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The Zwickauer Mulde () is a river in
The valleys in the catchment area of the Mulde were presumably used from the end of the last cold stage as access routes into the Ore Mountains that was covered in dense, ancient forests. This is evinced by the remains of artifacts left behind by 
Later, the western Ore Mountains became the territory of Germanic peoples, Germanic and Slavs, Slavic tribes. Paths, trade routes and military roads, linked the old settlement areas around Leipzig and Altenburg with Bohemia. The mule tracks, however, avoided the rivers in favour of the ridges. At unavoidable river crossings, (ford (crossing), fords, later ferries and bridges) and at intersections castles, villages and monasteries were established. Of the palaces and manor houses, Rochsburg Castle, Rochsburg, Rochlitz Castle, Rochlitz, , , Forderglauchau, Hinterglauchau and Osterstein Castle (Zwickau), Osterstein have survived. Of the castles, Wiesenburg Castle, Wiesenburg, Stein Castle (Saxony), Stein Castle and the Isenburg (Saxony), Isenburg remain. Fortifications constructed in the side valleys include , and Schwarzenberg Castle (Saxony), Schwarzenberg. With the discovery of the rich silver deposits in the late Middle Ages, settlements grew up around the source streams in the upper Ore Mountains and the mining towns emerged.
* in the side of the valley below Bad Schlema (Poppenwald)
* Stein Castle (Saxony), Stein Castle and
* ''Schloss Wolfsbrunn'' in Hartenstein
* Annual demonstration timber rafting on the Muldenberg rafting waterway system
* Above Zwickau, in , the Mulde cuts the ''Rußkohlenflöz'' (soot coal seam). This outcrop of a permanently exposed coal seam is unique in Saxony. It is also a rare example in Europe of an outcrop representing three geological time periods (the Silurian, the Devonian and the Upper Carboniferous). It is protected as a geotope and geological natural monument.Ordinance of the independent town of Zwickau to establish the geological natural monument (#5)''Steinkohlenausbiss (Rußkohlenflöz)'' on the banks of the Mulde by the Cainsdorf Bridge dated 27 January 2000 (iaw § 21 of the Saxon Nature Conservation Act (SächsNatSchG)
* Osterstein Castle (Zwickau), Osterstein Castle in Zwickau
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. It is the left tributary of the Mulde
The Mulde () is a river in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and is long.
The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz, of the Zwickauer Mulde (running through Zwickau) and the Freiberger Mulde (with ...
and in length.
The source of the river is in the Ore Mountains, near Schöneck, in the Vogtlandkreis
The Vogtlandkreis () is a ''Landkreis'' (rural district) in the southwest of Saxony, Germany, at the borders to Thuringia, Bavaria, and the Czech Republic. Neighboring districts are (from south clockwise) Hof, Saale-Orla, Greiz, Zwickau and Erzg ...
. It runs northeast to Aue
Aue may refer to:
* Aue (toponymy), a frequent element in German toponymy meaning "wetland; river island; river"
Places
* Aue, Saxony, a mining town in Saxony, Germany
* Aue (Samtgemeinde), a collective municipality in Uelzen District, Lower Sax ...
, then northwest to 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: ' ...
(hence the name), and further north through Glauchau
Glauchau (; hsb, Hłuchow) is a town in the German federal state of Saxony, on the right bank of the Mulde, 7 miles north of Zwickau and 17 miles west of Chemnitz by rail ( its train station is on the Dresden–Werdau line). It is part of the ...
, Rochlitz
Rochlitz (; hsb, Rochlica) is a major district town (Große Kreisstadt) in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Rochlitz is the head of the "municipal partnership Rochlitz" (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Rochlitz) with its other members ...
and Colditz
Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II.
Geography
Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of the c ...
. A few kilometers north of Colditz, the Zwickauer Mulde is joined by the Freiberger Mulde
The Freiberger Mulde ( cs, Freiberská Mulda, also called the ''Östliche Mulde'' or Eastern Mulde) is the right-hand, headstream of the river Mulde, whose catchment covers an area of in the Czech Republic and Germany in central Saxony. It has a ...
to form the united Mulde
The Mulde () is a river in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and is long.
The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz, of the Zwickauer Mulde (running through Zwickau) and the Freiberger Mulde (with ...
. The Mulde is a tributary of the Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
.
History
Cultural landscape development
The valleys in the catchment area of the Mulde were presumably used from the end of the last cold stage as access routes into the Ore Mountains that was covered in dense, ancient forests. This is evinced by the remains of artifacts left behind by Old Stone Age
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tool ...
hunters, as well as Bronze Age and Iron Age discoveries as far as the higher regions of the Ore Mountains.
Later, the western Ore Mountains became the territory of Germanic peoples, Germanic and Slavs, Slavic tribes. Paths, trade routes and military roads, linked the old settlement areas around Leipzig and Altenburg with Bohemia. The mule tracks, however, avoided the rivers in favour of the ridges. At unavoidable river crossings, (ford (crossing), fords, later ferries and bridges) and at intersections castles, villages and monasteries were established. Of the palaces and manor houses, Rochsburg Castle, Rochsburg, Rochlitz Castle, Rochlitz, , , Forderglauchau, Hinterglauchau and Osterstein Castle (Zwickau), Osterstein have survived. Of the castles, Wiesenburg Castle, Wiesenburg, Stein Castle (Saxony), Stein Castle and the Isenburg (Saxony), Isenburg remain. Fortifications constructed in the side valleys include , and Schwarzenberg Castle (Saxony), Schwarzenberg. With the discovery of the rich silver deposits in the late Middle Ages, settlements grew up around the source streams in the upper Ore Mountains and the mining towns emerged.
Sights and structures
* Eibenstock Dam
* in the side of the valley below Bad Schlema (Poppenwald)
* Stein Castle (Saxony), Stein Castle and
* ''Schloss Wolfsbrunn'' in Hartenstein
* Annual demonstration timber rafting on the Muldenberg rafting waterway system
* Above Zwickau, in , the Mulde cuts the ''Rußkohlenflöz'' (soot coal seam). This outcrop of a permanently exposed coal seam is unique in Saxony. It is also a rare example in Europe of an outcrop representing three geological time periods (the Silurian, the Devonian and the Upper Carboniferous). It is protected as a geotope and geological natural monument.Ordinance of the independent town of Zwickau to establish the geological natural monument (#5)''Steinkohlenausbiss (Rußkohlenflöz)'' on the banks of the Mulde by the Cainsdorf Bridge dated 27 January 2000 (iaw § 21 of the Saxon Nature Conservation Act (SächsNatSchG)
* Osterstein Castle (Zwickau), Osterstein Castle in Zwickau
See also
*List of rivers of SaxonyReferences
{{Authority control Zwickauer Mulde basin, Rivers of Saxony Rivers of the Ore Mountains Rivers of Germany