Schwarzenberg celebrates 875 years of town history

Schwarzenberg in the Ore Mountains is celebrating 875 years of town history this year and is kicking off the festive year next Sunday with a jigsaw puzzle. Athletes from the Schwarzenberg runners' association will bring 14 puzzle pieces to the market square to draw attention to the 14 districts that make up the town, according to the town hall. The puzzle is intended to symbolize the cohesion of the town with its approximately 15,800 inhabitants.

The events for the anniversary are spread thematically throughout the year. Each month has a specific motto. The history of the town is closely linked to mining. Ore and tin discoveries once attracted thousands of people to the Westerzgebirge and made Schwarzenberg a prosperous center of the region. The listed old town, St. George's Church and the castle still bear witness to this today.

The writer Stefan Heym (1913-2001) created a literary monument to Schwarzenberg in 1984 with his novel of the same name, taking up a historical event from 1945. After the end of the Second World War, the Schwarzenberg region remained unoccupied for a few weeks. Neither the Americans nor the Russians marched in. As a result, structures of self-government were formed, but the "Free Republic of Schwarzenberg" remained an episode.