The 140-kilometre-long road, the Silver Road (german: Silberstraße) is the first and longest

holiday route A scenic route, tourist road, tourist route, tourist drive, holiday route, theme route, or scenic byway is a specially designated road or waterway that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. It often passes by scenic viewpoint ...

in the German Free State of Saxony. Against the background of the importance of

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

in the history of Saxony, the road links those sights and tourist attractions of the Ore Mountains and its foreland that relate to the centuries-old mining and smelting industries of the region.

Background

Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

in the Ore Mountains has a history reaching back more than 800 years. At the outset this was dominated especially by

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

mining, its supplier industries and shareholders. Mines, smelters and mints emerged, which in turn gave rise to

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

s and customs, many of which survive to the present day. Several technological monuments, especially show mines and hammer mills, that characterise the highlands and the way of life in the Ore Mountain region, led to the development of the tourist route. The present day Silver Road recalls the historic ore transport routes - the Silver Wagon Way (''Silberwagenweg'') from

Annaberg-Buchholz Annaberg-Buchholz () is a town in Saxony, Germany. Lying in the Ore Mountains, it is the capital of the district of Erzgebirgskreis. Geography The town is located in the Ore Mountains, at the side of the ''Pöhlberg'' ( above sea level). Hi ...

via

Wolkenstein Wolkenstein is a town in the district Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Ore Mountains, on the river Zschopau, 22 km southeast of Chemnitz. The town is situated on a rocky spur near the confluence of Zschopau a ...

, Lengefeld and Brand-Erbisdorf to Freiberg and the old Silver Road (''Silberstraße'') from Scharfenberg to Freiberg. It symbolises the silver routes from the silver mines in the Ore Mountains to the ore preparation sites, and along the course of the historic Prince's Way through the Tharandt Forest to

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

to the '' Grünes Gewölbe'', the treasure house of the royal Wettin family.

Route

Beginning in

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: ...

the Silver Road runs through the

mining town A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historic mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendi ...

of Schneeberg, the towns of Aue,

Schwarzenberg Schwarzenberg may refer to: People * House of Schwarzenberg, Franconian and Bohemian aristocratic family which was first mentioned in 1172 ** Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (1771–1820), Field Marshal in Austrian service during the Napo ...

, the mining towns of Annaberg-Buchholz, Ehrenfriedersdorf, Wolkenstein, Marienberg, Lengefeld, Sayda and Brand-Erbisdorf to Freiberg and from thence continues to the Saxon state capital of Dresden. The route coincides roughly with that of the B 93, B 169, B 101, B 171 and B 173 federal roads as well as the S 194 state road. Southeast of Zwickau, it runs through the eponymous village of Silberstraße. Between Annaberg and Lengefeld and between the Brand-Erbisdorf and Freiberg, it also follows in places the course of the so-called Silver Wagon Way (''Silberwagenweg''), an old post and

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sin ...

. Likewise, between Freiberg and Naundorf, it follow the route of the historic Silver Road (''Silberstraße'') that ran from Scharfenberg on the

River Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, 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 ...

to Freiberg, and in the direction of Dresden it also follows the old Prince's Way (''Fürstenweg'') through the Tharandt Forest. From Zwickau to Dresden, the Silver Road is accompanied by the Silver Road Cycle Path.

Sights

The Silver Road opens up to the public the numerous physical relics of Saxony's mining past, including for example the

Reiche Zeche and Alte Elisabeth Educational and Research Mine ''Reiche'' is a family name of German origin: * Daniel Reiche, a German soccer player. * Dietlof Reiche, a German writer. * Elena Reiche, a German pentathlete. * Fritz Reiche, a German physics. * Gottfried Reiche, a German musician. * Karl Friedri ...

, the Dorfchemnitz Iron Hammer Mill and Frohnauer Hammer. Many

Late Gothic International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by t ...

hall churches (e.g. St Wolfgang's, St Anne's, St Mary's, Freiberg Cathedral), Saxon Renaissance buildings and a great number of local churches with works of art in terms of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

church organ Carol Williams performing at the West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or mo ...

building (

Gottfried Silbermann Gottfried Silbermann (January 14, 1683 – August 4, 1753) was a German builder of keyboard instruments. He built harpsichords, clavichords, organs, and fortepianos; his modern reputation rests mainly on the latter two. Life Very little is kn ...

) demonstrate the wealth of the former mining region. In the old royal capital of Saxony, Dresden, the proceeds of the silver mining contributed to a significant proportion of the investment in the Dresden State Art Collections and in architectural monuments. The Silver Road holiday route is a very good start to get to know the Ore Mountains. The road is signed with a silver "S" and, in places, is identical to the

German Avenue Road The German Avenue Road (german: link=no, Deutsche Alleenstraße) is a tree-lined holiday route that runs the length of Germany from Rügen on the Baltic Sea to Lake Constance on its border with Switzerland. About long, it is Germany's longest ...

. Many of the events along the Silver Road offer an insight into miners' parades, Christmas traditions and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, r ...

. In the fields of

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

s and

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

s, the region is particularly well known for its wood carving,

bobbin lace Bobbin lace is a lace textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage them. As the work progresses, the weaving is held in place with pins set in a lace pillow, the placement of the pins usually det ...

and

pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. Copper and antimony (and in antiquity lead) act as hardeners, but lead may be used in lower grades o ...

as well as the manufacture of the world-renowned Christmas pyramids,

nativity scene In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche ( or ), or in Italian ''presepio'' or ''presepe'', or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmas season, of art objects rep ...

nutcracker A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells. A decorative version portrays a person w ...

smoking figure Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

s and other Ore Mountain folk art.

Literature

* Harry Beyrich: ''Eine Touristenstraße durch das Silberne Erzgebirge.'' In: ''Sächsische Heimatblätter'', Heft 5/1991, pp. 316. * Harry Beyrich: ''Die Erzgebirgische Silberstraße.'' In: ''Mitteilungen des Landesvereins Sächsischer Heimatschutz'', Heft 1/1993, pp. 8–17. * Tourismusverband Erzgebirge: ''Erlebnis Bergbau entlang der Silberstraße.'' Annaberg-Buchholz, 2007. * Horst Ziethen: ''Entdeckungsreise durch das Erzgebirge. Eine idyllische Mittelgebirgsreise ins Weihnachtsland und entlang der Silberstraße.'' Ziethen-Panorama-Verlag, Bad Münstereifel, 2005, .

External links

Website of the Silver Road
{{Authority control German tourist routes Culture of Saxony Roads in Saxony Transport in the Ore Mountains Mining in the Ore Mountains Mittelsachsen Freiberg

Background

Route

Sights

See also

Literature

External links