Adorf () is a small town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Vogtlandkreis The Vogtlandkreis () is a ''Landkreis'' (List of German rural districts, rural district) in the southwest of Saxony, Germany, at the borders of Thuringia, Bavaria, and the Czech Republic. Neighbouring districts are (from south clockwise) Hof (dist ...

to the south-west of the

Free State of Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Gettengrün, a village within the municipality, borders on the

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

Etymology

The name ''Adorf'' can be understood to mean "village on the water", the "''A''-" coming from an Old High German word for a stream or river (''aha''). ''Dorf'' is the Modern German word meaning village.

History

Adorf was founded around 1200. In 1293 it gained the status of a "town". The town walls were commenced in 1477. Industries developed because of its favorable position and transport links: crafts,

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

working with

mother-of-pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...

and musical instrument making. The Johanniskirche was constructed in 1498. The town was destroyed by fire in 1768. The Freiberger Tor, the last remaining town gate in

Vogtland Vogtland (; ) 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 Euroregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the former leadershi ...

, was rebuilt between 1768 and 1773 with a wooden framed upper storey. The current

Rathaus In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

was built in 1896- a period when many substantial houses were added to the streets round the market place.Topographische Karte, 1:25 000 Blatt 6, Elstergebirge, pub Landesvermessungsamt Sachsen, 1997. It also housed a convalescent home for the poor of the city of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Geography

Adorf is located in the

Elster Mountains The Elster Mountains (, ) is a small mountain range within the Fichtel Mountains in Germany and the Czech Republic. They lie in a region known as Vogtland, and take their name from the river Elster, or more precisely the White Elster which has its ...

, a low mountain range, part of the

Fichtel Mountains The Fichtel Mountains (, ; ) is a mountain range in Germany and the Czech Republic. They extend from the valley of the Red Main River in northeastern Bavaria to the Karlovy Vary Region in western Czech Republic. The Fichtel Mountains contain an ...

. The lowest point in the Adorf district being in Rebersreuth (415 m) and the highest point being the "Hoher Stein" ("high stone") near Gettengrün (632.9 m). This "Hoher Stein" is not the same as the Czech

Vysoký kámen Vysoký kámen () is a hill and a nature monument in the territory of Kraslice in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It lies in the Elster Mountains (part of the Fichtel Mountains), 1 km from the Czech-German border. The ridge of ...

5 km to the east, whose name is also "Hoher Stein" in German. The town of Adorf lies at the junction of the

White Elster The White Elster (, ) is a river in central Europe. It is a right tributary of the Saale. The source of the White Elster is in the westernmost part of the Czech Republic, in the territory of Hazlov. After a few kilometres, it flows into easte ...

and Schwarzbach. These rivers are in deep V-shaped heavily forested valleys. Many other brooks traverse Adorf: Tetterweinbach, Ameisenlohbach, Eisenbach and others. Alongside the Weise Elster runs the Bundesstrasse B92 and the Plauen–Cheb line, including

Adorf (Vogtl) station Adorf (Vogtl) station is the station of Adorf in the German state of Saxony. It is a railway junction with only local significance. Only the Plauen–Cheb railway is still operated by scheduled trains, the Chemnitz–Adorf railway, railway towards ...

, which is operated by Vogtlandbahn, that connects

Plauen Plauen (; ; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany with a population of around 65,000. It is Saxony's 5th most populated city after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest cit ...

with

Cheb Cheb (; ) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. Before the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, expulsion of Germans in 1945, the town was the centre of the G ...

in the Czech Republic, and ultimately

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. The Schwarzbach has its sources on the Vysoký kámen. Alongside it runs the Bundesstrasse B283 and a further railway line of the Vogtlandbahn, that link to

Markneukirchen Markneukirchen () is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany, close to the Czech Republic, Czech border. It lies in the Elster Mountains (part of the Fichtel Mountains), southeast of Plauen, and northeast of Aš (Czech Republic) ...

Klingenthal Klingenthal is a town in the Vogtland region, in Saxony, south-eastern Germany. Geography Klingenthal is situated directly on the border with the Czech Republic opposite the Czech town of Kraslice. Klingenthal is 29 km southeast of Plauen, ...

and then Zwota and

Zwickau Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

. The district includes the villages: Arnsgrün, Remtengrün, Hermsgrün, Rebersreuth, Leubetha, Freiberg, Jugelsburg and Sorge. Adorf is bordered by

Bad Elster Bad Elster () is a spa town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany. It lies on the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic in the Elster gebirge hills. It is situated on the river White Elster, and is protected from extremes of ...

, Eichigt,

Mühlental and the

Population

Places of interest

The "Freiberger Tor" is the only conserved town gate in the

, it houses a museum with the biggest exhibition of

in Germany. Adorf has the longest marketplace in Vogtlandkreis: 231 metres. There is a war memorial for the soldiers who were killed during World War One and a memorial tablet for three citizens who were killed during the German-French war 1870/71.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

spent the night between 3–4 July 1795 at the old staging inn. Near the town is "Miniaturschauanlage Klein-Vogtland", a tourist attraction with models of 50 buildings in the Vogtlandkreis built to a scale of 1:25. Its botanical garden, the Botanischer Garten Adorf, contains over 11,000 plants from high mountains around the world.

Sons and daughters of the town

Johann Caspar Kerll Johann Caspar Kerll (9 April 1627 – 13 February 1693) was a German Baroque composer and organist. He is also known as Kerl, Gherl, Giovanni Gasparo Cherll and Gaspard Kerle. Born in Adorf in the Electorate of Saxony as the son of an organist, ...

(1627-1693),

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

* Carl Gotthelf Todt (1803-1852), mayor from 1832 to 1849 * Johann Adam Heckel (1812-1877), instrument maker * E.o.plauen, (means: Erich Ohser from Plauen), Erich Ohser, (1903-1944), artist (''

Father and Son Father and Son or Fathers and Sons may refer to: Literature * ''Father and Son'' (Gosse book), a 1907 memoir by Edmund Gosse *Father and Son (comics), cartoon characters created by E. O. Plauen * ''Fathers and Sons'' (novel), an 1862 novel by Iv ...

''), born in Gettengrün

References

http://www.adorf-vogtland.de/stadt/fakten.htm {{Authority control Vogtlandkreis