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.

Görlitz | Germany | Augustastrasse | Week 30

Görlitz [polish: Zgorzelec], first mention as Goreliz in 1071. It is the easternmost city in germany, lying about 80 km east of Dresden, 120 km west of Wroclaw (Breslau) and 120 km north of Prague. Görlitz is the 6th largest city in the german state Saxony and the largest within the region Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz).

Population: 55.000 [2015] | 72.000 [1990] | 94.000 (1930) | 81.000 [1900]

Görlitz is especially known for its well preserved old town, it is member of the working group historic cities in germany. From its early times the city belonged to the bohemian kingdom, later it became part of Saxony, then Silesia (in Prussia) and finally Germany (incl. GDR). It was a strong trade city in late medieval times, esp. due to its monopoly for woad trade in Bohemia. Görlitz was a member of the Lusatian League and as such held rights similar to free imperial cities for some time. In 1945 the new border between Germany and Poland cut through the city along the Neisse river. It’s eastern part is now an independent city – Zgorcelec in Poland. Economically the city has a long history in the production of trams and trains. Nowadays the city is also a favourite spot for big movie productions, earning it its nickname Görliwood.

The street front above is a section of Augustastrasse, a street full of examples of historicism style, which is common in the areas around the old town centre. Görlitz is also known as a so called Pensionopolis, an attractive city with relatively low rents that attracts the elder and retired people. While the city experienced an economic decline since 1990 it still managed to restore the majority of its historic buildings – in large parts thanks to the anonymous Altstadtmillion (old town million). Between 1995 and 2016 each year the city received an anonymous amount of one million Deutsche Mark (later that amount in Euro) to be spent for reconstructing the old town. The results can be seen all over Görlitz.

Click for larger view:

Architektur Görlitz Sachsen Lausitz Schlesien

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

Görlitz Architecture Panorama

We documented more streets and places in Görlitz. Find some previews below. For more views from saxon cities follow the link to our Saxony archive.

A panorama of the central block on the lower market square (Untermarkt).

Untermarkt Görlitz Panorama Foto

The Brüderstrasse between Obermarkt and Untermarkt with the Silesian Museum (left).

streetview Görlitz Brüderstrasse old town streetline

A section of the Obermarkt (Upper Market) from 2011.

Oberlausitz Görlitz Architektur Fassaden

The main station.

Görlitz Bahnhof train station

Zwickau | Germany | Hauptmarkt | Week 15

Zwickau, founded in the 12th century, lies 60 km south of Leipzig and about 150 km northwest of Prague at the foot of the ore mountains [german: Erzgebirge], 4th largest city in the german state Saxony and 88th largest city in Germany (2014).

Population: 91.000 (2014) | 122.000 (1988) | 85.000 (1930) | 56.000 (1900)

Zwickau quickly gained importance after its foundation and was a free imperial city in the early 14th century. Besides Wittenberg it was an early centre of the Lutheran Reformation. From the 15th to the 20th century Zwickau was a centre of the mining industry in Germany, especially for hard-coal from Zwickau and silver from the ore mountains. Hence the city played an important role in german industrialisation and was for centuries one of the main economic and cultural centres of Saxony. It is also a cradle of the german automobile industry with Audi and Horch being founded in the city, while during the GDR times it was the city of the Trabant, the most well known car of the eastern bloc.

Here we see a night view in christmas lighting of the southern side of the main market square (Hauptmarkt), which includes two of the cities main buildings, the Gewandhaus on the left and the town hall in the centre. The Gewandhaus (cloth merchants‘ hall) was built in the 16th century and today serves as the main theatre of the city. The town hall was built in 1404 and features the elaborate city emblem above its portal. The last building on this side of the square on the far right, which was unfortunately hidden by christmas stalls for this photography, is the birthplace (and museum) for the famous composer Robert Schuhmann.

Visit our archive for other streetline panoramas from Saxony.

Click for larger view:

Zwickau Gewandhaus Rathaus Hauptmarkt

For classic view (english link):

Zwickau Gewandhaus