The Schreckenberg is a mountain near
Frohnau in the county of
Erzgebirgskreis in the
central Ore Mountains of Germany. It is . It is located one kilometre northwest of the town of
Annaberg-Buchholz in the borough of Frohnau.
History
The mountain is primarily of historical importance, since it is where Annaberg's
silver ore mining began. On 28 October 1491, Caspar Nietzel came across a vein of silver ore not far from the
Frohnau Upper Mill. As a result, in 1496, on the opposite bank of the river
Sehma, the new town of Neustadt am Schreckenberg grew up, which soon received the name Sankt Annaberg ("Saint Anna's Mountain"). In 1498, Annaberg received the right to mint coins from the
Wettins. The Annaberg Mint was set up in or next to the upper mill and for a short time minted the coin known as the ''
Schreckenberger
The history of Saxon coinage or Meissen-Saxon coinage comprises three major periods: the high medieval regional pfennig period (bracteate period), the late medieval pfennig period and the thaler period, which ended with the introduction of the mar ...
'', a widespread means of payment in the
Holy Roman Empire. The saying ''You're a rich Annaberger, you've got a bag full of Schreckenbergers'' probably dates to this time. The minting of ''
Großgroschen
The history of Saxon coinage or Meissen-Saxon coinage comprises three major periods: the high medieval regional pfennig period (bracteate period), the late medieval pfennig period and the thaler period, which ended with the introduction of the mar ...
'' ("big groschen") was also carried out in the mints at
Freiberg,
Leipzig,
Dresden and Saalfeld. The last ''Schreckenbergers'' were minted in Dresden in 1571. In Annaberg, the ''Schreckenberger'' ''
Engelsgroschen
The history of Saxon coinage or Meissen-Saxon coinage comprises three major periods: the high medieval regional pfennig period (bracteate period), the late medieval pfennig period and the thaler period, which ended with the introduction of the mar ...
'' was only minted until 1547.
The intensive mining activity in the 15th and 16th centuries still characterizes the appearance of the mountain today. Its western flanks in particular are covered by numerous small
spoil heaps. More recent are traces of the
uranium mining that was carried out here briefly during the 1950s (''Krönung-Fundgrube/Malwine'').

Between 1854 and 1856 a
Romantic-style castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
ruin was built on the Schreckenberg, which still dominates the view of the mountain today. The castle tower with the remains of ruins indicated was financed from the private funds of wealthy Annaberg townsfolk and by the local company ''Eisenstuck & Co'' and was built by the unemployed workers and
journeymen. The Privy Councillor Carl Friedrich Reiche-Eisenstuck is considered the initiator. At a time of severe economic recession, the construction work served in particular as public relief work - in today's sense of a
job creation measure.
From the summit there is a good view of the mountain town of Annaberg.
References
External links
{{Coord, 50, 35, 11, N, 12, 59, 30, E, region:DE-SN_type:mountain_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
Mountains of Saxony
Annaberg-Buchholz