Zwönitz (;

Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as Wendish (), is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, today part of Saxony, Germany. It is a West Slavic language, along with Lower Sorbian, Czech, Poli ...

: ''Zwonica'') is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the district

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

, in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, Germany. It is situated south of

Stollberg Stollberg is a town in Saxony, Germany, in the district Erzgebirgskreis. It is situated 20 km east of Zwickau and 17 km southwest of Chemnitz. It was the site of the Hoheneck women's prison until 2001. References

Erzgebirgsk ...

, and southwest of

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

Parts of the town

Zwönitz consists of: Blick auf Zwoenitz

Population

* 1542 – 570 * 1697 – 741 * 1780 – 863 * 1800 – 1,242 * 1840 – 1,883 * 1890 – 2,931 * 1926 – 3,760 * 1933 – 3,852 * 1946 – 7,500 * 1950 – 10,617 * 1960 – 8,307 * 1965 – 9,690 * 1981 – 11,362 * 1990 – 13,105 * 1995 – 12,318 * 2000 – 12,175 * 2005 – 11,696 * 2010 – 11,193 * 2012 – 12,519

Local council

The elections in May 2014 showed the following results: * CDU: 16 Seats * The Left: 4 Seats * Unabhängige Wählervereinigung Zwönitz (UWZ): 3 Seats * Freie Wähler Gemeinschaft e. V. (FWG) (Free voters): 2 Seats * SPD: 1 Seat

Mayors

* Uwe Schneider (CDU), 1990–2008 * Wolfgang Triebert (CDU), since 2008

History

The town was founded by

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

. The monastery Grünhain owned the area since 1286. Zwönitz received its

town charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, the granting of a charter ...

around the turn of the 13th century. It was a customs and trading point with market rights since 1545. From 1952 to 1990, Zwönitz was part of the

Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt The Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt, also known as Bezirk Chemnitz, was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The district existed from 1952 until the Reunification of Germany in 1990. The administrative seat and the main town was Karl-Marx-Stadt, ren ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Zwönitz is twinned with: * Heiligenhaus, Germany *

Kopřivnice Kopřivnice (; ) is a town in Nový Jičín District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 21,000 inhabitants. It is an industrial town, known especially for the vehicle manufacturer Tatra. Administrative division K ...

, Czech Republic * Magyarpolány, Hungary *

Myszków Myszków is a town in Poland, with 31,650 inhabitants (2019). Situated on the Warta river in the Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Częstochowa Voivodeship (1975–1998), it is the capital of Myszków County. Myszków historicall ...

, Poland * Obermichelbach, Germany * Puschendorf, Germany

Notable people

Samuel von Pufendorf Samuel von Pufendorf (; ; 8 January 1632 – 26 October 1694) was a German people, German jurist, political philosopher, economist and historian. He was born Samuel Pufendorf and Nobility, ennobled in 1694; he was made a baron by Charles XI of ...

(1632–1694), natural law philosopher and historian (born in Dorfchemnitz) * Joachim Meischner (born 1946), biathlete *

Sepp Wiegand Sepp Wiegand (born January 9, 1991, in Zwönitz) is a German Rallying, rally driver. He competed in most events of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2012. Career results WRC results WRC Academy results † Ineligible to score points. ...

(born 1991), rally driver

Gallery

St.Trinitatis- Kirche in Zwönitz, Sachsen.IMG 1393WI.jpg, St. Trinitatis Church Kirche Hormersdorf 2.jpg, Church in Hormersdorf Fachwerkhaus. Zwönitz. Erzgebirge. Sachsen. IMG 9963WI.jpg, Half-timbered house (Hotel Roß)

References

Erzgebirgskreis {{Ore-mountains-stub