The Vogtlandkreis () is a ''Landkreis'' (

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the a ...

) in the southwest of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, 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 ...

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 betwee ...

, at the borders to

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. Neighboring districts are (from south clockwise) Hof, Saale-Orla,

Greiz Greiz () is a town in the state of Thuringia, Germany, and is the capital of the district of Greiz. Greiz is situated in eastern Thuringia, east of state capital Jena, on the river '' White Elster''. Greiz has a large park in its center (Fürs ...

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: ' ...

and

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 ...

Plauen Plauen (; Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in t ...

is the administrative center and largest city of the district. Other major cities ''( Große Kreisstädte)'' are

Reichenbach im Vogtland Reichenbach im Vogtland is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district of Saxony in eastern Germany. With a population of 20,108, it is the second-largest town in the Vogtlandkreis after Plauen. It is located close to the A72 between Plauen (at c. 18& ...

Auerbach Auerbach, German for "meadow-brook", may refer to the following: Places In Austria *Auerbach, Upper Austria, Braunau am Inn district In Germany Places: *Auerbach (Albtal), a village of Karlsbad, administrative area in Baden-Württemberg *Auerba ...

, and Oelsnitz im Vogtland.

History

The

Vogtland Vogtland (; cz, Fojtsko) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the forme ...

became part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

under king

Conrad III Conrad III (german: Konrad; it, Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III and from 1138 until his death in 1152 ...

in the 12th century. In 1209 the minister dynasty administrating the area was split into three areas, Weida, Greiz and Gera-Plauen. When centralized power over the area decreased, county leaders, local administrators, called in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''advocatus'' or in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

''Vögte'', were appointed, giving the area its current name. The Vogtland war (1354-1357) ended this administration and the area changed ownership to

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. In 1546

Henry IV, Burgrave of Plauen Henry IV of Plauen (1510, probably on 24 August, Hartenštejn Castle – 19 May 1554, Stadtsteinach, during the siege of the Plassenburg), was High Chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Burgrave of Meissen, Lord of Plauen, Gera, Greiz, Schleiz ...

got the area from the Bohemian king and later emperor Ferdinand I. His children inherited not only the land, but also crippling debts, so to pay these 1563 the area was bought by

from Henry VI, and when in 1569 Henry VI finally ceased to claim ownership the new leadership created the first Vogtland district (''Voigtländischen Creiß''). 1657-1718

was split into parts, the Vogtland belonged to

Saxe-Zeitz The Duchy of Saxe-Zeitz (german: Herzogtum Sachsen-Zeitz) was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1656–57 as a secundogeniture of the Electoral Saxon house of House of Wettin. Its capital was Zeitz. The territory fell back to ...

. In 1835 the new

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

changed the administration and abolished the old district, and instead the ''Amtshauptmannschaft'' Plauen was created, and in 1867 those of Auerbach and Oelsnitz. 1907 the city of

left the district and became district-free city. 1952 the

East German 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 ...

government with the big administrative reform renamed them to ''Kreise'' (districts), and created the new districts Klingenthal and Reichenbach by decreasing the size of the previous ones. After the

German Reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

the changes of the 1952 reform were mostly undone, and in 1996 the 5 districts were merged to form the Vogtlandkreis. In the district reform of August 1, 2008 the city of Plauen was included into the district.

Geography

The Vogtlandkreis is named after the geographic area it covers, the ''Vogtland'', which was so called because it was governed by Vogts. Located in the Erzgebirge it contains a lot of forests. The main river is the

White Elster The White Elster
Accessed on 16 Jan 2011. (, ) is a long river in central

Bezelberg (638 m) lies within the district. Göltzschtalbrücke 2012

People

The first German

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Sigmund Jähn Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn (; 13 February 1937 – 21 September 2019) was a German cosmonaut and pilot who in 1978 became the first German to fly into space as part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos programme. Early life Jähn was born on 13 Fe ...

was born in the Vogtland. His hometown, the small town of ''Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz'', in the municipality

Muldenhammer Muldenhammer is a municipality in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany. It was formed by the merger of the previously independent municipalities Hammerbrücke, Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz and Tannenbergsthal, on 1 October 2009.

, houses a small ''Space Exploration'' exhibition.

Coat of arms

The lion on the left side of the coat of arms is traditional symbol of the Vögte of Weida, Gera and Plauen, which was confirmed in 1294. The eagle on the right side stands for the

History

Geography

People

Coat of arms

Towns and municipalities

References

External links