Ore Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Ore Mountains in Central Europe have formed a natural border between Saxony
and Bohemia
for many centuries. Today, the border between Germany
and the Czech Republic
runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range
. The highest peaks are the Klínovec
(German:Keilberg), which rises to 1244 metres (4,081.4 ft) above sea level and the Fichtelberg (1215 metres (3,986.2 ft)).
The area played an important role as the setting of the earliest stages of the early modern
transformation of mining
and metallurgy
from a craft
to a large-scale industry
, a process that preceded and enabled the later industrial revolution
.
They were formed during a lengthy process:
During the folding
of the Hercynian mountains
metamorphism
occurred deep underground, forming crystalline slate
and gneiss
. In addition, large granite deposits are found in older magma bubbles. By the end of the Palaeozoic era, the mountains had been eroded into gently undulating hills (the Permian rump), exposing the hard rocks.
In the Tertiary
period these mountain remnants came under heavy pressure as a result of plate tectonic processes
during which the Alps were formed
as the North American and Eurasian plates were separated.
As the rock of the Ore Mountains was too brittle to be folded, it shattered into an independent fault block which was uplifted and tilted to the northwest. This can be very clearly seen at a height of on the mountain of Komáří vížka which lies east of Zinnwald-Georgenfeld
on the Czech side, right on the edge of the fault block.
Consequently it is a fault-block mountain range which, today, has been incised by a whole range of river valleys whose rivers drain southwards into the Eger and northwards into the Mulde or directly into the Elbe
. This process is known as dissection
.
The Ore Mountains is geologically considered to be one of the most heavily researched mountain ranges in the world.
The most important rocks occurring in the Ore Mountains are schist
, phyllite
and granite
with contact metamorphic zones in the west, basalt
as remnants in the Pleßberg (Plešivec), Scheibenberg
, Bärenstein, Pöhlberg
, Velký Špičák
(Großer Spitzberg or Schmiedeberger Spitzberg), Haßberg
(Jelení hora) and Geisingberg
as well as gneiss
es and rhyolite
(Kahleberg
) in the east. The soil
s consist of rapidly leaching grus
. In the western and central areas of the mountains it is formed from weathered granite. Phyllite results in a loamy, rapidly weathered gneiss in the east of the mountains producing a light soil. As a result of the subsoils based on granite and rhyolite, the land is mostly covered in forest
; on the gneiss soils it was possible to grow and cultivate flax
in earlier centuries and, later, rye
, oats
and potatoes up to the highlands. Today the land is predominantly used for pasture
. But it is not uncommon to see near-natural mountain meadows.
To the north of the Ore Mountains, west of Chemnitz
and around Zwickau
lies the Ore Mountain Basin
which is only really known geologically. Here there are deposits of stone coal where mining has already been abandoned. A similar but smaller basin with abandoned coal deposits, the Döhlen Basin
, is located southwest of Dresden
on the northern edge of the Ore Mountains. It forms the transition to the Elbe Valley zone is also mainly known in geological circles.
, located in the Czech part, with an altitude of 1244 metres (4,081.4 ft) and Fichtelberg
, the highest mountain of Saxony, at 1214 metres (3,982.9 ft). The Ore Mountains is part of a larger mountain system and adjoins the Fichtelgebirge
to the west and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
to the east. Past the River Elbe
, the mountain chain continues as the Lusatian Mountains
. While the mountains slope gently away in the northern (German) part, the southern (Czech) slopes are rather steep.
and Zwickauer Mulde
and the Flöha ("Flöha Line"), the division of the western section along the River Schwarzwasser is of a more recent date. The Eastern Ore Mountains mainly comprise large, gently climbing plateaus, in contrast with the steeper and higher-lying western and central areas, and are dissected by river valleys that frequently change direction. The crest of the mountains themselves forms, in all three regions, a succession of plateaux and individual peaks.
To the east it is adjoined by the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
and, to the west, by the Elstergebirge
and other Saxon parts of the Vogtland
. South(east) of the Central and Eastern Ore Mountains lies the North Bohemian Basin
and, immediately east of that, the Bohemian Central Uplands which are separated from the Eastern Ore Mountains by narrow fingers of the aforementioned basin. South(east) of the Western Ore Mountains lie the Sokolov Basin
, the Eger Graben
and the Doupov Mountains. To the north the boundary is less sharply defined because the Ore Mountains, a typical example of a fault-block, descend very gradually.
The topographical transition from the Western and Central Ore Mountains to the loess
hill country to the north between Zwickau
and Chemnitz
is referred to as the Ore Mountain Basin
; that from the Eastern Ore Mountains as the Ore Mountain Foreland
. Between Freital
and Pirna
, the area is called the Dresden Ore Mountain Foreland (Dresdner Erzgebirgsvorland) or Bannewitz-Possendorf-Burkhardswald Plateau (Bannewitz-Possendorf-Burkhardswalder Plateau). Geologically the Ore Mountains reach the city limits of Dresden
at the Windberg
hill near Freital and the Karsdorf Fault
. The V-shaped valleys of the Ore Mountains break through this fault and the shoulder of the Dresden Basin
.
The Ore Mountains belong to the Bohemian Massif
within Europe's Central Uplands, a massif that also includes the Upper Palatine Forest, the Bohemian Forest
, the Bavarian Forest
, the Lusatian Mountains
, the Iser Mountains, the Giant Mountains and the Inner-Bohemian Mountains. At the same time it forms a y-shaped mountain chain, along with the Upper Palatine Forest, Bohemian Forest, Fichtelgebirge
, Franconian Forest, Thuringian Slate Mountains and Thuringian Forest
, that has no unique name but is, climatically, very uniform.
According to cultural tradition, Zwickau is seen historically as part of the Ore Mountains, Chemnitz is seen historically as just lying outside them, but Freiberg is included. The supposed limit of the Ore Mountains continues, southwest of Dresden
, to the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
. From this perspective, its main characteristics, i.e. gently-sloping plateaus climbing up to the ridgeline incised by V-shaped valleys, continue to the southern edge of the Dresden Basin
. North of the Ore Mountains the landscape gradually transitions into the Saxon Lowland
and Saxon Elbeland
. Its cultural-geographical transition to Saxon Switzerland
in the area of the Müglitz
and Gottleuba
valleys is very indistinct
(German: Keilberg) at 1,244 metres in the Bohemian part of the range. The highest elevation on the Saxon side and at the same time the highest mountain in East Germany is the 1,215 metre high Fichtelberg. The Ore Mountains has about thirty summits with a height of over , but not all are clearly defined mountains. Most of them occur around the Klínovec and the Fichtelberg. About a third lie on the Saxon side of the border.
See: List of mountains in the Ore Mountains
Even after the reclassification of natural regions by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
in 1994 the Ore Mountains, region D16, remained a major unit group with almost unchanged boundaries. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, the working group, Naturhaushalt und Gebietscharakter of the Saxon Academy of Sciences (Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften) in Leipzig
added to the Ore Mountains the major unit group of Vogtland
to the west and the major landscape units of Saxon Switzerland
, Lusatian Highlands and Zittau Mountains to the east into one overarching unit, the Saxon Highlands and Uplands
. In addition, its internal divisions were changed. Former major unit 420 was grouped with the western part of major units 421 and 423 to form a new major unit, the Western Ore Mountains (Westerzgebirge), the eastern part of major units 421 and 423 became the Central Ore Mountains (Mittelerzgebirge) and major units 422 and 424 became the Eastern Ore Mountains (Osterzgebirge).
The current division therefore looks as follows:
The geographic unit of the Southern Slopes of the Ore Mountains remains unchanged under the title of Southern Ore Mountains (Süderzgebirge).
of the higher regions of the Ore Mountains is markedly harsh in character. Temperature
s are considerably lower all year round than in the lowlands and the summer
is noticeably shorter and cool days are frequent. The average annual temperatures only reach values of 3 to 5 °C. In Oberwiesenthal
, which lies at a height of , there are an average of only about 140 frost-free days per year. That said, based on the reports of earlier chroniclers the climate of the upper Ore Mountains in past centuries must have been even harsher than it is today. Sources from earlier periods describe hard winters in which cattle froze to death in their stalls and even in April so much snow fell that houses and cellars were snowed in. The population was regularly cut off from the outside world. The upper Ore Mountains was often given the nickname Saxon Siberia
in the past.
The fault block mountain range that climbs from northwest to southeast, and which enables prolonged rain to fall as orographic rain when weather systems drive in from the west and northwest, gives rise to precipitation
almost twice as high as that in the lowlands which rises to over 1,100 mm on the upper reaches of the mountains. Since a large part of the precipitation falls as snow
, in many years a thick and permanent layer of snow remains until April. The ridges of the Ore Mountains are one of the snowiest areas in the German Central Uplands
. Foehn winds, and also the so-called Bohemian Wind may occur during certain specific southerly weather conditions.
As a result of the climate and the heavy amounts of snow there is near Satzung, in the border region with Bohemia, at just under a natural Dwarf Mountain Pine region
. By comparison, in the Alps these pines do not occur until 1,600 to .
, the Ore Mountains were virtually unsettled and covered with dense forests. However, when silver
and tin
ore deposits were discovered in the region in the 15th century, people started inhabiting the mountains and founding new cities. Because of its rich mineral resources including fluorspar, iron
, copper
, cobalt
and uranium
, as well as silver and tin, the German-speaking population has called the range Erzgebirge, which literally means "ore mountain range". Silver found in Joachimsthal was used to mint coins known as (Joachims)Thaler
, from which the word "dollar
" is derived.
The mountains were rich not only in silver, but also in uranium
, as was discovered in the 19th century. After World War II
, Soviet
experts searched for remnants of the German nuclear energy project
to support the Soviet atomic bomb project
. A mining company called SDAG Wismut
(named after bismuth
, but the name was a cover-up for the Eastern Bloc's highly secretive uranium mining) operated until the fall of communism, causing environmental damage.
As the ore deposits and the related business often declined, former miners had to look for new ways to feed their families in an area largely unsuited for agriculture; also, as women historically could not work in mines, they had to find other ways of adding something to the family income. In addition to lace
making and weaving, the inhabitants went into wood carving, producing toys and religious figures. Thus, the Ore Mountain region became famous for many Christmas traditions. Nutcracker
s, "Räuchermänner", "Christmas pyramid
s" (carousels with figures of the Christmas story or from mining) and Schwibbogen
(wooden arcs with candles in the windows, representing a mine entrance) are some of many Christmas goods made in the Ore Mountains. Seiffen
in the Eastern Ore Mountains is a centre of the wooden toy industry.
. The eastern part, called the Eastern Ore Mountains
(Osterzgebirge), is a protected landscape. Further small areas are nature reserves and natural monuments, and are protected by the state.
The first evidences for local forest dieback due to the fume of cottages arose in the 19th century. In the 20th century, several crests were deforested because of their climatically bad location. Thus, in recent years, mixed forests are cultivated instead of monocultures of spruces because the mixed forests are more resistant to weather effects and pests.
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
for many centuries. Today, the border between Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
. The highest peaks are the Klínovec
Klínovec
Klínovec is the highest peak of the Ore Mountains, located in the Czech Republic's part of the mountains at . There is an important TV broadcasting tower on the top of the mountain.- Location :...
(German:Keilberg), which rises to 1244 metres (4,081.4 ft) above sea level and the Fichtelberg (1215 metres (3,986.2 ft)).
The area played an important role as the setting of the earliest stages of the early modern
Early modern period
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
transformation of mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
from a craft
Craft
A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...
to a large-scale industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, a process that preceded and enabled the later industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
.
Geomorphology
The Ore Mountains are a Hercynian block tilted so as to present a steep scarp face towards Bohemia and a gentle slope on the German side.They were formed during a lengthy process:
During the folding
Fold (geology)
The term fold is used in geology when one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, are bent or curved as a result of permanent deformation. Synsedimentary folds are those due to slumping of sedimentary material before it is lithified. Folds in rocks vary in...
of the Hercynian mountains
Variscan orogeny
The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...
metamorphism
Metamorphism
Metamorphism is the solid-state recrystallization of pre-existing rocks due to changes in physical and chemical conditions, primarily heat, pressure, and the introduction of chemically active fluids. Mineralogical, chemical and crystallographic changes can occur during this process...
occurred deep underground, forming crystalline slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
and gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
. In addition, large granite deposits are found in older magma bubbles. By the end of the Palaeozoic era, the mountains had been eroded into gently undulating hills (the Permian rump), exposing the hard rocks.
In the Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
period these mountain remnants came under heavy pressure as a result of plate tectonic processes
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
during which the Alps were formed
Geology of the Alps
The Alps form part of a Tertiary orogenic belt of mountain chains, called the Alpide belt, that stretches through southern Europe and Asia from the Atlantic all the way to the Himalayas. This belt of mountain chains was formed during the Alpine orogeny. A gap in these mountain chains in central...
as the North American and Eurasian plates were separated.
As the rock of the Ore Mountains was too brittle to be folded, it shattered into an independent fault block which was uplifted and tilted to the northwest. This can be very clearly seen at a height of on the mountain of Komáří vížka which lies east of Zinnwald-Georgenfeld
Altenberg, Germany
Altenberg is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Ore Mountains, close to the border with the Czech Republic, 15 km northwest of Teplice, and 32 km south of Dresden....
on the Czech side, right on the edge of the fault block.
Consequently it is a fault-block mountain range which, today, has been incised by a whole range of river valleys whose rivers drain southwards into the Eger and northwards into the Mulde or directly into the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
. This process is known as dissection
Dissection
Dissection is usually the process of disassembling and observing something to determine its internal structure and as an aid to discerning the functions and relationships of its components....
.
The Ore Mountains is geologically considered to be one of the most heavily researched mountain ranges in the world.
The most important rocks occurring in the Ore Mountains are schist
Schist
The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
, phyllite
Phyllite
Phyllite is a type of foliated metamorphic rock primarily composed of quartz, sericite mica, and chlorite; the rock represents a gradation in the degree of metamorphism between slate and mica schist. Minute crystals of graphite, sericite, or chlorite impart a silky, sometimes golden sheen to the...
and granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
with contact metamorphic zones in the west, basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
as remnants in the Pleßberg (Plešivec), Scheibenberg
Scheibenberg (mountain)
Scheibenberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany....
, Bärenstein, Pöhlberg
Pöhlberg
Pöhlberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany....
, Velký Špičák
Velký Špičák
Velký Špičák is a 965 m high mountain in the Czech part of the Ore Mountains of Central Europe.Velký Špičák is a 965 m high mountain in the Czech part of the Ore Mountains of Central Europe....
(Großer Spitzberg or Schmiedeberger Spitzberg), Haßberg
Jelení hora
The Jelení hora is a 993 m high mountain in the Czech part of the Ore Mountains.- Location and surrounding area :The mountain lies immediately southeast of the village of Kryštofovy Hamry...
(Jelení hora) and Geisingberg
Geisingberg
The Geisingberg is a striking basalt mountain in the eastern Ore Mountains in the German federal state of Saxony.- Location and surrounding area :...
as well as gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
es and rhyolite
Rhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
(Kahleberg
Kahleberg
Kahleberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany.-History:Kahleberg is located 2 kilometres south-west of the mining town Altenburg, which is on the border of the Czech Republic....
) in the east. The soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
s consist of rapidly leaching grus
Grus
Grus can refer to* Grus , a genus of birds in the crane family.* Grus , the constellation "Crane"* Grus or grit , a clastic sediment composed of hard, often abrasive granules of a size range between sand and pebbles, typically from exfoliation of bedrock * Grus, the historical sword of Boleslaw...
. In the western and central areas of the mountains it is formed from weathered granite. Phyllite results in a loamy, rapidly weathered gneiss in the east of the mountains producing a light soil. As a result of the subsoils based on granite and rhyolite, the land is mostly covered in forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
; on the gneiss soils it was possible to grow and cultivate flax
Flax
Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...
in earlier centuries and, later, rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
, oats
OATS
OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
and potatoes up to the highlands. Today the land is predominantly used for pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
. But it is not uncommon to see near-natural mountain meadows.
To the north of the Ore Mountains, west of Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
and around Zwickau
Zwickau
Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...
lies the Ore Mountain Basin
Ore Mountain Basin
The Ore Mountain Basin or Erzgebirge Basin is a a natural region in the German federal state of Saxony, that is part of the Saxon Lowland...
which is only really known geologically. Here there are deposits of stone coal where mining has already been abandoned. A similar but smaller basin with abandoned coal deposits, the Döhlen Basin
Döhlen Basin
The Döhlen Basin is a landscape unit in the German federal state of Saxony, southwest of Dresden. The Döhlen Basin has a length of 22 km and a width of 6 km and lies within the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge.- Description :...
, is located southwest of Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
on the northern edge of the Ore Mountains. It forms the transition to the Elbe Valley zone is also mainly known in geological circles.
Terrain
The western part of the Ore Mountains is home to the two highest peaks of the range: KlínovecKlínovec
Klínovec is the highest peak of the Ore Mountains, located in the Czech Republic's part of the mountains at . There is an important TV broadcasting tower on the top of the mountain.- Location :...
, located in the Czech part, with an altitude of 1244 metres (4,081.4 ft) and Fichtelberg
Fichtelberg
The Fichtelberg is a mountain with two main peaks in the middle of the Ore Mountains in Saxony, eastern Germany near the Czech border. At above sea level, the Fichtelberg is the highest mountain in Saxony, the second highest in the Ore Mountains and used to be the highest mountain in East Germany...
, the highest mountain of Saxony, at 1214 metres (3,982.9 ft). The Ore Mountains is part of a larger mountain system and adjoins the Fichtelgebirge
Fichtelgebirge
The Fichtelgebirge is a mountain range in northeastern Bavaria, Germany. It extends from the valley of the Red Main River to the Czech border, a few foothills spilling over into the Czech Republic. It continues in a northeastern direction as the Ore Mountains, and in a southeastern direction as...
to the west and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe sandstone highlands is a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side...
to the east. Past the River Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
, the mountain chain continues as the Lusatian Mountains
Lusatian Mountains
The Lusatian Mountains are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes, located on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic east of the Elbe river, a continuation of the Ore Mountains range west of the Elbe valley...
. While the mountains slope gently away in the northern (German) part, the southern (Czech) slopes are rather steep.
Topography
The Ore Mountains is oriented in a southwest-northeast direction and is about 150 km long and, on average, about 40 km wide. From a geomorphological perspective it is divided into the Western, Central and Eastern Ore Mountains, separated by the valleys of the SchwarzwasserSchwarzwasser (Mulde)
The Schwarzwasser is a right tributary of the Zwickauer Mulde in the German state of Saxony and the Czech Republic.The Schwarzwasser is a right tributary of the Zwickauer Mulde in the German state of Saxony and the Czech Republic....
and Zwickauer Mulde
Zwickauer Mulde
The Zwickauer Mulde is a river in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is the left tributary of the Mulde and 166 km in length.The source of the river is in the Ore Mountains, near Schöneck, in the Vogtlandkreis. It runs northeast to Aue, then northwest to Zwickau , and further north through...
and the Flöha ("Flöha Line"), the division of the western section along the River Schwarzwasser is of a more recent date. The Eastern Ore Mountains mainly comprise large, gently climbing plateaus, in contrast with the steeper and higher-lying western and central areas, and are dissected by river valleys that frequently change direction. The crest of the mountains themselves forms, in all three regions, a succession of plateaux and individual peaks.
To the east it is adjoined by the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe sandstone highlands is a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side...
and, to the west, by the Elstergebirge
Elstergebirge
The Elstergebirge is a small range of hills, in Saxony and the Czech Republic, on the west of the Ore Mountains. They lie in a region known as Vogtland, and take their name from the River Elster, or more precisely the White Elster which has its source in these hills, near the Czech town of Aš.The...
and other Saxon parts of the Vogtland
Vogtland
The term Vogtland refers to a region reaching across the German free states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and into the Czech Republic . The name of the region contains a reference to the former leadership by the Vögte of Weida, Gera and Plauen, which translates approximately to advocates or lord...
. South(east) of the Central and Eastern Ore Mountains lies the North Bohemian Basin
North Bohemian Basin
The North Bohemian Basin is a landscape in North Bohemia . It forms the western part of the Aussig region .- Adjacent landscapes :...
and, immediately east of that, the Bohemian Central Uplands which are separated from the Eastern Ore Mountains by narrow fingers of the aforementioned basin. South(east) of the Western Ore Mountains lie the Sokolov Basin
Sokolov Basin
The Sokolov Basin or Falkenau Basin is a drainage basin and geomorphological unit in Czechia. It is located in northwestern Bohemia and covers an area of 312 km². The basin has an average width of eight kilometres and runs along the southern foot of the Ore Mountains.-Geography :To the north rise...
, the Eger Graben
Eger Graben
The Eger Graben is a geographical unit in the Czech Republic. It runs southwards, parallel to the Ore Mountains and its formation is linked with that of the mountain range.- Topography :...
and the Doupov Mountains. To the north the boundary is less sharply defined because the Ore Mountains, a typical example of a fault-block, descend very gradually.
The topographical transition from the Western and Central Ore Mountains to the loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
hill country to the north between Zwickau
Zwickau
Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...
and Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
is referred to as the Ore Mountain Basin
Ore Mountain Basin
The Ore Mountain Basin or Erzgebirge Basin is a a natural region in the German federal state of Saxony, that is part of the Saxon Lowland...
; that from the Eastern Ore Mountains as the Ore Mountain Foreland
Ore Mountain Foreland
The Ore Mountain Foreland is a strip of countryside of about 200 m to high, in the German state of Saxony, that lies immediately north of the German Ore Mountains and runs mainly through the areas of Zwickauer Land, Zwickau, Chemnitzer Land, Chemnitz, Mittelsachsen and the country south of Dresden...
. Between Freital
Freital
Freital is the biggest town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the small river Weißeritz, 8 km southwest of Dresden.- Geography :...
and Pirna
Pirna
Pirna is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 40,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt...
, the area is called the Dresden Ore Mountain Foreland (Dresdner Erzgebirgsvorland) or Bannewitz-Possendorf-Burkhardswald Plateau (Bannewitz-Possendorf-Burkhardswalder Plateau). Geologically the Ore Mountains reach the city limits of Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
at the Windberg
Windberg (Freital)
The Windberg is a hill in the borough of Freital near Dresden in the German federal state of Saxony. It is the town's Hausberg or local mountain.- Geomorphology and natural features :...
hill near Freital and the Karsdorf Fault
Karsdorf Fault
The Karsdorf Fault is a striking tectonic fracture line, which is part of the Central Saxon Fault, and is located in the eastern Ore Mountains and the Elbe Valley Slate Mountains...
. The V-shaped valleys of the Ore Mountains break through this fault and the shoulder of the Dresden Basin
Dresden Basin
The Dresden Basin is a roughly 45 km long and 10 km wide area of the Elbe Valley between the towns of Pirna and Meißen. The city of Dresden lies in the Dresden Basin.- Geography :...
.
The Ore Mountains belong to the Bohemian Massif
Bohemian Massif
The Bohemian Massif; or Český masiv; is in the geology of Central Europe a large massif stretching over central Czech republic, eastern Germany, southern Poland and northern Austria...
within Europe's Central Uplands, a massif that also includes the Upper Palatine Forest, the Bohemian Forest
Bohemian Forest
The Bohemian Forest, also known in Czech as Šumava , is a low mountain range in Central Europe. Geographically, the mountains extend from South Bohemia in the Czech Republic to Austria and Bavaria in Germany...
, the Bavarian Forest
Bavarian Forest
thumb|The village of Zell in the Bavarian ForestThe Bavarian Forest is a wooded low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany. It extends along the Czech border and is continued on the Czech side by the Šumava . Geographically the Bavarian Forest and Bohemian Forest are sections of the same mountain range...
, the Lusatian Mountains
Lusatian Mountains
The Lusatian Mountains are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes, located on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic east of the Elbe river, a continuation of the Ore Mountains range west of the Elbe valley...
, the Iser Mountains, the Giant Mountains and the Inner-Bohemian Mountains. At the same time it forms a y-shaped mountain chain, along with the Upper Palatine Forest, Bohemian Forest, Fichtelgebirge
Fichtelgebirge
The Fichtelgebirge is a mountain range in northeastern Bavaria, Germany. It extends from the valley of the Red Main River to the Czech border, a few foothills spilling over into the Czech Republic. It continues in a northeastern direction as the Ore Mountains, and in a southeastern direction as...
, Franconian Forest, Thuringian Slate Mountains and Thuringian Forest
Thuringian Forest
The Thuringian Forest running northwest to southeast, forms a continuous stretch of ancient rounded mountains posing ample difficulties in transit routing save through a few navigable passes in the southern reaches of the German state of Thuringia. It is about long and wide...
, that has no unique name but is, climatically, very uniform.
According to cultural tradition, Zwickau is seen historically as part of the Ore Mountains, Chemnitz is seen historically as just lying outside them, but Freiberg is included. The supposed limit of the Ore Mountains continues, southwest of Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, to the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe sandstone highlands is a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side...
. From this perspective, its main characteristics, i.e. gently-sloping plateaus climbing up to the ridgeline incised by V-shaped valleys, continue to the southern edge of the Dresden Basin
Dresden Basin
The Dresden Basin is a roughly 45 km long and 10 km wide area of the Elbe Valley between the towns of Pirna and Meißen. The city of Dresden lies in the Dresden Basin.- Geography :...
. North of the Ore Mountains the landscape gradually transitions into the Saxon Lowland
Saxon Lowland
The Saxon Lowland or Saxon Löss Fields refer to a natural region that lies mainly within the state of Saxony in central Germany. In addition, small areas of this region extend to the northwest and west into Saxony-Anhalt , to the southeast into Thuringia and to the northeast into Brandenburg...
and Saxon Elbeland
Saxon Elbeland
The Saxon Elbeland is a term used in more recent times which describes a region along the Elbe, whose boundaries are not clearly defined, but which extends roughly from the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to Torgau. The best-known cities and town in this area are Dresden, Meißen, Riesa and Torgau...
. Its cultural-geographical transition to Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sandstone Mountains....
in the area of the Müglitz
Müglitz (river)
The Müglitz is a river, about 49 km long, and a left tributary of the Elbe in the German state of Saxony.- Course :It rises in the Eastern Ore Mountains on the border between the German state of Saxony and the Czech Republic near the demolished Bohemian village of Mohelnice from two headstreams:*...
and Gottleuba
Gottleuba
The Gottleuba is a small river in the Czech Republic and Germany, left tributary of the Elbe. It source is in the eastern part of the Ore Mountains, north of Ústí nad Labem. After a few km it crosses the Czech-German border, and flows the rest of its 34 km in Saxony. It passes the Gottleuba Dam and...
valleys is very indistinct
Notable peaks
The highest mountain in the Ore Mountains is the KlínovecKlínovec
Klínovec is the highest peak of the Ore Mountains, located in the Czech Republic's part of the mountains at . There is an important TV broadcasting tower on the top of the mountain.- Location :...
(German: Keilberg) at 1,244 metres in the Bohemian part of the range. The highest elevation on the Saxon side and at the same time the highest mountain in East Germany is the 1,215 metre high Fichtelberg. The Ore Mountains has about thirty summits with a height of over , but not all are clearly defined mountains. Most of them occur around the Klínovec and the Fichtelberg. About a third lie on the Saxon side of the border.
See: List of mountains in the Ore Mountains
Important rivers
From west to east:- Zwota / Svatava (Zwodau)
- RolavaRolavaThe Rolava is a left tributary of the Eger river in the northwest of the Czech Republic.It rises in the Bohemian part of the Ore Mountains about 2 km north of the village of Rolava near the border with Saxony. North of its source is the high moor of Großer Kranichsee, whose waters the Rolava...
(Rohlau) - Zwickauer MuldeZwickauer MuldeThe Zwickauer Mulde is a river in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is the left tributary of the Mulde and 166 km in length.The source of the river is in the Ore Mountains, near Schöneck, in the Vogtlandkreis. It runs northeast to Aue, then northwest to Zwickau , and further north through...
- SchwarzwasserSchwarzwasser (Mulde)The Schwarzwasser is a right tributary of the Zwickauer Mulde in the German state of Saxony and the Czech Republic.The Schwarzwasser is a right tributary of the Zwickauer Mulde in the German state of Saxony and the Czech Republic....
- ChemnitzChemnitz (river)The Chemnitz is a river in Saxony, Germany, right tributary of the Zwickauer Mulde. It gave name to the city of Chemnitz, where it is formed by the smaller rivers Zwönitz and Würschnitz. It joins the Zwickauer Mulde near Wechselburg, south of Rochlitz and has a total length of 75 km....
- WürschnitzWürschnitz (river)Würschnitz is a river of Saxony, Germany.-See also:*List of rivers of Saxony...
- ZwönitzZwönitz (river)Zwönitz is a river of Saxony, Germany.-See also:*List of rivers of Saxony...
- Würschnitz
- Schwarzwasser
- Freiberger MuldeFreiberger MuldeThe Freiberger Mulde is a river in Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Mulde and 124 km in length.The source of the river is in the Ore Mountains, near Moldava, in the Czech Republic. It runs northwest, crossing the border with Germany after a few km, to Freiberg , and further...
- Zschopau
- Flöha
- Zschopau
- Red Weißeritz and Wild Weißeritz
- MüglitzMüglitz (river)The Müglitz is a river, about 49 km long, and a left tributary of the Elbe in the German state of Saxony.- Course :It rises in the Eastern Ore Mountains on the border between the German state of Saxony and the Czech Republic near the demolished Bohemian village of Mohelnice from two headstreams:*...
- GottleubaGottleubaThe Gottleuba is a small river in the Czech Republic and Germany, left tributary of the Elbe. It source is in the eastern part of the Ore Mountains, north of Ústí nad Labem. After a few km it crosses the Czech-German border, and flows the rest of its 34 km in Saxony. It passes the Gottleuba Dam and...
Natural regions
In the division of Germany into natural regions by Meynen and others, that was carried out Germany-wide in the 1950s, the Ore Mountains were major unit group 42:- 42 Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge)
- 420 Southern slopes of the Ore Mountains (Südabdachung des Erzgebirges)
- 421 Upper Western Ore Mountains (Oberes Westerzgebirge)
- 422 Upper Eastern Ore Mountains (Oberes Osterzgebirge)
- 423 Lower Western Ore Mountains (Unteres Westerzgebirge)
- 424 Lower Eastern Ore Mountains (Unteres Osterzgebirge)
Even after the reclassification of natural regions by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation is the German government’s scientific authority with responsibility for national and international nature conservation...
in 1994 the Ore Mountains, region D16, remained a major unit group with almost unchanged boundaries. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, the working group, Naturhaushalt und Gebietscharakter of the Saxon Academy of Sciences (Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften) in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
added to the Ore Mountains the major unit group of Vogtland
Vogtland
The term Vogtland refers to a region reaching across the German free states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and into the Czech Republic . The name of the region contains a reference to the former leadership by the Vögte of Weida, Gera and Plauen, which translates approximately to advocates or lord...
to the west and the major landscape units of Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sandstone Mountains....
, Lusatian Highlands and Zittau Mountains to the east into one overarching unit, the Saxon Highlands and Uplands
Saxon Highlands and Uplands
The Saxon Highlands and Uplands refer to a natural region mainly in the south of Saxony with small elements also in southeast Thuringia and northeast Bavaria...
. In addition, its internal divisions were changed. Former major unit 420 was grouped with the western part of major units 421 and 423 to form a new major unit, the Western Ore Mountains (Westerzgebirge), the eastern part of major units 421 and 423 became the Central Ore Mountains (Mittelerzgebirge) and major units 422 and 424 became the Eastern Ore Mountains (Osterzgebirge).
The current division therefore looks as follows:
- Saxon Highlands and UplandsSaxon Highlands and UplandsThe Saxon Highlands and Uplands refer to a natural region mainly in the south of Saxony with small elements also in southeast Thuringia and northeast Bavaria...
(Sächsisches Bergland und Mittelgebirge)- Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge)
- Western Ore MountainsWestern Ore MountainsThe Western Ore Mountains is a natural region that forms the westernmost part of the Ore Mountains in the German federal state of Saxony. It is also part of the major landscape unit known as the Saxon Highlands and Uplands...
(Westerzgebirge) - Central Ore MountainsCentral Ore MountainsThe Central or Middle Ore Mountains is a natural region that forms the central-western part of the Ore Mountains in the German federal state of Saxony. It is part of the overarching unit, the Saxon Highlands and Uplands...
(Mittelerzgebirge) - Eastern Ore MountainsEastern Ore MountainsThe Eastern Ore Mountains form a natural region that covers the eastern part of the Saxon Ore Mountains. It is part of the major landscape unit, the Saxon Highlands and Uplands...
(Osterzgebirge)
- Western Ore Mountains
- Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge)
The geographic unit of the Southern Slopes of the Ore Mountains remains unchanged under the title of Southern Ore Mountains (Süderzgebirge).
Climate
The climateClimate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
of the higher regions of the Ore Mountains is markedly harsh in character. Temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
s are considerably lower all year round than in the lowlands and the summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
is noticeably shorter and cool days are frequent. The average annual temperatures only reach values of 3 to 5 °C. In Oberwiesenthal
Oberwiesenthal
Oberwiesenthal is a town and a ski resort in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony in Germany. It is situated in the Erzgebirge mountains, on the border with the Czech Republic, 19 km south of Annaberg-Buchholz, and 23 km northeast of Karlovy Vary. At , it is the highest town in Germany...
, which lies at a height of , there are an average of only about 140 frost-free days per year. That said, based on the reports of earlier chroniclers the climate of the upper Ore Mountains in past centuries must have been even harsher than it is today. Sources from earlier periods describe hard winters in which cattle froze to death in their stalls and even in April so much snow fell that houses and cellars were snowed in. The population was regularly cut off from the outside world. The upper Ore Mountains was often given the nickname Saxon Siberia
Saxon Siberia
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....
in the past.
The fault block mountain range that climbs from northwest to southeast, and which enables prolonged rain to fall as orographic rain when weather systems drive in from the west and northwest, gives rise to precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
almost twice as high as that in the lowlands which rises to over 1,100 mm on the upper reaches of the mountains. Since a large part of the precipitation falls as snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
, in many years a thick and permanent layer of snow remains until April. The ridges of the Ore Mountains are one of the snowiest areas in the German Central Uplands
Central Uplands
The Central Uplands is one of the three major natural regions of Germany and covers most of the land area of the country. To the north lies the North German Plain or Northern Lowland; to the south, the Alps and the Alpine Foreland.- Formation :...
. Foehn winds, and also the so-called Bohemian Wind may occur during certain specific southerly weather conditions.
As a result of the climate and the heavy amounts of snow there is near Satzung, in the border region with Bohemia, at just under a natural Dwarf Mountain Pine region
Mountain Pine
Pinus mugo, the Mountain Pine or Mugo Pine, is a high-altitude European pine, found in the Pyrenees, Alps, Erzgebirge, Carpathians, northern Apennines and Balkan Peninsula mountains from 1,000 m to 2,200 m, occasionally as low as 200 m in the north of the range in Germany and Poland, and as high...
. By comparison, in the Alps these pines do not occur until 1,600 to .
History
Up to the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the Ore Mountains were virtually unsettled and covered with dense forests. However, when silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
and tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
ore deposits were discovered in the region in the 15th century, people started inhabiting the mountains and founding new cities. Because of its rich mineral resources including fluorspar, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
and uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
, as well as silver and tin, the German-speaking population has called the range Erzgebirge, which literally means "ore mountain range". Silver found in Joachimsthal was used to mint coins known as (Joachims)Thaler
Thaler
The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or tolar. Etymologically, "Thaler" is an abbreviation of "Joachimsthaler", a coin type from the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, where some of the first such...
, from which the word "dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
" is derived.
The mountains were rich not only in silver, but also in uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
, as was discovered in the 19th century. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
experts searched for remnants of the German nuclear energy project
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
to support the Soviet atomic bomb project
Soviet atomic bomb project
The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb , was a clandestine research and development program began during and post-World War II, in the wake of the Soviet Union's discovery of the United States' nuclear project...
. A mining company called SDAG Wismut
SDAG Wismut
The SAG/SDAG Wismut was a uranium mining company in East Germany producing 230,400 tonnes of uranium between 1947 and 1990. In 1991 it was transformed into the Wismut GmbH owned by the state of Germany which is now responsible for the recultivation of the former mining and milling areas...
(named after bismuth
Bismuth
Bismuth is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a trivalent poor metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally uncombined, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead...
, but the name was a cover-up for the Eastern Bloc's highly secretive uranium mining) operated until the fall of communism, causing environmental damage.
As the ore deposits and the related business often declined, former miners had to look for new ways to feed their families in an area largely unsuited for agriculture; also, as women historically could not work in mines, they had to find other ways of adding something to the family income. In addition to lace
Lace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
making and weaving, the inhabitants went into wood carving, producing toys and religious figures. Thus, the Ore Mountain region became famous for many Christmas traditions. Nutcracker
Nutcracker
A nutcracker is a mechanical device for cracking nuts. Usually they work on the principle of moments as described in Archimedes' analysis of the lever...
s, "Räuchermänner", "Christmas pyramid
Christmas pyramid
A Christmas Pyramid is a Christmas decoration that has its roots in the Erzgebirge of Germany but has become popular throughout the country. It is suggested that the Christmas pyramid is a predecessor of the Christmas tree; These pyramids themselves are not limited to Christmas: in the Erzgebirge...
s" (carousels with figures of the Christmas story or from mining) and Schwibbogen
Schwibbogen
A Schwibbogen is a decorative candle-holder from the Ore Mountains region of Saxony, Germany.The first metal Schwibbogen was made in 1740 in Johanngeorgenstadt. The early candle arches always consisted of black ore. They were made out of one single forged piece and could be painted. The number of...
(wooden arcs with candles in the windows, representing a mine entrance) are some of many Christmas goods made in the Ore Mountains. Seiffen
Seiffen
The town of Seiffen is located in the district of Erzgebirgskreis, which is the south-center of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. The earliest record of the town is from 1324 when it was referred to as "Cynsifen"....
in the Eastern Ore Mountains is a centre of the wooden toy industry.
Nature
The upper western part of the Ore Mountains, known in German as Erzgebirge, belongs to the Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature ParkOre Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park
The Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park extends across the upper slopes of the Vogtland and Ore Mountains in southeastern Germany along its international border with Czech Republic. It is the longest nature park in Germany with a total length of 120 km. Its management organisation is the...
. The eastern part, called the Eastern Ore Mountains
Eastern Ore Mountains
The Eastern Ore Mountains form a natural region that covers the eastern part of the Saxon Ore Mountains. It is part of the major landscape unit, the Saxon Highlands and Uplands...
(Osterzgebirge), is a protected landscape. Further small areas are nature reserves and natural monuments, and are protected by the state.
Mining and Pollution
Ever since the settlement in mediaeval times, the Ore Mountains were farmed intensively. This led to widespread clearings of the originally thick forest, also to keep up with enormous need for wood in mining and metallurgy and mining, including dumps, impoundments, and ditches in many places, also directly shaped the scenery and the biospheres of plants and animals.The first evidences for local forest dieback due to the fume of cottages arose in the 19th century. In the 20th century, several crests were deforested because of their climatically bad location. Thus, in recent years, mixed forests are cultivated instead of monocultures of spruces because the mixed forests are more resistant to weather effects and pests.
The Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park
Nevertheless, human interventions have created a unique cultural landscape in which a large number of typical biotopes which are worthy of protection such as mountain meadows and rare wetlands which partly had become rare. Today, even old leftovers from former mining offer a living environment for a lot of plants and animals. Mostly in the west of the Ore Mountains, there are huge woodlands on stretch in the highest position which are all used for forestry. So the major part of the natural park The Ore Mountains/Vogtland Nature Park is covered with woodland to 61 percent. Moreover, here are lying several lager moors which are only fed by rain water. In a lot of these different areas which are under protection rare and sophisticated species like different species of orchids and gentian, the Eurasian Pygmy Owl and kingfisher find a place of retreat. The existence of some alpine species of plants and animals is known in the heights of the mountains further proven existence of these species is only known to be found at the Sudeten mountains or the Alps. After the improvement of living condition once displaced animals such as eagle owls and the Black Stork came back in recent years.Tourism
The mountains are a popular winter sports resort.Gallery
See also
- Portal:Ore Mountains
- ErzgebirgischErzgebirgischErzgebirgisch is an Upper German dialect, probably belonging to the Franconian dialect group, spoken mainly in the central Erzgebirge . It has received relatively little academic attention...
, the local German dialect - List of mountains in the Ore Mountains
- Hans Carl von CarlowitzHans Carl von CarlowitzHans Carl von Carlowitz, originally Hannß Carl von Carlowitz, was a German tax accountant and mining administrator. His book Sylvicultura oeconomica, oder haußwirthliche Nachricht und Naturmäßige Anweisung zur wilden Baum-Zucht was the first comprehensive treatise about forestry...
(1645–1714), expert for mining and forestry
Sources
- Harald Häckel, Joachim Kunze: Unser schönes Erzgebirge. 4th edition, Häckel 2001, ISBN 3-9803680-0-9
- Peter Rölke (Hrsg.): Wander- & Naturführer Osterzgebirge, Berg- & Naturverlag Rölke, Dresden 2007, ISBN 978-3-934514-20-1
- Müller, Ralph u.a.: Wander- & Naturführer Westerzgebirge, Berg- & Naturverlag Rölke, Dresden 2002, ISBN 3-934514-11-1
- NN: Kompass Karten: Erzgebirge West, Mitte, Ost. Wander- und Radwanderkarte 1:50.000, GPS kompatibel. Kompass Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-85491-954-9
- NN: Erzgebirge, Vogtland, Chemnitz. HB Bildatlas, Heft No. 171. 2., akt. Aufl. 2001, ISBN 3-616-06271-3
- Peter Rochhaus: Berühmte Erzgebirger in Daten und Geschichten. Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2006, ISBN 978-3-86680-020-5
- Siegfried Roßberg: Die Entwicklung des Verkehrswesens im Erzgebirge - Der Kraftverkehr. Bildverlag Böttger, Witzschdorf 2005, ISBN 3-9808250-9-4
- Bernd Wurlitzer: Erzgebirge, Vogtland. Marco Polo Reiseführer. 5., akt. Aufl. Mairs Geographischer Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-8297-0005-9
External links
- Animation
- UNESCO World Heritage Project "Montanregion Erzgebirge"
- http://www.montanregion-erzgebirge.de/
- Hotel St. Anna - accommodation in the Ore Mountains