The Zittau Mountains (german: Zittauer Gebirge, cs, Žitavské hory), formerly also called the Lusatian Ridge (''Lausitzer Kamm''), refer to the German part of the
Lusatian Mountains
The Lusatian Mountains ( cs, Lužické hory; german: Lausitzer Gebirge; pl, Góry Łużyckie) are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic. They are a continuation of the Ore Mountains ...
that straddle the Saxon- Bohemian border in the extreme southeast of the German 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 of ...
.
Geography
Location
The Zittau Mountains lie in the extreme south of the district of Görlitz in Saxony. A few kilometres north of the range lie a number of settlements; from west to east they are Großschönau, Hainewalde, Olbersdorf, Bertsdorf-Hörnitz and
Zittau
Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic "'' rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto'')) is the southeasternmost city in the Ge ...
. In the mountains themselves are, again from west to east, the settlements of Waltersdorf,
Oybin
Oybin ( hsb, Ojbin) is a municipality in the Görlitz district, in Saxony, Germany, located very close to the border of the Czech Republic. Following the defeat of the Protestant armies by the Habsburgs in the Battle of the White Mountain in 162 ...
,
Jonsdorf
The community of Jonsdorf is located in the south of the Kreis Görlitz in the southeast of the German federal state of Saxony. It is embedded into a valley of the Zittau Mountains, part of the Lusatian Mountains.
History
In 1539 Jonsdorf was fir ...
and Lückendorf . The highlands are drained by streams that flow roughly north into the
Mandau
The Mandau ( cs, Mandava) is a river in Bohemia (Czech Republic) and Saxony (Germany). It is a left tributary of the Lusatian Neisse, which it joins near Zittau.
It originates from multiple springs north of the 580.6m (1902 feet AMSL) Wolf Mou ...
, a western tributary of the
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.NN:Map services of the
BfN
The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (german: Bundesamt für Naturschutz, ''BfN'') is the German government's scientific authority with responsibility for national and international nature conservation. BfN is one of the government' ...
* Lausche (''Luž''; 792.6 m), German-Czech border mountain, south of Waltersdorf
* Hochwald (''Hvozd''; 749.5 m), German-Czech border mountain, south-southwest of Oybin
* Jonsberg (652.9 m), east-southeast of Jonsdorf
* Buchberg (651.6 m), west of Jonsdorf
* Scharfenstein (569.4 m), east of Oybin, north-northwest of Lückendorf
* Breiteberg (510.1 m), east of Großschönau, south of Hainewalde
*
Oybin
Oybin ( hsb, Ojbin) is a municipality in the Görlitz district, in Saxony, Germany, located very close to the border of the Czech Republic. Following the defeat of the Protestant armies by the Habsburgs in the Battle of the White Mountain in 162 ...
(514.5 m), north of Oybin
*
Töpfer Töpfer, also spelled as Toepfer, is a German surname meaning potter.
People
* Alfred Toepfer (1894–1993), German entrepreneur, founder of Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S.
* Ernst Toepfer (1877–1955), German painter
* Johann Gottlob Töpfer ...
(582.0 m), northeast of Oybin, south of Olbersdorf
Places of interest
*
Oybin
Oybin ( hsb, Ojbin) is a municipality in the Görlitz district, in Saxony, Germany, located very close to the border of the Czech Republic. Following the defeat of the Protestant armies by the Habsburgs in the Battle of the White Mountain in 162 ...
mountain with castle and monastery ruins
* ''
Mühlsteinbrüche
The Mühlsteinbrüche ("Millstone Quarries") south of Jonsdorf in the Zittau Mountains in Saxony are a region of bizarre rock formations, which have been formed by the quarrying of sandstone for millstones and also by weathering processes. They a ...
'', rock formations in
Jonsdorf
The community of Jonsdorf is located in the south of the Kreis Görlitz in the southeast of the German federal state of Saxony. It is embedded into a valley of the Zittau Mountains, part of the Lusatian Mountains.
History
In 1539 Jonsdorf was fir ...
* ''Große Felsengasse'' ("Great Rock Alley")
*
Töpfer Töpfer, also spelled as Toepfer, is a German surname meaning potter.
People
* Alfred Toepfer (1894–1993), German entrepreneur, founder of Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S.
* Ernst Toepfer (1877–1955), German painter
* Johann Gottlob Töpfer ...
mountain
* Lausche (792.6m), the highest summit in the Zittau Mountains
* Breiteberg
* Scharfenstein
* ''Orgel'' (organ) - a rock formation in the Jonsdorfer Felsenstadt
* ''
Kelchstein
The Kelchstein ("Chalice Rock") is a mushroom rock in the Zittau Mountains near Oybin in the German state of Saxony.
Geology
The Kelchstein consists of a Cretaceous sandstone with very little cementing material. Its unusual mushroom shape has b ...
'' ("Chalice Rock") a
mushroom rock
A mushroom rock, also called rock pedestal, or a pedestal rock, is a naturally occurring rock whose shape, as its name implies, resembles a mushroom. The rocks are deformed in a number of different ways: by erosion and weathering, glacial action ...
formation
* ''Nonnenfelsen'' ("Nun's Rock") near Jonsdorf
* Zittau Narrow Gauge Railway
* Lusatian timber-frame farmhouses (''Umgebindehäuser''), especially in Waltersdorf,
Jonsdorf
The community of Jonsdorf is located in the south of the Kreis Görlitz in the southeast of the German federal state of Saxony. It is embedded into a valley of the Zittau Mountains, part of the Lusatian Mountains.
History
In 1539 Jonsdorf was fir ...
List of regions of Saxony
A classification of the various regions of Saxony cannot be achieved in any uniform or standard way, as the commonly used names usually represent a mixture of historical regions and geographical features. Many well-known names of regions, such as ...
References
General sources
*
BfN
The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (german: Bundesamt für Naturschutz, ''BfN'') is the German government's scientific authority with responsibility for national and international nature conservation. BfN is one of the government' ...