Zwönitz () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in the district

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 ...

, in

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 ...

. It is situated 9 km 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 Hoheneck Women's Prison (German: ''Frauengef� ...

, and 24 km southwest of

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 ...

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 Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

. 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 administrative seat and the main town was Karl-Marx-Stadt, renamed back to Chemnitz during the reunification of Germany. History The Chemn ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Zwönitz is twinned with: *

Heiligenhaus Heiligenhaus () is a town in the district of Mettmann, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the suburban Rhine-Ruhr area. It lies between Düsseldorf and Essen. Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Bochum, formerly Fachhochschu ...

, Germany *

Kopřivnice Kopřivnice (; german: Nesselsdorf) is a town 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 parts Villages of ...

, Czech Republic *

Magyarpolány Magyarpolány is a village in Veszprém county, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Ro ...

, 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 historically ...

, Poland *

Obermichelbach Obermichelbach is a municipality in the district of Fürth in Bavaria in 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, a ...

, Germany *

Puschendorf Puschendorf is a municipality in the district of Fürth in Bavaria in 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 t ...

, Germany

Notable people

* Samuel von Pufendorf (1632–1694), natural law philosopher and historian (born in Dorfchemnitz) *

Joachim Meischner Joachim Meischner (born 13 August 1946 in Zwönitz) is a retired East German biathlete. He represented the sports club SG Dynamo Zinnwald / Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo The Sportvereinigung Dynamo () (''Dynamo Sports Association'') wa ...

(born 1946), biathlete

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