Oberwiesenthal

Oberwiesenthal
Town
May 2001 view of Oberwiesenthal
Coat of arms
Location of Oberwiesenthal within Erzgebirgskreis district
Oberwiesenthal Oberwiesenthal
Coordinates: 50°25′9″N 12°58′15″E
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Erzgebirgskreis
Government
• Mayor (2021–28)	Jens Benedict
Area
• Total	39.98 km2 (15.44 sq mi)
Elevation	914 m (2,999 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	2,045
• Density	51/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	09484
Dialling codes	037348
Vehicle registration	ERZ, ANA, ASZ, AU, MAB, MEK, STL, SZB, ZP
Website	www.oberwiesenthal.de

Oberwiesenthal (German: [oː.bɐ.ˈviː.zn̩.taːl] ; officially Kurort Oberwiesenthal) is a town and a ski resort in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony in Germany. It is situated in the Ore Mountains, on the border with the Czech Republic, 19 km south of Annaberg-Buchholz, and 23 km northeast of Karlovy Vary. At 914 metres (2,999 ft), it is the highest town in Germany. The Olympic and World Championships goldmedalist in ski jumping Jens Weißflog competed for SC Tractor Oberwiesenthal and Oberwiesenthaler SV.

Geography

Oberwiesenthal lies in the county of Erzgebirgskreis, on the border with the Czech Republic that follows the course of the Pöhlbach stream as far as Bärenstein (10 km northeast). The highest elevation in the borough is the Fichtelberg (sometimes called the Großer Fichtelberg or Great Fichtelberg) which, at 1,215 m above NN, is the highest mountain in Saxony.

Other important mountains in the region around Oberwiesenthal are the:

• Keilberg (Klínovec) (1,244 m above NN; the highest summit in the Ore Mountains)
• Kleiner or Hinterer Fichtelberg (1,206 m above NN) ("Little or Farther Fichtelberg")
• Eisenberg (1,029 m above NN)

Climatic diagram for the Fichtelberg near Oberwiesenthal

Owing its elevation and relatively northern latitude, Oberwiesenthal has a subalpine respectively subarctic climate (Dfc).

Neighbouring municipalities

On the Czech side is the municipality of Loučná pod Klínovcem (Böhmisch Wiesenthal) and, further west, is Boží Dar (Gottesgab). Adjacent municipalities in Germany are Bärenstein, Crottendorf, Sehmatal, Breitenbrunn/Erzgeb. and Raschau-Markersbach.

Subdivisions

• Oberwiesenthal
• Unterwiesenthal
• Hammerunterwiesenthal
• Rotes Vorwerk
• Neues Haus

View of Oberwiesenthal and the Fichtelberg from the opposite side of the border (the cemetery at Háj)

Winter's view from the Great Fichtelberg

An Oberwiesenthal candle arch or Schwibbogen

History

The "new town in the Wiesen valley" ("Neustadt am Wiesenthal") was founded in 1527 by the lords of Schönburg as a mining town because, one year earlier, silver ore had been found in the region. By 1530 the new settlement had been granted town rights and, in 1559, its ownership passed to the House of Wettin.

Mining operations finally wound up in the 19th century and tourism increasingly took its place during the 20th. However, after the Second World War, there were attempts by the Russians to mine uranium for the nuclear arms race in the Zechengrund, today a nature reserve. Traces of their activity are still visible. On 1 September 1921 Oberwiesenthal was merged with the town of Unterwiesenthal further down the valley, which had first been mentioned in the records in 1406 and had town rights by 1510. From 1952 to 1990, Oberwiesenthal was part of the Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt of East Germany.

Historical population

Year Population 1559 95 villeins (besessene Mann) 1748 190 villeins 1834 1278 1871 1980 1890 1967 1910 1729

Year Population 1925 2425 1939 2446 1946 2945 1950 4603 1964 2553 1971 2611

Year Population 1990 1621 1998 3381 1999 3273 2000 3163 2001 3069 2002 3015

Year Population 2003 2925 2004 2828 2005 2735 2006 2675 2007 2592 2009 2501

Data source to 1990: Oberwiesenthal in the Digital Historic Index of Places in Saxony (Digitales Historisches Ortsverzeichnis von Sachsen)
Data source from 1998: Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen

Politics

Town hall (Rathaus)

Town council

The town council of Oberwiesenthal consists of 14 councillors and the directly elected mayor or Bürgermeister, who presides over the council. The local elections of 7 June 2009, which had a voter participation of 62.5%, the following result:

Party	FDP	CDU	BfW	Die Alternative	Die Linke	Total
Seats	5	5	2	2	0	14
Stimmenanteil	35.1%	33.4%	13.5%	12.6%	5.4%

Mayor

Heinz-Michael Kirsten (CDU) was elected mayor (Bürgermeister) in January 2002. By February 2002 the Annaberg district office (Landratsamt Annaberg) had declared this result void due to unpermitted election advertising. This resulted in a five-year legal battle by all sides that ended with a decision in 2007 by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, that confirmed the decision in February 2007 by the administrative appeals tribunal (Oberverwaltungsgericht) of Bautzen as legal. Heinz-Michael Kirsten was then sent on leave by the regional authority (Regierungspräsidium). On 4 November 2007 a new election took place in which no party achieved an absolute majority. In the second round of elections on 18 November the independent (now FDP) candidate, Mirko Ernst, was elected mayor. The current mayor is Jens Benedict, elected in September 2021.

Twinnings

• Germany Fichtelberg, town "friendship" (Städtefreundschaft) since 3 October 1990
• Germany Lauf an der Pegnitz, town friendship since 3 October 1990
• Germany Schonach im Schwarzwald, town friendship since 3 October 1990
• Japan Hakuba, twin town since 18 August 2002

Culture and sights

• Fichtelberg Railway
• Fichtelberg Cable Car (the oldest cable car in Germany)
• Oberwiesenthal post coach in the style of the Deutsche Reichspost of 1939

Museum

• Ski and local history museum, Karlsbader Straße 3

Electorate of Saxony postal milepost on the market square

Structures

• St Martin Luther's Church with its Hertelt crib
• Distance post on the market square (Marktplatz); whole milepost on the footpath to the "New House" (Neues Haus) in the Zechengrund and remnants of a half-milepost from the village of Hammerunterwiesenthal
• Royal Saxon station stone from the market square at the Neues Haus border crossing
• Anton Günther Way, a cross-border trail

Sport

• Currently the leading sports club in the town: WSC Erzgebirge Oberwiesenthal
• Leading former East German Alpine and Nordic ski club, disbanded in 1990: SC Traktor Oberwiesenthal
• Sportfördergruppe der Bundeswehr, armed forces sports centre

Notable people

• Franz Ströher (1874-1936), German hairdresser and businessman

The Fichtelberg ski jumps