in the standings in the 2014-15 Skeleton World Cup season. During the 2015-16 Skeleton World Cup Seas ...

(born 1991), skeleton racer *

Walter Kaaden Walter Kaaden (1 September 1919 – 3 March 1996) was a German engineer who improved the performance of two-stroke engines by understanding the role of resonance waves in the exhaust system. Working for the MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk part of ...

(1919–1996), engineer *

Karl Kröner Fotothek J 1065 14

Karl Kröner (7 April 1887 – 3 October 1972) ...

(1887–1972), painter Fotothek J 1065 14

Claudia Nystad Claudia Nystad ( Künzel, born 1 February 1978) is a German top-level woman cross-country skier. She was born in Zschopau, East Germany, and represents the sports club WSC Erzgebirge Oberwiesenthal. Besides her civilian sports career, she serv ...

(born 1978), cross country skier *

Karl Schmidt-Hellerau Karl Camillo Schmidt-Hellerau (1 February 1873 – 6 November 1948) was a German carpenter, furniture manufacturer and social reformer. He was born in Zschopau, and is notable as the founder of Hellerau Hellerau is a northern quarter ''(Stad ...

(1873–1948), furniture manufacturer and social reformer *

Stefan Semmler Stefan Semmler (born 5 May 1952) is a retired East German rower. Competing in coxless four A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, withou ...

(born 1952), rower *

Frank Uhlig Frank Uhlig (born 8 December 1955) is a German former footballer. Club career He spent his entire senior career with FC Karl-Marx-Stadt in the DDR-Oberliga. The defender played more than 230 East German top-flight matches. International c ...

(born 1955), footballer *

Roland Wieser Roland Wieser (born 6 May 1956, in Zschopau) is an East German racewalker who won the bronze medal in the 20 kilometer walk during the 1980 Summer Olympics with a time of 1:25:59 hours. During his active career he measured 1.86 meters in height and ...

(born 1956), racewalker

Personalities who have worked on the ground

* Carl Hahn (1894-1961), German-Austrian automobile builder and entrepreneur, father of VW manager

Carl Hahn Carl Horst Hahn (born 1 July 1926) is a German businessman and former head of the Volkswagen Group from 1982 to 1993. He served as the chairman of the board of management of the parent company, Volkswagen AG (formerly Volkswagenwerk AG). During ...

(1919-1996), engineer *

Christian Liebe Christian Siegmund Liebe (5 November 1654 – 3 September 1708) was a German composer. Liebe was born in Freiberg, Saxony. He studied in Leipzig, then was a private teacher in Dresden and from 1684 Rektor and organist in Frauenstein, then from 1 ...

(1654-1708), composer *

Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen (30 July 1878 – 12 August 1964) was a Danish engineer and industrialist. Life The son of a shipmaster who died when Rasmussen was still a young child, he attended middle school in Nakskov and in 1894 began an appre ...

(1878-1964), Danish engineer and industrialist * Hermann Weber (1896-1948), Constructor *

Valentin Weigel Valentin Weigel (or ''Weichel''; 7 August 1533, in Hayn10 June 1588, in Zschopau) was a German theologian, philosopher and mystical writer, from Saxony, and an important precursor of later theosophy. In English he is often called Valentine Weigel ...

(1533-1588), mystical theosophical writer, priest and natural philosopher *

Clara Zetkin Clara Zetkin (; ; ''née'' Eißner ; 5 July 1857 – 20 June 1933) was a German Marxist theorist, communist activist, and advocate for women's rights. Until 1917, she was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany. She then joined the ...

(1857-1933), socialist politician and women's rights activist

Pictures

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* http://www.zschopau.de/ Official city homepage * Erzgebirgskreis {{Ore-mountains-stub