Zschorlau () is a community in the district of
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 ...
.
Geography
Location
Zschorlau lies nestled in the gentle hills in the western
Ore Mountains some 5 km from
Aue and is overhung in the south by the ''Steinberg''. The community, as is so with many former forest homestead villages (''Waldhufendörfer'') in the Ore Mountains, grew up on a stream, in this case the Zschorlaubach, which rises southwest of the community on a broad
moory plateau known in the local speech as ''Dr Forst'' or ''Hoher Forst'' (“The Forest” or “High Forest”). Before the stream reaches the community, its waters feed the Filzteich (pond), a popular
recreation area. At the end of the community’s area at the Gößnitzgrund comes a glen through which the Zschorlauer Talstraße (Zschorlau Valley Road) was built in 1907. Also in this glen is found the ''St. Anna am Freudenstein''
visitor mine.
Geology
The community lies on the southeast flank of the ''Schneeberger Lagerstätte'' (deposit), which reaches to the edge of the community. This is made clear by the
headframe of the Türkschacht (mine) standing on a bank only a few metres behind the houses between Zschorlau and Neustädtel.
One thing that sets the St. Anna am Freudenstein visitor mine area apart is that it belongs geologically to the ''Schneeberger Lagerstätte'', but is also considered an outlying part of that deposit.
Furthermore, the
wolframite
Wolframite is an iron, manganese, and tungstate mineral with a chemical formula of that is the intermediate between ferberite ( rich) and hübnerite ( rich). Along with scheelite, the wolframite series are the most important tungsten ore mineral ...
deposits discovered and mined in the municipal area are interesting.
Constituent communities
The centres of Albernau (with Schindlerswerk) and Burkhardtsgrün are parts of Zschorlau, which together with neighbouring
Bockau forms an administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'').
History
From 1952 to 1990, Zschorlau 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 Chemni ...
of
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 ...
.
Politics
Municipal council
Zschorlau’s council consists of 16 seats, 15 of which are held by the
CDU and the other by the ''Albernauer Alternative''.
Partnerships
There is a partnership with the community of
Dietenhofen
Dietenhofen is a municipality in the district of Ansbach in Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
This small village is located in the Franconian Heights about 28 km west of Nuremberg, 14 km north east of Ansbach and 38 km east of Rothenbu ...
in the district of
Ansbach
Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, ...
.
Culture and sightseeing
The ''St. Anna am Freudenstein'' visitor mine is found at the lower end of the community on the connecting road to
Aue, where the traditional ''Mettenschicht'' (literally “matins shift”) is still held at
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
today, and it is public. It is a special event held on the last mining shift before Christmas, and it involves music, food and drink.
A special high point in the community’s cultural life is the ''Sommergastspiel'' (“Summer Guest Performance”) by the Dombrowsky Puppet Theatre. With cheerful plays for young and old, great numbers of visitors are lured to the
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...
cave
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
to Germany’s first underground puppet theatre.
Education
Zschorlau has at its disposal the ''Mittelschule Zschorlau'' (
middle school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
) and the ''Grundschule Zschorlau'' (
elementary
Elementary may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001
* ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007
* ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977
Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...
school).
References
External links
''Schaubergwerk St. Anna am Freudenstein''
{{Authority control
Erzgebirgskreis