Bärenstein is a ''Stadtteil'' (urban division) of the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

town of Altenberg.Hauptsatzung der Stadt Altenberg
§ 18, April 2022. With its castle, it is one of oldest settlements in the

Eastern Ore Mountains The Eastern Ore Mountains () form a natural region of Saxony that covers the eastern part (in area almost the eastern half) of the Saxon Ore Mountains range. Together with the Western and Central Ore Mountains, it is part of the larger Saxon Hi ...

. It has a population of 876 people in 2021.

Geography

Bärenstein is located about 40 km south of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in the Eastern Ore Mountains in the upper valley of the Müglitz river. The Müglitztalstraße S 178 connects Bärenstein to Lauenstein and Bärenhecke. The

Müglitz Valley Railway Müglitz may refer to: *''Müglitz'', the German name for Mohelnice, a town in the eastern Czech Republic *''Böhmisch Müglitz'', the German name for Mohelnice, a former village in the northwestern Czech Republic *Müglitz (Altenberg), a village i ...

(Altenberg–Heidenau) runs parallel to the town. The town covers an area of 1,197 hectares and is surrounded by the Sachsenhöhe (632 meters above sea level), Kesselhöhe (655 meters above sea level), and Börnchenerhöhe (582 meters above sea level). The neighboring villages of Bärenstein include

Falkenhain Falkenhain is a former municipality in the Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany. On 1 January 2012, it merged with Hohburg, forming the new municipality of Lossatal Lossatal is a municipality in the Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany, created ...

, Lauenstein, Hirschsprung, Bärenhecke, and Liebenau. Bärenstein is in close to the town of

Glashütte Glashütte [] is a town in Saxony, Germany, known as the birthplace of the German watchmaking industry and has a population of about 7,000. Historically, it was first mentioned in a document circa 1445. In January 2008, the former municipality Re ...

, known worldwide for its

watchmaking A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

industry.

History

Bärenstein was first mentioned in 1165, in connection with a knight Albrecht von Bernstein, who came from Switzerland and participated in a tournament in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. In 1324 the village Bernstein was mentioned for the first time (HStA, Orig. Urk. Nr. 2319). In 1348 Walzko (Walzig) of Bernstein received

Bernstein Castle Bernstein Castle () is a historical building in Bernstein im Burgenland, Austria, first mentioned in the 13th century. History In 860 the whole region was part of the archbishopric of Salzburg. Erimbert, a liege of the archbishopric, handed ove ...

from Margrave Frederick the Elder (the Lean) of

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

. Around 1400 there were the first

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

discoveries. In 1435 Peter von Bernstein defended the village against the invading Hussite armies. In 1436

tin mining Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use ca ...

began in the solid rock. In 1446, the lords of Bernstein sold the fourth part of their castle to the elector. This included the area of the present Altenberg, and later they also lent the tin mines. In 1449 a judge was mentioned in the tax register of the village. Walzig von Bernstein took over the rule of the village in 1453, and in 1462 also the electoral share. He became the owner of the castle Bärenstein with the villages Börnchen, Dittersdorf,

, the mountain

Geising Geising is a ''Stadtteil'' (municipal division) of Altenberg in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany.

, Johnsbach, Waltersdorf and his part of

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s. In 1458 Graupener miners started their mining work at the Müglitz, near Bärenstein. In 1734 the Electoral Saxon Post Milestone Column was erected. In 1738 there was a big fire in the town. On May 9, 1945, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

marched into Bärenstein, and in the same year, on October 10, the von

Lüttichau The House of Lüttichau is an old German nobility, German and Nobility of Denmark, Danish noble family that originated from Meissen, Saxony and belongs to the High nobility, High Nobility. The family has several separate noble branches, primarily ...

family had to leave the castle. Bärenstein became Resort town in 1964. In 1988 a small town bath was inaugurated next to the school. On December 8, 1991, the 1st Bärenstein Christmas market took place. In 1998, the city bought the site of the former sawmill in order to set up a commercial area on it. In 1999 the city bought the station building for 80,000 DM to later use it as a museum. In 2006 the new market fountain with historical column was inaugurated.

Incorporation

On June 28, 1956, the Bärenstein city councilors decided to regroup the districts at Lauenstein station and Hartmannmühle to Lauenstein and Geising, respectively. The town of Bärenstein applied to the district council for the return of the districts at Lauenstein and Hartmannmühle stations, which had been reclassified in 1956. On March 1, 1994, Bärenstein and Lauenstein were merged into the "Stadt Bärenstein" with the administrative headquarters in Lauenstein. Hartmut Kohl was elected mayor. On June 11, 1996, approval was given for the reorganization of the district of Lauenstein to Geising. This reclassification was completed on August 1, 1996.StBA: Änderungen bei den Gemeinden Deutschlands, siehe 1996
/ref> On June 15, 1999, the joint agreement on the administrative community Altenberg - Bärenstein - Hermsdorf was signed. Bärenstein has been a district of Altenberg since January 1, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barenstein (Altenberg) Altenberg, Saxony