The Ore Mountains 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 at 1,244 metres (4,081 ft) above sea level and the Fichtelberg in Germany at 1,215 metres (3,986 ft).
Saxon Switzerland is a hilly climbing area and national park in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is located around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany, adjoining Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic. Together with the Czech part, the region is known as Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland.
The Striezelmarkt in Dresden is one of the first genuine Christmas markets in the world. Founded as a one-day market in 1434, it celebrated its 585th anniversary in 2019. Its 240 stands attract about 3 million visitors from all over the world. The annual market lasts throughout the Advent season until Christmas Eve.
A hammer mill, hammer forge or hammer works was a workshop in the pre-industrial era that was typically used to manufacture semi-finished, wrought iron products or, sometimes, finished agricultural or mining tools, or military weapons. The feature that gave its name to these workshops was the water-driven trip hammer, or set of hammers, used in the process. The shaft, or 'helve', of the hammer was pivoted in the middle and the hammer head was lifted by the action of cams set on a rotating camshaft that periodically depressed the end of the shaft. As it rose and fell, the head of the hammer described an arc. The face of the hammer was made of iron for durability.
Schwarzenberg is a town in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony’s Ore Mountains, near the German–Czech border. The town lies roughly 15 km southeast of Aue, and 35 km southwest of Chemnitz.
The 140-kilometre-long road, the Silver Road is the first and longest holiday route in the German Free State of Saxony. Against the background of the importance of mining 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.
The Ore Mountain passes are crossings and passages over the crest of the Ore Mountains in Central Europe, over which tracks, roads, railway lines and pipelines run from the Free State of Saxony in the Federal Republic of Germany to Bohemia in the Czech Republic and vice versa.
Saxon Siberia is a term referring to the higher regions of the Western Ore Mountains and the Vogtland in Central Europe. The term was first coined in the 18th century.
The Frohnauer Hammer is an historic hammer mill in Frohnau, a village in the municipality of Annaberg-Buchholz in the Ore Mountains of southeast Germany. The mill is an important witness to proto-industrial development in the Ore Mountains. Of the once-numerous hammer mills only three others remain working in Saxony: the Dorfchemnitz Iron Hammer Mill, the Grünthal Copper Hammer Mill and the Freibergsdorf Hammer Mill.
Frohnau is a village in the Saxon town of Annaberg-Buchholz in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in southeast Germany. The discovery of silver on the Schreckenberg led in 1496 to the foundation of the neighbouring mining town of Annaberg. The village of Frohnau is best known for its museum of technology, the Frohnauer Hammer, and the visitor mine of Markus Röhling Stolln. The mining area around Frohnau has been selected as a candidate for a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the Ore Mountain Mining Region.
Ore Mountain folk art is a well-known form of highly artistic wood carving from East Germany. It encompasses the diverse forms of expression of the creative work beyond the classical or the modern arts, and in particular the production of figures, sculptures and paintings. In a broader sense, the people's poetry, literature, and the Ore Mountain songs are in itself the folk art. The Ore Mountains claim to be the largest, enclosed folk art area in Germany.
The Mettenschicht is an old German mining custom in the Ore Mountains. It is the name given to the last shift worked before Christmas, which ends early with a celebration and meal.
The Revierwasserlaufanstalt Freiberg or RWA Freiberg, was a historical water management system that delivered driving water to the Freiberg mines in the time of the German Electorate and later Kingdom of Saxony. Today the system is used to supply drinking and industrial water and is operated by the Saxony State Reservoir Office.
The Freiberg Mining Field is an ore field which is located on an ore deposit of precious and non-ferrous metals roughly 35 x 40 kilometres in area in the lower Eastern Ore Mountains of Saxony, Germany. Mining has been carried out here since the last third of the 12th century. Parts of this region, along with other nearby sites in the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019 because of its testimony of continuous extraction for centuries and its status as the nexus for many technological developments in ore mining.
The Miners' Parade is a parade traditionally held in places in Austria and Germany where ore was and is smelted. It was and is a public event held by a community or corporation whose employment is linked to mining and smelting. It is usually known in German as a Bergparade, but also as a Berg- und Hüttenparade. It takes place as one of the highlights of a festival. The Miner's Parade is a special form of procession which is organised to march past important dignitaries or which is organized for such high-ranking individuals.
The Saxon Mining Office is the executive authority for mining rights in the German state of Saxony. It is also responsible for all non-metallic mineral resources on the terrain of the former East Germany.
Cuisine in the Ore Mountains was dominated for centuries by the changing economic circumstances of the mining, handicraft and forestry industries, as well as the fortunes of home-based crafts. This is reflected, on the one hand, in the simplicity of cooking ingredients, the art of improvisation and creativity of the Ore Mountain housewife, and, on the other hand, in the very rich cuisine of the manor houses. For example, the lords of Schönberg, who had the closest relations with the court at Dresden, demonstrated their prosperity at the dining table. They also benefited from long-distance trade, thanks to the strategic location of their strongholds in Sayda and Purschenstein, which were situated on the so-called Salt Road. Thus they were able to enjoy the exotic spices and culinary expertise that arrived in coaches and from which their kitchens also benefited.
The Neugrabenflöße, was a roughly 18 km long Kunstgraben dating to the 17th century. It enabled the rafting of timber for the mining and smelting industries in the Ore Mountains of eastern Germany. It ran from the River Flöha near Fleyh (Fláje) to the Freiberger Mulde near Clausnitz in the Ore Mountains.
The Lengefeld Lime Works was a limestone mine southwest of Lengefeld in the Saxon town of Pockau-Lengefeld in the Ore Mountains. In 2016, the mine was closed.
Lauterstein Castle, in German Burg Lauterstein, also called Burgruine Niederlauterstein, is a medieval castle in Niederlauterstein, town of Marienberg, Erzgebirgskreis, Saxony. It has been a ruin since the Thirty Years' War.
