Kemnath () is a small town in the district of Tirschenreuth, in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

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 ...

. It is situated near 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 ...

, 24 km southeast of

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

History

Kemnath was first referenced in historical documents on 6 July 1008 by the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

when he donated ''Keminata'' to the

Diocese of Bamberg The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bamberg (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Bambergensis'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Bavaria, one of 27 in Germany. In 2015, 32.9% of the population identified as Catholic, and 15.6% o ...

. In 2008, Kemnath celebrated its 1000th anniversary with a series of special events throughout the town culminating in a major celebration in August 2008.

Geography

The town is in the foothills of the

of northeast Bavaria and is approximately 55 km from the Czech border at

Mähring Mähring is a municipality in the district of Tirschenreuth in Bavaria, 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 ...

. It is located in a valley formed by three streams, the Mühlbach, Flötzbach, and Schirnitzbach. The Steinwald Nature Park abuts the edge of the town as well and stretches from Kemnath to the Czech border. The town's motto is "das Tor zur Oberpfalz," which translates into English as "The Door to the Upper Palatinate."

Economy

The two largest employers in Kemnath are the Ponnath Meat Processing plant and a

Siemens Healthineers Siemens Healthineers is a German multinational company with specializing in medical technology. It was spun off from its parent company Siemens in 2017, which retains a 75% stake. Siemens Healthineers is the parent company for several medical te ...

production facility.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Tirschenreuth (district)