Zschorlau () is a community in the district of

Erzgebirgskreis Erzgebirgskreis is a district ('' Kreis'') in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is named after the Ore Mountains (German: ''Erzgebirge''), a mountain range in the southern part of the district which forms part of the Germany–Czech Republi ...

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 ...

Geography

Location

Zschorlau lies nestled in the gentle hills in the western

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 ...

some 5 km from Aue and is overhung in the south by the ''Steinberg''. The community, as is so with many former forest homestead villages (''Waldhufendörfer'') in the Ore Mountains, grew up on a stream, in this case the Zschorlaubach, which rises southwest of the community on a broad moory plateau known in the local speech as ''Dr Forst'' or ''Hoher Forst'' (“The Forest” or “High Forest”). Before the stream reaches the community, its waters feed the Filzteich (pond), a popular

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...

area. At the end of the community’s area at the Gößnitzgrund comes a glen through which the Zschorlauer Talstraße (Zschorlau Valley Road) was built in 1907. Also in this glen is found the ''St. Anna am Freudenstein'' visitor mine.

Geology

The community lies on the southeast flank of the ''Schneeberger Lagerstätte'' (deposit), which reaches to the edge of the community. This is made clear by the

headframe A headframe (gallows frame, winding tower, hoist frame,Ernst, Dr.-Ing. Richard (1989). ''Wörterbuch der Industriellen Technik'' (5th ed.). Wiesbaden: Oscar Brandstetter, 1989. pit frame, shafthead frame, headgear, headstock, poppethead) is t ...

of the Türkschacht (mine) standing on a bank only a few metres behind the houses between Zschorlau and Neustädtel. One thing that sets the St. Anna am Freudenstein visitor mine area apart is that it belongs geologically to the ''Schneeberger Lagerstätte'', but is also considered an outlying part of that deposit. Furthermore, the

wolframite Wolframite is an iron, manganese, and tungstate mineral with a chemical formula of that is the intermediate mineral between ferberite ( rich) and hübnerite ( rich). Along with scheelite, the wolframite series are the most important tungsten ...

deposits discovered and mined in the municipal area are interesting.

Constituent communities

The centres of Albernau (with Schindlerswerk) and Burkhardtsgrün are parts of Zschorlau, which together with neighbouring Bockau forms an administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'').

History

From 1952 to 1990, Zschorlau was part of the

Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt The Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt, also known as Bezirk Chemnitz, was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The district existed from 1952 until the Reunification of Germany in 1990. The administrative seat and the main town was Karl-Marx-Stadt, ren ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Politics

Municipal council

Zschorlau’s council consists of 16 seats, 15 of which are held by the CDU and the other by the ''Albernauer Alternative''.

Partnerships

There is a partnership with the community of Dietenhofen in the district of

Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...

Culture and sightseeing

The ''St. Anna am Freudenstein'' visitor mine is found at the lower end of the community on the connecting road to Aue, where the traditional ''Mettenschicht'' (literally “matins shift”) is still held at

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

today, and it is public. It is a special event held on the last mining shift before Christmas, and it involves music, food and drink. A special high point in the community’s cultural life is the ''Sommergastspiel'' (“Summer Guest Performance”) by the Dombrowsky Puppet Theatre. With cheerful plays for young and old, great numbers of visitors are lured to the

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

to Germany’s first underground puppet theatre.

Education

Zschorlau has at its disposal the ''Mittelschule Zschorlau'' (

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

) and the ''Grundschule Zschorlau'' ( elementary school).

References

External links

''Schaubergwerk St. Anna am Freudenstein''
{{Authority control Erzgebirgskreis