The Eastern Ore Mountains () form a

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

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 ...

that covers the eastern part (in area almost the eastern half) of the Saxon

Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...

range. Together with the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Central Ore Mountains, it is part of the larger Saxon Highlands and Uplands region. Its southern continuation beyond the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

border covers an area of roughly the same extent in 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 ...

Geography

The region is bounded in the west by the valley of the Flöha river, itself part of the Central Ore Mountains region. In the northeast it borders on Saxon Switzerland, the German (northern) side of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, at Bad Gottleuba. The boundary with the

Ore Mountain Foreland The Saxon Uplands, Saxon HillsElkins, T H (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . or Ore Mountain Foreland () is a strip of countryside of about 200 m to high, in the German state of Saxony. It lies immediately north of the ...

to the north is rather unclear, roughly running from the town of Flöha along the Tharandt Forest to

Tharandt Tharandt () is a municipality in Saxony, Germany, situated on the Weißeritz, southwest of Dresden. It has a Protestant Church and the oldest academy of forestry in Germany, founded as the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry by Heinrich Cotta in 181 ...

. In the south, the crest of the mountain range closely follows the state border with the Czech Republic.Map of the natural regions in Saxony
at www.umwelt.sachsen.de (pdf, 859 kB) The highest point in the German (Saxon) region is the high Kahleberg. The highest peak on the Czech side is the Loučná (''Wieselstein'', at ). The upper regions of the Eastern Ore Mountains in the district of

Mittelsachsen Mittelsachsen (, ) is a district ('' Kreis'') in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. History The district was established by merging the former districts of Döbeln, Freiberg and Mittweida as part of the district reform of August 2008. Geog ...

are part of the

Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park The Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park () extends across the upper slopes of the Vogtland and Ore Mountains in southeastern Germany along its international border with Czech Republic. It is the longest nature park in Germany with a total length ...

. The region includes the prominent

Geisingberg The Geisingberg is a striking basalt mountain in the eastern Ore Mountains in the German federal state of Saxony. Location and surrounding area The Geisingberg lies in the upper Eastern Ore Mountains between the mining town of Altenberg and t ...

peak as well as the Georgenfelder Hochmoor protected area.

Settlements

Rivers and lakes

Nature reserves

The upper areas of the Eastern Ore Mountains are part of the

and include the following nature reserves: *

Black Grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large Aves, bird in the grouse family. It is a Bird migration, sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in m ...

reserve of Fürstenau * Fürstenau Heath nature reserve * Protected mountain meadows in the Eastern Ore Mountains - a major conservation area with its own unique linear cairns *

nature reserve * Georgenfelder Hochmoor

Culture and sights

The Eastern Ore Mountains are also called the Crabapple Mountains due to the large numbers of wild apple and

crabapple ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 32–57 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples (sometimes known in North America as crabapples) and wild apples. The genus i ...

trees.http://www.holzäppel.de
/ref> * Kohlhaukuppe * The " Cross-border Mining Trail" project from Krupka via Geising, Altenberg and Zinnwald to Cinovec-Dubi. File:Osterz.Georgenfelder.Hochmoor.1.JPG, The Georgenfeld Raised Bog - a board walk File:Osterz.Schwartenbergbaude.JPG, Hut on the Schwartenberg (789 m)

References

General sources

* Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) *
Map services
** Landscape fact files: **

**

**

(in the north of the Eastern Ore Mountains)

Literature

* Peter Rölke (Hrsg.): ''Wander- & Naturführer Osterzgebirge'', Berg- & Naturverlag Rölke, Dresden 2007, * Grüne Liga Osterzgebirge: ''Naturführer Ost-Erzgebirge. Band 1: Tiere und Pflanzen des Ost-Erzgebirges.'' Sandstein Verlag, Dresden 2007, (enthält über 750 Artenbeschreibungen
Digitalisat
(pdf-Dateien der einzelnen Kapitel) * Grüne Liga Osterzgebirge: ''Naturführer Ost-Erzgebirge. Band 2: Natur des Ost-Erzgebirges im Überblick.'' Sandstein Verlag, Dresden 2007, (umfangreiche Darstellung zu Klima, Geologie, Kulturlandschaftsentwicklung
Digitalisat
(pdf-Dateien der einzelnen Kapitel) * Grüne Liga Osterzgebirge: ''Naturführer Ost-Erzgebirge. Band 3: Naturkundliche Wanderziele.'' Sandstein Verlag, Dresden 2007, (detaillierte Darstellung von 26 Teilgebieten des Naturraumes
Digitalisat
(pdf-Datei, 14.7 MB) * Erhard Unger: ''Die Klimaverhältnisse des östlichen Erzgebirges.'' in: Sächsische Heimatblätter, Heft 6/1975, S. 287-290

External links

* http://www.osterzgebirge.net
Nature guide for the Eastern Ore Mountains
{{coord, 50.8, 13.5, type:mountain_region:DE_dim:100km, display=title Central Uplands Geography of the Ore Mountains Natural regions of Saxony Mountain ranges of Saxony