Hohenstein-Ernstthal () is a town in the

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ...

rural district,

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 ...

. The towns of Hohenstein and Ernstthal were united in 1898, and the town is either known by its hyphenated form, or simply called Hohenstein. The town grew in the 15th century after

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

mines were established nearby. Ernstthal was named in honor of August Ernst von Schoenburg. Physicist

Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert (26 April 1780, in Hohenstein-Ernstthal – 30 June 1860, in Laufzorn, a village in Oberhaching) was a German physician and naturalist. Biography He began his studies with theology, but turned to medicine and esta ...

and inventor

Christoph Gottlieb Schröter Christoph Gottlieb Schröter (10 August 169920 May 1782), was a German composer and organist, who is best known for his contributions to the tangent piano, which in 1717 he invented a keyboard instrument whose strings were not plucked, but stru ...

were born in Hohenstein. The writer

Karl May Karl Friedrich May ( , ; 25 February 1842 – 30 March 1912) was a German author. He is best known for his 19th century novels of fictitious travels and adventures, set in the American Old West with Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as main pro ...

was born in Ernstthal. The house of his birth is a museum. Furthermore, Hohenstein-Ernstthal is especially famous for the

Sachsenring The Sachsenring () is a motorsport racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champ ...

racing circuit.

History

In the 15th century, the town of Hohenstein was established after

was found and mined there. The name is said to be derived from the phrase ″uff dem hohen Stein″ (on the high rock), that the first settlers used when they saw the Pfaffenberg mountain. In 1680 some people from Hohenstein moved to the forest near the town to escape the dangers of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

. That settlement was later named Ernstthal (Ernst valley) after August Ernst von Schönburg. Both town united in 1898, thus becoming Hohenstein-Ernstthal. During 19th and 20th century silver mining became less efficient, so the textile industry became more important. In 1999, Wüstenbrand became a part of Hohenstein-Ernstthal.Gebietsänderungen vom 01.01. bis 31.12.1999

Statistisches Bundesamt The Federal Statistical Office (german: Statistisches Bundesamt, shortened ''Destatis'') is a federal authority of Germany. It reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The Office is responsible for collecting, processing, presenting and ...

Geography

Hohenstein-Ernsthal is located about west 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 ...

. The Ore Mountains rise south of the city. The highest point of Hohenstein-Ernstthal is the Pfaffenberg north of the town with an elevation of .

Lord Mayor

*1994-2012 Erich Homilius * since 2012 Lars Kluge (CDU), he was elected in September 2012 with 91.9% of the votes, and re-elected in 2019.

Transport

Hohenstein-Ernstthal is adjacent to the

Bundesautobahn 4 is an autobahn that crosses Germany in a west–east direction. The western segment has a length of , the part in the east is long. Works to continue the A 4 are in progress, but currently no plans exist to fill the gap completely. T ...

. There are 2 railway stations, the

Hohenstein-Ernstthal station Hohenstein-Ernstthal station is the railway station of Hohenstein-Ernstthal in the south west of the German State of Saxony. The station is classified as a category 5 station by DB Station&Service and has two platform tracks. It is served daily b ...

and

Wüstenbrand station Wüstenbrand station is a station on the Dresden–Werdau railway in the south west of the German State of Saxony. In the past, it was a terminus for the secondary lines to Limbach-Oberfrohna and Neuoelsnitz. Currently, it serves as a through ...

, both on the

Dresden–Werdau railway The Dresden–Werdau railway is an electrified, double-track main line in the German state of Saxony. It runs from Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German s ...

Notable people

(1780–1860), natural scientist *

(1842–1912), author *

Hans-Uwe Pilz Hans-Uwe Pilz (born 10 November 1958) is a German former footballer. He began his career with BSG Sachsenring Zwickau before joining Dynamo Dresden during the winter break of the 1981–82 season. He remained at Dynamo until German reunifica ...

(born 1958), football player and trainer * Heinz Tetzner (1920-2007), painter and printmaker *

(1699-1782) composer and organist

References

External links

* {{Authority control Zwickau (district)