Saxon Siberia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saxon Siberia is a term used in the 18th century for the upper Western Ore Mountains and Vogtland .

"Saxon Siberia" in a description from 1855

Origin and Distribution

It goes back to the harsh climate observed in the ridges. This was described by an Austrian rectification commission in 1723 for the Gottesgab located directly on the Saxon-Bohemian border as follows:

"Gottesgab is a place [...] right on the Sachsenland in the roughest forests, where no haber, no herb grows, yes no sloe, no thorn bush. Nobody knows anything about the summer here. The local area usually lies under the snow for eight months, which in some areas is piled up to many cubits by violent storm winds, and the fog is often so thick that travelers often get lost, miss the path and freeze to death in the snow have to."

The pastor and chronicler Georg Körner from Bockau opposed the comparisons of the Ore Mountains with Siberia that emerged in view of these descriptions as early as 1757. He wrote:

“If you pick up the double land chart of the Erzgebirge district published by Mr. Matthias Seuttern; one should almost be frightened and think that our region is a real desert, little Syberia and, as the Bohemians used to mockingly called it, a real land of hunger and hunger: but one considers the so many populous cities, towns and villages of it; so this prejudice will soon be lost. "

In 1775 the term Saxon Siberia was first explained in detail in the publication "Mineralogical History of the Saxon Ore Mountains" published anonymously by Carl Ernst Bohn in Hamburg . Conjectures point to the Saxon geologist Johann Friedrich Wilhelm von Charpentier as the author. There it says:

“News from the so-called Saxon Siberia [sic]. Here in our upper mountains we have a rather extensive area which is so wild and rough that it is for this reason usually called the Saxon Siberia. It extends from Eybenstock , but on the other to the Voigtland Creys , after the Fichtelberg [meaning the Fichtelgebirge ]. Instead of having potatoes, cabbage, turnips and oats (although the latter, as it is hardly ripe for the tenth time, at least) in other very rough places ( such as Jöhstadt , statutes , Kuhnheyde , Neudorf , Joh. Georgenstadt , Wiesenthal etc.) but built to obtain the necessary straw for the cattle), a potato never gets away here, let alone a grain of grain. Everything is, without feeling a furrow of farmland there, only covered with thick, wild and dark forest. Generally, in winter, which makes up most of the year, the snow is 3 cubits high, and often does not come completely before Midsummer, especially in the depths where the wind sometimes brings it to 10, 20, even 30 cubits from the mountains away. But here it is where Volcanus set up his proper workshops. The hammer works : Ober- and Unter-Blauenthal , Neidhardtsthal , Wildenthal , Wittingthal , Schlössel- Unterwiesenthal , Carlsfeld , with the associated glassworks , Morgenroths-Rautenkranzs - and Tannenbergsthal are documented partly in and partly around this wilderness. ... Sothane forest houses are often completely different in winter, so that their owners have to work their way out with shovels and dig light holes through their windows ...

In the meantime this rough desert is the real fatherland of our most and best precious stones, which are found partly from the rocks, like the topazes from the snail stone , partly from the Auersberger , Steinbächer , Sauschwemmer , Knocker and Pechhöfer soap works under the hermaphrodite attachments . "

By August Schumann lexicon of Saxony, which appeared at the beginning of the 19th century in large numbers, the term was Saxon Siberia more widespread. Among other things, he writes about the village of Carlsfeld :

“The area of ​​Carlsfeld is called by many the Saxon Siberia and is however rough and barren. It is true that the mountains do not have their highest points here, but at Annaberg , Bärenstein and Wiesenthal, but the dense forests, which closely surround Karlsfeld, give this region the appearance of a sad wilderness, prolong the winter and hinder culture. So there is still no grain cultivation here, but potatoes have been cultivated with success for several years, only because of the lack of space not a tenth part of the need can be produced. "

Hermann Grimm also mentions the Saxon Siberia in his book The picturesque and romantic Mulden-Hochland or walks through the valleys of both Mulden and their tributaries , published in 1847 :

“[…] A picture [appears] in front of the soul, which consists mainly of fog, frost and cold rain showers, and partly of a poor plateau, staring around by bare rocks, and of a heap of miserable shingled huts; an image in general that is dressed in more gloomy than cheerful colors. I do not want to deny how aptly these few lines give an outline of all those places that are located in the so-called 'Saxon Siberia', and which, however, already begins near Schwarzenberg . "

Johann Traugott Lindner wrote in 1848 in his hikes through the most interesting areas of the Saxon Upper Ore Mountains :

"From Burkhardtsgrün you have a distant view of the so-called Saxon Siberia, which does not deserve this name in any way, when you collect the road money."

and in the section about Eibenstock :

“Around noon, the high mountain wall stretches ... up, everywhere covered with the dark green of the spruce forest. This gives the landscape a serious and sinister appearance, which has given the flatlands the opportunity to be named 'Saxon Siberia'. How often this title ... may have been contradicted! "

While there are numerous references in the literature in which the Ore Mountains are portrayed as a barren and inhospitable area in the 18th and 19th centuries, the change from an underestimated mountain region to a popular travel destination was not achieved until around 1900. Above all, well-known representatives of the Ore Mountains Association like Ernst Köhler and Friedrich Hermann Löscher turned against what they saw as the “completely inapplicable” term Saxon Siberia. Instead of focusing solely on the harsh weather conditions, other aspects now came to the fore. In his dissertation, Das Sächsische Sibirien , published in 1907, Philipp Weigel points to the varied economic life, which not only consisted of mining, hammer mills and forestry, but also included trimmings , lace , embroidery, colored and silk embroidery, ice-cream glove production and glass production. In order to promote tourism, the natural beauty of the Ore Mountains and the healthy mountain climate were brought forward to the public, which led to the development of a marked hiking and summer vacation. To achieve the goal of making the Ore Mountains better known to hikers from near and far, the Ore Mountains Association built around 25 observation towers and mountain inns in the first 50 years of its existence.

literature

  • Max Wünschmann: About the use of the completely inaccurate name “Saxon Siberia” for our Ore Mountains and the name “The Ore Mountains”. In: Glückauf. 30. 1910, pp. 9-10.
  • Philipp Weigel: The Saxon Siberia. His economic life . Berlin: Trenkel, 1907.
  • Weckschmidt: Another salvation of honor for our Ore Mountains from ancient times. In: Glückauf. 30. 1910, p. 23.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Josef Schaller : Topography of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Second part. Elbow Circle . Prague 1785, p. 98
  2. ↑ Georg Körner: Bockauische Chronik, or Old and New Messages from Bockau bey Schneeberg, in the Schwarzenberg district office , 1757, p. 205. ( digitized version )
  3. ↑ Carl Ernst Bohn (ed.): Mineralogical history of the Saxon Ore Mountains. Hamburg, 1775, p. 48. ( digitized version )
  4. ↑ cf. Karlsfeld, * Carlsfeld, also Karolsfeld . In: August Schumann : Complete State, Post and Newspaper Lexicon of Saxony. 4th volume. Schumann, Zwickau 1817, p. 468 f.
  5. ↑ Hermann Grimm: The picturesque and romantic Mulden highlands or hikes through the valleys of both Mulden and their tributaries. Secondary title: The Saxon Ore Mountains in a picturesque, historical and artistic way. A guide for mountain friends and art lovers. With 50 steel engravings based on original drawings by CJ Leypold and Carl Heinrich Beichling and 1 map, published by HH Grimm, Dresden 1847, p. 182 f. Digitized
  6. ^ Johann Traugott Lindner: Walks through the most interesting areas of the Saxon Upper Ore Mountains. A contribution to the special knowledge of the same, of its popular life, of the types of trade, customs and usages. Second hike . With Rudolph and Dieterici. Annaberg 1848, page 21. ( digitized version )
  7. ^ Johann Traugott Lindner: Walks through the most interesting areas of the Saxon Upper Ore Mountains. A contribution to the special knowledge of the same, of its popular life, of the types of trade, customs and usages. Second hike . With Rudolph and Dieterici. Annaberg 1848, pages 29-30. ( Digitized version )
  8. ↑ Max Wünschmann: About the emergence of the completely inaccurate designation "Saxon Siberia" for our Ore Mountains and the name "The Ore Mountains". In: Glückauf. 30. 1910, pp. 9-10.
  9. ↑ Weckschmidt: Another salvation of honor for our Ore Mountains from ancient times. In: Glückauf. 30. 1910, p. 23.
  10. ↑ Philipp Weigel: The Saxon Siberia. His economic life . Berlin: Trenkel, 1907.