Schneeberg | Germany | Fürstenplatz | Week 35

Schneeberg, founded in 1471 when silver was found below the mountain. It lies 200 km south of Berlin, 300 km east of Frankfurt and 150 km northwest of Prague. It is the 51st largest city in the state of Saxony, Germany.

Population: 13.900 [2019] | 22.300 [1984] | 13.600 [1946] | 6.900 [1834]

Schneeberg is a so called Bergstadt (mountain city). The city name can be translated to ‚Snow Mountain‘. When large silver deposits were found around the Schneeberg mountain in the late 15th century this prompted a mining boom (Berggeschrey) and a settlement quickly emerged. It took the new city only 10 years to gain the status of a free mountain city and in 1483 the Saxon Elector founded the Schneeberger Münze (mint facility). A legend tells the story of the Saxon Elector Albrecht dining on a table made entirely of silver in a local mine. The city quickly became rich and one of the largest late gothic churches was built in the 16th century – the St Wolfgang Church. Later the mining shifted towards other deposits like cobalt, wismuth and uranium until it was finally abandoned in 1957. In 2019 the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) became a UNESCO world heritage site, which inlcudes several places belonging to the city of Schneeberg.

In 1719 a city fire destroyed Schneeberg, but the wealthy city was quickly rebuilt – in baroque style which gives it some distinction in the Erzgebirge area. The panorama above presents a street front which exemplifies why Schneeberg is now called the Barockstadt im Erzgebirge (Baroque City of the ore mountains). The panorama depicts a side of the Fürstenplatz square which includes the Schmeil-Haus (left), the Fürstenhaus (Sparkasse) and the cultural centre „Goldne Sonne“ (right).

Schneeberg is celebrating its 550 years jubilee in 2021.

Click for larger view:

Schneeberg Barockgebäude Fürstenplatz

For classic view (german link):

PanoramaStreetline Schneeberg 101 cityscapes

Seminarstrasse Preview:

Seminarstrasse Schneeberg Sachsen

Find more Streetlines from the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) Area in our Archive.

Vienna | Austria | Graben | Week 32

Vienna [german: Wien; hungarian: Bécs; latin: Vindobona], first known settlement as Vedunia by the Celts, but earlier settlements existed. Vienna lies ca. in the middle between Prague (250 km to the nortwest) and Budapest (220 km to the southeast) only about 50 km west of the slovak capital Bratislava. It is the largest city of Austria and the 12th largest city in Europe.

Population: 1.840.000 [2016] | 1.540.000 [1991] | 1.936.000 [1934] | 1.769.000 [1900]

The historic centre of Vienna is one large UNESCO world heritage site. It developed mostly between the end of the osman siege of Vienna in 1683 and WWI and is shaped by the architectural ensembles in baroque, neo-classical and Art Nouveau style of the Habsburg Empire. Following its celtic roots Vienna was a roman castrum and city called Vindobona for four centuries. It first rose to prominence when the Babenberger family moved its residence to the then minor city in the 12th century. Its real height of power however came with the Habsburg family in the 15th century. They made it the capital of the Habsburg Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, withstood two osman sieges and created the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the congress of Vienna in 1815. The city became a world centre for music, arts and science in the 19th century (Mozart, Beethoven, Klimt, Freud etc.). Today Vienna is regarded a global city and home to several international organisations like the OPEC, the IAEO, the OSZE and of course, one of the home cities of the UNO. In Europe Vienna plays the role of a bridging city between Eastern and Western Europe.

Our cityscape above presents the Graben, an area once part of the wall of the roman castell, that later became a prestigious central shopping street with grand historicism and Art Nouveau architecture. Here we see, for example, the Anker-Haus by Otto Wagner on the left, the Grabenhof in the centre and the Husaren-Haus by Josef Hackhofer on the right edge.

Click for larger view:

Österreich Wien Graben Straßenansicht Architektur

For classic view and more infos about the place (german link):

Europe Habsburg Empire Austria Vienna Graben

Find a step-by-step sequence video of the composition of this streetline below:

Also finalized and published are these views of the Schwarzenberg-Square and the Wienzeile. Find more streetlines in our Vienna overview (german link).

Wien Schwarzenbergplatz Architekturfotografie Bild Image Foto

Wien Vienna Wienzeilenhäuser

A preview of a ministry building in the Hintere Zollamtsstrasse.

Wien Hintere Zollamtsstrasse Architektur modern

A preview of the Hofburg Theatre at the Ringstrasse of Vienna.

Panorama Wien Hofburgtheater