Top 8 Castles around Breitenbrunn/Erzgebirge

The abandoned settlement of Königsmühle (Königův Mlýn) is only one and a half kilometers from the village of Háj (Stolzenhain), but is shielded by a hill between them. Until their expulsion in the fall of 1946, 57 Sudeten Germans lived here in six houses, five of which were used as homes for the Fohrmann, Siegel, Giebert, Pöschl, and Siegel families. The sixth building was the mill. Grain from Bohemia was milled in Königsmühle, and the flour was then transported further to Saxony. This trade route (also for ore and timber) has sunk into the landscape about three meters deep due to centuries of heavy wagon traffic. After the end of the war, the ethnic German population was expelled from Czechoslovakia; approximately three million people were forced to flee, and around 3,000 communities, villages, and hamlets disappeared. Königsmühle is one of the few sites that can serve as a memorial to this aftermath of World War II. At the initiative of Czech cultural scientist and photographer Petr Mikšíček, the DoKrajin association has conserved the remains of the buildings, created informative display panels, and decorated the grounds with land art. The decline of Königsmühle has been halted, and the memory of its former residents is now kept alive.

The Evangelical Lutheran St. George's Church in Schwarzenberg/Erzgebirge is an outstanding example of Baroque sacred architecture and, together with the neighboring castle, dominates the cityscape of the old town. **History and Construction** The origins of the parish date back to the 12th century. The present church was built between 1690 and 1699 according to plans by the Lößnitz master builder Johann Georg Roth, as the previous church on the lower market square had become too small and dilapidated. Half of the building site was donated by the Saxon Elector Johann Georg III and the other half by Balthasar Lehmann, the Schwarzenberg Oberzehnder. Construction was carried out by master mason Johann Georg Pauli and master carpenter Samuel Georg. The church, designed as a transverse church, was consecrated on October 22, 1699. **Architecture and Furnishings** The interior of the church impresses with its cantilevered wooden ceiling, added in 1728 and considered a technical masterpiece with a clear width of 34 × 18 meters. The Baroque furnishings include a magnificently carved altar, an artfully wrought choir screen from 1721, crafted by the Schwarzenberg master blacksmith Zacharias Georgi, as well as a Baroque pulpit and a surrounding gallery with numerous boxes. **Music and Organ** St. George's Church is an important center of sacred music. In 1993, a new organ by the Hermann Eule company from Bautzen was installed. It has 39 stops on slider chests and is based on historical models. Concerts are held here regularly, including the "Music Summer in St. Georgen" concert series and the internationally renowned Erzgebirge Music Festival. **Current Condition** Despite its structural integrity, the church is showing signs of age-related damage. Cracks in the masonry and leaky windows are endangering the building's structure. Parts of the gallery had to be closed off in 2018 due to the risk of falling. A comprehensive renovation is necessary to preserve the church as a spiritual and cultural center.

very beautiful. Always worth a trip

you can take a stop here

The Frankonia-Seilbahn was a cable car solely for freight transport in Beierfeld. It connected the Zwönitz–Scheibenberg railway line with Frankonia AG, which was by far the largest industrial enterprise in Beierfeld at the time. The location of Beierfeld station on the Zwönitz–Scheibenberg line, opened in 1900, was extremely unfavorable for Beierfeld. Due to the steep gradient of the access road to the town, the dispatch of goods in particular proved difficult. Therefore, among other things, the construction of an trackless railway or a pure freight railway to Schwarzenberg station was considered, but these variants failed as early as the planning phase. Due to the First World War, there was a shortage of horses for freight purposes. The situation became increasingly difficult, especially for Frankonia AG, which produced military supplies, as urgently needed goods deliveries accumulated at Beierfeld station. (https://www.wikiwand.com/de/Frankonia-Seilbahn)

A landmark of the city of Schwarzenberg, visible from afar.

It's worth a trip here, but it's very busy on the Advent weekends🙈

Here you will receive a point for the digital hiking pin at SummitLynx. The church history in Schwarzenberg is probably almost as old as the castle, which was built around 1150, because it was common to build a chapel when establishing a settlement. The current church building of St. Georgen, which together with the castle forms Schwarzenberg's landmark, was built between 1690 and 1699 after the little church on the lower market had become dilapidated and too small. The Reformation had already arrived in Schwarzenberg in 1529. https://www.st-georgen-schwarzenberg.de/