Annaberg-Buchholz

Annaberg-Buchholz
Annaberg-Buchholz
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Annaberg-Buchholz
	<templatestyles src="Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"/> Location of Annaberg-Buchholz within Erzgebirgskreis district
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Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Erzgebirgskreis
Government
• Mayor	Barbara Klepsch (CDU)
Area
• Total	27.70 km2 (10.70 sq mi)
Population (2014-12-31)
• Total	20,394
• Density	740/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	09456
Dialling codes	03733
Vehicle registration	ERZ, ANA, ASZ, AU, MAB, MEK, STL, SZB, ZP
Website	www.annaberg-buchholz.de

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Annaberg-Buchholz (German pronunciation: [ˈanabɛɐ̯k ˈbuːx.hɔlts] ( listen)) is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Lying in the Ore Mountains, it is the capital of the district of Erzgebirgskreis.

Geography

The town is located in the Ore Mountains, at the side of the Pöhlberg (832 meters or 2,730 feet above sea level).

History

View of Annaberg

Annaberg from the west

The previously heavily forested upper Ore Mountains were settled in the 12th and 13th centuries by Franconian farmers. Frohnau, Geyersdorf, and Kleinrückerswalde—all now part of present-day town—are all attested from 1397.^{[citation needed]}

Barbara Uthmann introduced braid- and lace-making in 1561 and it was further developed in the 1590s by Belgian refugees fleeing the policies of Duke Fernando Álvarez of Alba, Spain's governor over the Low Countries.^[2] The industry was further developed in the 19th century, when Annaberg^[3] and Buchholz^[4] were connected by rail to Chemnitz and each other and both settlements had specialized schools for lace-making.^[3]^[4] The population of Annaberg in the 1870s was 11,693.^[3] This had risen to 16,811 by 1905,^[2] with another 9307 in Buchholz.^[4]

The town's mines formerly produced silver, tin, and cobalt^[3] but ceased production before the First World War.^[2] After the Reunification of Germany in 1989, some were restored for tourist purposes.

In 1945 the two towns Annaberg and Buchholz merged into the new town Annaberg-Buchholz.

Historical Population

At the start of the 16th Century Annaberg was one of the largest towns in Germany with an estimated 8,000 inhabitants. In 1834 Annaberg had a population of 5,068 and Buchholz 1,424. In 1875 people lived in Annaberg, in 1890 11,725, in 1925 18,204, and in 1933 19,818. The figures in the table are for Annaberg-Buchholz.

Historical population (from 1960, on 31st December):

Pre 1945

1925: 27,123
1933: 28,868
1939: 28,225

1946 - 1981

1946: 27,651¹
1950: 36,660²
1960: 29,012
1971: 27,508
1981: 26,664

1984 - 1999

1984: 26,236
1995: 23,920
1997: 23,177
1998: 25,098
1999: 24,679

2000 - 2004

2000: 24,495
2001: 24,103
2002: 23,680
2003: 23,387
2004: 23,147

2005 - 2009

2005: 23,043
2006: 22,808
2007: 22,514
2008: 22,348
2009: 22,079

2010 - 2013

2010: 21,831
2012: 20,826
2013: 20,510

Before 1945: Sum of population of towns Annaberg and Buchholz
Data source 1998: Statistical Office of Saxony

¹ 29th October
² 31st August

Main sights

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The area is a tourist destination and ski resort. The Ore Mountains are referred to as Land of Christmas and famous for the Christmas Markets and the carved sculptures. Annaberg has a Roman Catholic church and three Protestant churches, among them St. Anne's (built 1499-1525),^[2] which is the largest of its kind in Saxony. There are public monuments to Luther, the famous mathematician Adam Ries, and Barbara Uthmann.^[2] Buchholz had another Gothic Protestant church and monuments to Frederick the Wise and Bismarck. Annaberg is well known for its historical old town and market square; the house Markt 2 shows the coat of arms of the family Apian-Bennewitz.

Museums

Adam Ries Museum and Annaberg School of Accountancy (Rechenschule)
Ore Mountain Museum and Im Gößner visitor mine
Manufaktur der Träume
Markus-Röhling-Stolln visitor mine at Frohnau
Dorothea-Stolln visitor mine at Cunersdorf

Frohnauer Hammer

The Frohnauer Hammer is a historic and fully working preserved hammer mill in the village of Frohnau within the municipality. In 1907, it was declared a technical monument and, since then, has been open to the public. In addition to the actual hammer mill itself, there is an exhibition of forged items and the former master hammersmith's house (Hammerherrenhaus).

Regular events

An annual high point in early summer is the largest folk festival in the region, the Annaberger Kät.
Every two years in August the Abbey Festival takes place in the ruins of Annaberg Abbey.
The Annaberg Christmas Market is widely known outside the region and closes on the fourth week in advent with the world's biggest miners' parade (Bergparade).