Tharandt () is a municipality in

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 ...

, situated on the

Weißeritz The Weißeritz (; also: ''Vereinigte Weißeritz'' in German i.e. United Weißeritz, ''Bystrica'' in Sorbian) is a river of Saxony, Germany. It is long and a left tributary of the Elbe. The river is formed by the confluence of the Wild Weißer ...

, southwest of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. It has a

Protestant Church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...

and the oldest academy of

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

in Germany, founded as the

Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry The Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry (German: ''Königliche-Sächsische Forstakademie'') in Tharandt, Saxony, near Dresden, was founded by silviculturist Heinrich Cotta in 1811. Established in conjunction with the school, and later integrated wit ...

Heinrich Cotta Johann Heinrich Cotta (30 October 1763 – 25 October 1844) was a German silviculturist who was a native of Kleine Zillbach, near Wasungen, Thuringia. He was founder of the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry, in Tharandt, and is known as a pioneer ...

in 1811, together with its arboretum, the

Forstbotanischer Garten Tharandt The Forstbotanischer Garten Tharandt (; 33.4 hectares), also known as the Sächsisches Landesarboretum (‘Saxony State Arboretum’), is an arboretum maintained by the Dresden University of Technology. It is among the oldest arboreta in the worl ...

. In 2002, a severe flood destroyed many of the academy buildings and the library, including some of its more-than-500-year old books. The academy was rebuilt and today has about 650 students and is famous for its long traditions of educating students from all over the world in (tropical) forestry, resource management and sustainable land use. In the early 20th century, Tharandt was a favorite summer

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

of the people of Dresden, one of its principal charms being the magnificent

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

woods which surround it.

Personalities connected to the town

(1763–1844), a forestry scholar, lived in Tharandt since 1811, where he was director of the Royal Saxon Forestry Academy. *

Sidonie of Poděbrady Sidonie of Poděbrady (; 11 November 1449 – 1 February 1510) was a duchess consort of Saxony, as the wife of Albert III. She was a daughter of George of Poděbrady, King of Bohemia, and his first wife Kunigunde of Sternberg. She was th ...

(died 1510 in Tharandt), Duchess of Saxony, wife of the Duke Albrecht the Boldheart *

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 ...

(1749–1832), poet, theater director, naturalist, art theorist, and statesman; he visited Heinrich Cotta several times from 1811 *

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

(1759–1805) was in the town in 1787 *

Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink (1 December 186421 April 1934) was a Norwegian polar explorer and a pioneer of Antarctic travel. He inspired Sir Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and others associated with the Heroic Age ...

(1864 – 1934), Anglo-Norwegian polar explorer and a pioneer of modern Antarctic travel, attended the Royal Saxon Forestry Academy (1885–88)

Transportation

The

Dresden–Werdau railway The Dresden–Werdau railway is an electrified, double-track main line in the German state of Saxony. It runs from Dresden Hauptbahnhof, Dresden via Freiberg (Sachs) station, Freiberg, Chemnitz Hauptbahnhof, Chemnitz and Zwickau Hauptbahnhof, Z ...

passes through the town. The

Tharandt station Tharandt station is a station on the Dresden–Werdau railway in the town of Tharandt in the German state of Saxony. Until the electrification of the line in 1966, Tharandt was an important stopover for the attachment of bank engines for operation ...

sees regular service on the S3 Line of the

Dresden S-Bahn The Dresden S-Bahn is a network of S-Bahn-type commuter train services in Dresden and the surrounding area. It is commissioned by Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (VVO) from DB Regio ''Verkehrsbetrieb Südostsachsen'' and currently consists of three serv ...

to both Dresden and

Freiberg (Sachs) station Freiberg (Sachs) station is a station on the Dresden–Werdau railway and the Nossen–Moldava railway in Freiberg in the German state of Saxony. Until 1995 it was also the start of the disused Freiberg–Halsbrücke railway. History Freiberg (S ...

as well as regional express services to various local and long distance destinations.

References

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