Old Freiberg-Teplitzer Poststrasse
The Alte Freiberg-Teplitzer Poststrasse is one of the Ore Mountains passes and was a traffic connection from the mountain town of Freiberg over the ridge of the Eastern Ore Mountains to the North Bohemian spa and bathing resort of Teplitz .
prehistory
On September 19, 1721, on behalf of Elector Friedrich August I of Saxony , an order of great importance was issued. It said, among other things, that the Elector "instead of the bithero standing in some places wooden, go through, but especially on country and post roads, erect stone columns and use them to mark the paths and distances of the places," . The implementation of this arrangement led to a whole system of post mile pillars, some of which are still in place today. From this measure, the Saxon ruler hoped above all to stimulate trade and manufacturers in Electoral Saxony, as well as greater convenience when traveling.
As early as 1713, Adam Friedrich Zürner , who later became the Land and Border Commissioner, tried to carefully determine the distances between the cities of Electoral Saxony with the help of the so-called "Geometric Car" .
In 1722 Zürner sent the specifications for the inscriptions on the five Freiberg distance columns based on his survey results to the Freiberg City Council. Afterwards, the following inscriptions were to be carved into the distance column in front of the main gate of the Freiberg fortifications, the Erbischer Tor, in the direction of today's Poststrasse: "Freyberg to Frauenstein 4 ½, Gräntze 8, Töeplitz 12".
This shows that a measured road from Freiberg to Teplitz already existed at that time. Converted to the units of measurement commonly used today, the above hourly information gives the following distances: from Freiberg to Frauenstein 20.4 km; to the border 36.5 km and to Teplitz 54.4 km.
Start of the survey
The measurement of the Poststrasse took place in the summer of 1722 “with Leipziger distance”, ie as a continuation of the Poststrasse beginning in Leipzig. On July 20, 1722, Adam Friedrich Zürner instructed his brother Carl Friedrich Zürner, who was commissioned with the measurement of this street: “First the Leipzig Distantz via Colditz , without touching Grimma, has to get to the Noßnische Post Hauß accurately, of all things, that the instrument is set up and on the Freyberger ordinary. Country road, on which at all times in the ordinary. To drive Gleiße until Freyberg ... are measured, ... From Freyberg, wherever it is done in the office, the right road to Toepliz to our border must be inquired at the post office. "
Unfortunately, Zürner's contemporary survey logs could not yet be determined, but on the basis of other archives and written sources as well as the results of several site inspections, it is possible to largely reconstruct the course of the old Freiberg-Teplitzer Poststrasse.
Course of the Poststrasse on the Saxon side
On the 1730 edition of Zürner's postal map of the Electoral Saxony, the post road from Freiberg to Teplitz is generally very generalized and incorrectly depicted in several places. This results in the following route: Freiberg - Weißenborn - Burkersdorf - Frauenstein - Reichenau - Hermsdorf / Erzgeb. - Customs house - border - Vltava ( Moldava ) - Costs ( Košťany ) –Teplice (Teplice). Back then, a mail on horseback or a postman on foot ran on this route.
The post house in Freiberg was chosen as the starting point for measuring the Poststrasse in the direction of Teplitz. The measuring instrument in the geometric carriage showed a reading of 22,284 rods from Leipzig . Teplitzer Strasse began in front of the Erbischer Tor. It crossed what was then Roßplatz (area in front of the current main post office, now Postplatz) and followed today's Poststrasse to its confluence with Wernerplatz. There used to be the well-known inn "Wilder Mann" or "Schiefer". At its “Gaststall” ( relaxation ), Teplitzer Straße turned east (today: the lowest part of Frauensteiner Straße) to Münzbach, which was not yet canalized at the time, and reached the important junction at the “ABC” inn. The quarter milestone with the row number 45 found its location in this area . “From here the pass road passed in 1678” until it reached the Lerchenberg or Lerchenhübel. There, the conditions on Teplitzer Strasse must have been catastrophic at times, because the Erdstrasse had turned into a multi-track ravine, which a carter complained about as early as 1673: "To Mr. Michael Hillgerß Refier bei Höhlwege" , Bohemian and other vehicles would have often overturned, but did Hilger never did anything to improve the situation. In winter this place is hardly passable. In 1849, today's Frauensteiner Strasse was re-routed at state expense. It followed the old "Langenrinner Kirchsteig" and was now called Neue Frauensteiner Straße. "Until about 1840 the Münzbachtalstraße was used as a pass road to Frauenstein", while the course and the name Teplitzer Straße gradually fell into oblivion.
At the intersection of Teplitzer Strasse and Kohlfuhrstrasse, there was supposed to have been an electoral post hour column "¾ hour away from the city ." If this information is correct, it could have been the half-mile column with the row number 46.
Before Weißenborn, the old Poststrasse crossed the Freiberg Mulde and passed the upper end of Weißenborn. A road house is mentioned here in 1833 .
Another half-mile pillar (row number 50) was built near Süßenbach on Burkersdorfer Rainung. The distance from Freiberg to Süßenborn is approx. 7 km, so that the post mile columns with the row numbers 47-49 could have been erected consequently. In Süßenbach in 1824 there was a " tavern with a little field cultivation on the Chaussee from Freiberg to Frauenstein and Teplitz" . An arm of the so-called Butterstraße to Dresden coming from Lichtenberg once touched the place.
The Poststrasse continued over the fields of the Burkersdorfer Güter. A quarter milestone with the number 51 was erected here in Zürner's time. This stone "is said to have been ruined in the 7-year war, of which only the base stone is still present" .
A full-mile column had to be erected near what was then the fishing estate near Burkersdorf. About the delivery costs of 12 groschen it says in the contemporary files: “Fuhrlohn from the whole mile column sub. 52. To lead (drive) from the Frauenstein castle to the Berbersdorffer Vieh Weg and unload them at the Marque ” . Burkersdorf was one of the largest villages in the Frauenstein office at that time. At the highest point in the village, the Freiberg-Teplitzer Poststrasse intersected the Butterstrasse leading to Friedersdorf (now part of the municipality of Klingenberg ). At this point in 1828 there is a report of an inn and a forge.
In the so-called Hofebusch (also Hof- or Hufenbüschgen) on the Frauensteiner Rainung, on royal land, another quarter milestone (row number 53) was set up. Poststrasse led past the two quartzite slate harders, Weißer Stein and Butter Pots.
Zürner reached the official city of Frauenstein during his survey trip through the Freiberg Gate. On the market square, the measuring device of his geometric wagon showed a distance of 26,823 rods from Leipzig. That is the equivalent of 121.5 km. Here he had a distance column erected with four pages of writing, which still exists today and bears the year 1725. Soon after leaving the city of Frauenstein through the Bohemian Gate, Zürner determined the location of the half-mile column with the row number 54 on the field of the town clerk Mäcken in the Reichenauer Flur at 27,000 rods, for which the Frauenstein town clerk had to pay 10 groschen wages.
To the southwest of Reichenau, the Poststrasse led across the fields belonging to the local hereditary court . Here Zürner instructed to set up the quarter milestone with the row number 55. During a later check it was found that this stone had fallen over, it was missing "the hat, 2 clamps and 3 pins" .
Zürner stipulated that a full mile column with the number 56 should be placed on Gottlieb Richter's fields in Reichenau. A wage of 21 groschen had to be paid for the transport.
The Niederdorf von Reichenau was cut through by the road leading from Rechenberg to Dresden , while the connecting road via Seyde to Altenberg separated from the Poststraße leading to Teplitz . At the junction of these two streets, a stone was erected around 1860 with the inscription "Altenberg", which was part of the system of royal Saxon milestones. In the Kreuzwald, the Teplitzer Poststrasse led past the remains of a pilgrimage church that had been destroyed in 1430. The ruins of this " desert church" were removed in 1877. Today only a memorial stone with the inscription "Church 1877" reminds of them.
Another quarter milestone (row number 57) was to be set up in Hermsdorf "at Samuel Preußler's Guthes Garten" . Due to the greater distance from Frauenstein, the wages were 1 thaler 4 groschen. The next thing that followed was a “half-mile column No. 58 also to Hermßdorff at George Fischer's garden fence ” . For the transport from Frauenstein 1 thaler 8 groschen had to be used.
The quarter milestone No. 59 was erected on the outbuilding of the customs collector Weigand at the Hermsdorf customs house. During a later inspection it was found that this stone was completely destroyed by the imperial snipers in the Seven Years' War. At the same time, attention was drawn to the lack of the “hour pillar on the stumbling block forest, not far from the Bohemian border” , for which 9 thalers and 2 groschen were set aside for the new production. The aforementioned customs house has a long history. A customs post has been located in Hermsdorf since ancient times. In 1683, the customs collector Michael Meyer zu Einsiedel built an escort house above the village at Hemmschuhwald at his own expense , to which, at his request, the border customs and land tax receipts were transferred.
The “Hemmschuh” nature reserve is located right next to the houses in Neurehefeld . This name is as old as the road leading through this forest area, because the so-called drag shoes were necessary as brake blocks for the teams and carts on sloping roads.
Between the sources of the Hirschbach and those of the Holperbach, the old Freiberg-Teplitzer Poststrasse crossed the border between the Electorate of Saxony and the Kingdom of Bohemia . On the Saxon side, the Neurehefeld settlement was established here in the 19th century, while on the Bohemian side, several houses, including the well-known "Fischerhaus" inn, were grouped around the Moldau (Moldava) border station built in 1884.
Course of the Poststrasse on the Bohemian side
No post mile pillars were erected in Bohemia, but Zürner carried out surveys here too. At that time, the dominions of Bilin ( Bílina ) and Teplitz in the Leitmeritz district extended here .
The border crossing and the current town of Nove Mesto (Neustadt) are now connected by an asphalt road over the former Glaserberg. Long trenches can be seen on both sides of this, the remains of the old course of the road.
Nove Mesto is located almost on the highest point of the Ore Mountains' shed, raised in the south. From here you can get to Mikulov (Niklasberg) on a very sloping road . This road was only rebuilt in the last third of the 19th century, as its old course had proven to be too steep and, especially when the snow melted, hardly passable. From Mikulov you can get to Hrob (monastery tomb) in the Bourlivec valley . In Zürner's time, however, the shorter connection over the 869 m high Bouřňák (striker) seems to have been preferred. To the west of today's connecting road between Nove Mesto and the mountain plateau is an unmistakable, approx. 2 to 3 m wide, excavated ditch on longer stretches. According to the site findings, the steep drop of the Ore Mountains was overcome approx. 300 m west of the summit plateau and as a continuation of this ditch. There are several staggered and south-facing ravines up to 6 m deep. According to the authors, these are the remains of a centuries-old pass road. For example, in the loess area of the Kraichgau between Bruchsal and Heilbronn, up to 14 m deep, extended ancient “caves” of approx. 300 km in length are known.
The numerous ravines are bundled at the foot of the striker. A stone cross with the inscription "Anton Steidl, November 8th, 1808" was discovered on one of them. The well-trodden paths head towards the formerly quite important town of Hrob (monastery grave). On the north side is the former Königshügel, a 449 m high elevation, named after King Friedrich Wilhelm III. was named by Prussia , who first visited it in 1835 and praised the good view.
The area between Hrob and Teplice has been largely changed in recent years by the North Bohemian open-cast lignite mining operation, so that no remnants of the post road leading above Kosten (Kostany) can be expected.
history
From the year 1680 it is handed down that due to the raging plague in Bohemia only a few pass roads of the Ore Mountains were allowed to be used, including “the roads from the monastery grave to the Hermsdorf customs house”.
Emperor Joseph II used this post road in 1779. On a house at the northern exit of Nove Mesto (Neustadt), a memorial plaque from the Teplitz Mountain Association reminded of the place where the emperor stopped for lunch.
After the road construction mandate of 1781 was issued, the Freiberg-Teplitzer Poststraße was started to be extended towards the road . Several sections between Freiberg and the border were filled with slag , which at the time was one of the best road construction materials.
In 1858, the two postal routes No. 258 Frauenstein-Freiberg and No. 260 Frauenstein-Teplitz operated on this road. In the following years, royal Saxon milestones were set up at these postal courses , almost all of which are still there today, from Frauenstein to the state border:
- Station stone Frauenstein I (market square - original location at the junction towards Kleinbobritzsch)
- Station stone Frauenstein II (as a signpost milestone, B 171)
- Junction stone Reichenau (as a signpost, Kammstrasse / Butterstrasse or Obergebirgische Poststrasse )
- Half-mile stone Reichenau (replica, Kammstrasse / Weicheltmühle car park - original in the Hartmannsdorf-Reichenau municipal office )
- Complete milestone Hermsdorf / Erzgeb. (Parking lot at Gasthaus Buschhaus - previously temporarily in Neuhermsdorf at Hotel Wettin )
- Half milestone Hermsdorf / Erzgeb. (between the Kalkwerk branch and Neuhermsdorf - carried away as a street maintenance stone in Holzhau , Muldentalstraße)
- Junction stone Rehefeld-Zaunhaus ( Hemmschuh car park )
- Whole milestone Rehefeld-Zaunhaus ( Hemmschuhwald in the direction of the Neurehefeld border crossing)
The section of road directly over the western crest of the "Stürmers" seems to have been given up in the 19th century in favor of the connection via Niklasberg. The latter road finally lost its former importance when the railway line Bienenmühle - Klostergrab was opened for passenger traffic in 1885 . The railway connection between Moldava and Hrob, which still exists today, is characterized by remarkable engineering structures (four bridges over 30 m high, the 300 m long S-shaped Hirschberg tunnel and the 210 m long watershed tunnel) and considerable gradient (steepest gradient 1:28, smallest curve radius 250 m) from.
See also
Web links
literature
- Balder Preuß / Jörg Brückner : On the course of the Saxon Poststrasse from Freiberg to Teplitz . In: Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsverein, No. 78, Freiberg in Sachsen, 1997, pp. 32–43.
- Balder Preuß / Jörg Brückner: How did the Saxon Post Road from Freiberg to Teplitz run? In: Erzgebirgische Heimatblätter 19 (1997), No. 3, pp. 5-9.
- Balder Preuß / Jörg Brückner: Searching for traces: the old post road between Freiberg and Teplitz . In: Yearbook of the Freiberg Region 1998, p. 174 ff.