Marienberg, Saxony

Marienberg
Marienberg in 1650
Marienberg
Location of the town of Marienberg within Erzgebirgskreis district
Coordinates	50°38′N 13°9′E / 50.63333°N 13.15°E / 50.63333; 13.15Coordinates: 50°38′N 13°9′E / 50.63333°N 13.15°E / 50.63333; 13.15
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
Admin. region	Chemnitz
District	Erzgebirgskreis
Town subdivisions	9
Mayor	Thomas Wittig (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area	105.91 km2 (40.89 sq mi)
Elevation	609 m  (1998 ft)
Population	13,225 (31 December 2010)[1]
- Density	125 /km2 (323 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	ERZ
Postal codes	09491-09496
Area code	03735
Website	www.marienberg.de

Marienberg is a town in Germany. It was the district capital of the Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis (Central Ore Mountains district) in the southern part of Saxony, and since August 2008 it has been part of the new district of Erzgebirgskreis. As of 2007, the town had 14,181 inhabitants.

Location and design

The town is situated on a plateau north of the mountain ridge of the Ore Mountains, at an elevation between 460 and 891 m above sea level. It is approximately 31 km south of Chemnitz, to which it is connected via the Flöhatalbahn.

The historical city center follows a rectangular plan, imitating Italian renaissance. The center is the market square, a square of 1.7 ha area.

Marienberg and Pobershau are joined in the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Marienberg.

History

The first documented evidence related to Marienberg is the mentioning of the village Wüstenschletta as Sletyn in 1323. However, the town was founded on 27 April 1521 by Henry IV, Duke of Saxony after silver had been found in 1519. Marienberg was granted city rights in 1523 and had its own board of mines since 1525. In 1555, there were more than a thousand mines in the Marienberg area. After the exhaustion of the silver, copper and tin were mined in the 17th century. The last mine was closed in 1899. Today, tourism is an important sector of the economy.

Town districts

• Gebirge
• Gelobtland
• Hüttengrund
• Kühnhaide
• Lauta
• Lauterbach
• Niederlauterstein
• Reitzenhain
• Rübenau
• Satzung am Hirtstein

Gallery

• 

  Townhall of Marienberg (Germany) 2003-12-14

• 

  View through the "Zschopauer Tor" in Marienberg to the Church of St.Marien 2002-02-22

References

1. ^ "Bevölkerung des Freistaates Sachsen jeweils am Monatsende ausgewählter Berichtsmonate nach Gemeinden" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen. 31 December 2010. http://www.statistik.sachsen.de/download/010_GB-Bev/Bev_Gemeinde.pdf. 

External links

• City and tourist information
• (German) Official website