Fichtelberg (Upper Franconia)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
coat of arms Germany map
Coat of arms of the municipality of Fichtelberg
Fichtelberg (Upper Franconia)
Map of Germany, position of the municipality Fichtelberg highlighted

Coordinates: 50 ° 0 '  N , 11 ° 51'  E

Basic data
State : Bavaria
Administrative region : Upper Franconia
County : Bayreuth
Height : 685 m above sea level NHN
Area : 5.16 km 2
Residents: 1793 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 348 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code : 95686
Area code : 09272
License plate : BT, EBS , ESB , KEM , MÜB , PEG
Community key : 09 4 72 138
Community structure: 3 districts
Address of the
municipal administration: 		Gablonzer Str. 11
95686 Fichtelberg
Website : www.fichtelberg.de
Mayor : Sebastian Voit ( CSU )
Location of the municipality of Fichtelberg in the district of Bayreuth
Landkreis Nürnberger Land Bayreuth Bayreuth Landkreis Hof Landkreis Wunsiedel im Fichtelgebirge Landkreis Kulmbach Landkreis Lichtenfels Landkreis Bamberg Landkreis Forchheim Landkreis Tirschenreuth Landkreis Neustadt an der Waldnaab Landkreis Amberg-Sulzbach Prüll Warmensteinacher Forst-Nord Waidacher Forst Waidacher Forst Veldensteiner Forst Neubauer Forst-Nord Waischenfeld Bayreuth Heinersreuther Forst Glashüttener Forst Forst Neustädtlein am Forst Gemeindefreies Gebiet Fichtelberg Emtmannsberg Haag Seybothenreuth Creußen Warmensteinach Weidenberg Schnabelwaid Prebitz Plech Mistelgau Mistelbach (Oberfranken) Hummeltal Heinersreuth Goldkronach Glashütten (Oberfranken) Gesees Gefrees Eckersdorf Bischofsgrün Bischofsgrün Bindlach Betzenstein Bad Berneck im Fichtelgebirge Speichersdorf Kirchenpingarten Waischenfeld Plankenfels Pegnitz (Stadt) Mehlmeisel Hollfeld Fichtelberg (Oberfranken) Aufseß Ahorntal Bischofsgrüner Forst Pottenstein (Oberfranken)map
About this picture
Fichtelberg (postcard around 1910/1920)

Fichtelberg is a municipality in the Upper Franconian district of Bayreuth and a state-recognized health resort .

geography

Geographical location

Fichtelberg is located on the southeast slope of the Ochsenkopf in the central massif of the Fichtelgebirge . The highest populated place in the Fichtelgebirge Nature Park is on a main European watershed . Above the district of Neubau, both the White Main , one of the two headwaters of the Main , which flows west into the Rhine , and the Fichtelnaab , which flows south and merges with the Waldnaab and Haidenaab to Naab , which flow into the Danube, arise flows out. Since 1857 Fichtelberg belongs to the administrative region of Upper Franconia.

Community structure

The municipality of Fichtelberg has 3 districts :

Neighboring communities

The only directly adjacent neighboring community is Mehlmeisel in the south. For the most part, however, the community borders on the community-free area on the Ochsenkopf.

etymology

The origin of the name Fichtelberg, as well as that of the Fichtelgebirge, is likely to be found in the mining industry and does not come - as long suspected - from the dense spruce forest . At the time the name came about , as pollen analyzes show, there was a mixed forest of beech , fir and spruce in northern Bavaria . Only as a result of ore mining and the smelting of metals were the hardwood species severely decimated and the faster-growing spruce was planted as a raw material supplier. Initially, the "Vythenberg" mentioned in a document from 1317 was only the mountain on which the St. Veit mine was located - today's Ochsenkopf . From this the word Vichtel or Fichtel later developed and was used at some point for the entire area of ​​today's Fichtelgebirge. "Viechtlpergs" was first mentioned in a document in 1508.

history

Gleißinger Fels mine

The history of the main town is shaped by ore mining by the Erzgrube Gottesgab union in Gleißingerfels on the Fichtelberg. Around 1600, the uppermost Fichtelnaab valley near the present-day villages of Neubau and Fichtelberg was still covered with impassable forest wilderness. Finds such as a serpentine pendant discovered on the Ochsenkopf in 1922 or a stone ax that was excavated east of Fichtelberg in 1935 indicate that the area around Fichtelberg was already roamed by people in the Neolithic, at least for hunting. The lack of further finds excludes permanent settlement until the beginning of the 17th century. The steep slopes and the clearly rising altitude with the rough climate and less fertile soil prevented them. Iron ore mining in the upper Fichtelnaab valley began as early as 1478, but only a small tongue of the settlement with a few houses pushed up from the south to what is now the Fichtelberg outskirts.

Artificially created "Bocksgraben"

In 1602 Johann Glaser founded a union of six influential, financially strong men in order to promote mining on the Gleißingerfels (about halfway between the present-day towns of Hütten and Neubau), to look for suitable iron ore, which was most modern and profitable for the time Way to smelt them in blast furnaces and process them profitably. Wood, which was needed in large quantities in the furnaces, forges , hammers, and foundries , was abundant in the vast forests. Initially there was also enough water for the drive wheels of the works. When the water was finally no longer sufficient, the uppermost source rivers of the Main and Steinach were diverted without further ado, thus creating the Bocksgraben, for example. A flourishing iron industry developed rapidly. In 1604 a first blast furnace was put into operation in Neubau, a second was built in Fichtelberg around 1608/1609. The iron ore was processed in the electoral foundry. At first they worked in the open pit , as the ore veins reached to the surface of the earth. But after too much water had accumulated in the pit and powerful pumps were not available, the deposit had to be developed with tunnels through which the water could also drain. The hand-cut tunnels were just big enough for a heavy man to walk through with some ease.

"Gottesgab am Fichtelberg" was the name given to the mine on the Gleißinger Fels and later also to the mining office , which is important far beyond the upper Fichtelnaab valley . The first residential huts emerged and were the beginning of a soon growing and flourishing mining settlement . Four blast furnaces smelted the silver iron that was mined in the vicinity of Fichtelberg. At that time, the area around Fichtelberg was the most important mining company in electoral Bavaria. During the Thirty Years' War mainly bullets , grenades , sheet metal for armor and probably cannons were produced in Fichtelberg . Before the Battle of White Mountain, Fichtelberg indirectly supplied both opponents with war material.

Fichtelberg belonged to the Amberg Rent Office and the Waldeck Regional Court of the Electorate of Bavaria . The mining office had the legal status of an electoral court mark . From 1808 the Fichtelberg Mining Authority changed several times as the border area between royal Bavaria and margravial Bayreuth . Since 1857, when the district of the then Bayreuth Regional Court was enlarged, it has belonged to the Upper Franconia administrative region .

Ore mining and smelting were the economic factors in Fichtelberg, but with the onset of industrialization , ore mining became less and less worthwhile. Work was stopped on March 26, 1859, and the mining office closed in 1862. An economic decline followed, which was only partially offset by the mining of green stone ( Proterobas ) - which had been quarried from the Ochsenkopf massif since the beginning of the 17th century, mainly for glass production - and granite and the timber industry . Many residents migrated.

After the Second World War , it was mainly glassblowers from Gablonz who settled here and helped Fichtelberg to flourish again as an industrial location u. a. the glass and button production. In the meantime it has largely lost its industrial importance, lives mainly from tourism due to its attractive location on the southwest slope of the Ochsenkopf and is a winter sports center.

The Gleißinger Fels mine tunnels are the oldest mine in Northern Bavaria and the only silver iron mine in the world that is still generally accessible.

The ruin of the Kristalltherme, 2016

On May 12, 2012, the Fichtelberg crystal thermal baths burned down . Arson does not seem to be ruled out. A reconstruction intended by both sides has so far failed due to legal disputes between the municipality and the previous operator.

Population development

In the period from 1988 to 2018, the population fell from 2,164 to 1,762 by 402 or 18.6%, which is the most significant decrease in the number of inhabitants in the district in the period mentioned. A peak was reached on December 31, 1992 with 2513 inhabitants.

politics

Municipal council

The municipal council has twelve members, who have been divided between the individual lists / parties since the local elections on March 16, 2014 (the results of the 2008 election are in brackets):

CSU 5 seats (2014: 5)
Free community of voters 7 seats
(2014: 2)

mayor

Sebastian Voit from the CSU was elected mayor in 2020 with 60.01%. The predecessor was Georg Ritter (CSU).

coat of arms

Coat of arms of Fichtelberg (Upper Franconia)
 Blazon : “Divided by silver and blue; three green spruce trees side by side at the top, and a silver goblet between two crossed gold miner's hammers. "

Community partnerships

Fichtelberg is in partnership with Oberwiesenthal in the Ore Mountains , with Podčetrtek in Slovenia and with the Jesús María district of the Peruvian capital Lima .

Economy and Infrastructure

tourism

  • There are 1100 guest beds in accommodation establishments, holiday apartments and houses as well as private quarters.
  • Here is the highest campsite in Northern Bavaria.
  • Fichtelberg is on the Euregio Egrensis long-distance cycle route .

traffic

The main town is about three kilometers south of the B 303 and not far from the A 9 , Berlin - Nuremberg , exit Bad Berneck , or the Gefrees junction when coming from Berlin .

The former Neusorg – Fichtelberg railway, opened in 1890 as the Bavarian local railway, was connected to the Nuremberg – Cheb railway . Passenger traffic ceased in 1976, freight traffic in 1984. The line has long since been dismantled. Today one would prefer a direct connection to Bayreuth or Marktredwitz / Wunsiedel.

Culture and sights

Baroque Marian column from 1680 with Our Lady and four putti
  • Baroque Bergamtskirche (Catholic parish church) 1708 to 1711, with high altar from 1730 and wood carvings. The baroque glass windows in the chancel show mining motifs as a special feature.
  • Baroque Marian column (1680)
  • Historic Proterobas glassworks on the southern slope of the Ochsenkopfes (archaeological dig)

leisure

Fichtelsee
  • Fichtelsee local recreation center with nature reserve
  • Guided walks
  • Ice stock sport
  • Ice scating
  • Mini golf course (Deinhold)
  • Mountain biking
  • Bowling alley
  • Ski lift
  • Night cross-country ski run

Sports

  • Bleam'l Alm ski center
  • Deinholds golf course
  • Roller ski track
  • SG Tell new building
  • Ice hockey: TSV Fichtelberg / ice hockey took part in the BEV game operations from 1991 to 1993 and in 1992 won the championship of the Bavarian District League / North . Source: rodi-db.de There is currently a hobby team in Fichtelberg, the Bullheads Fichtelberg who play in the DNHL1.

Museums

Personalities

  • Gustav Griebel, alias Griebly (* 1965), drummer of the group Fichtelsänger ( It's so nice song at Fichtensee ) was born in Fichtelberg / Neubau
  • Mario Zuber, actor alias MC Steve (* 1977), former rapper of the group Passion Fruit ( The Rigga-Ding-Dong-Song ) grew up in Fichtelberg

literature

  • Dietmar Herrmann: The Ochsenkopf in the Fichtelgebirge , issue 17/2009 of the publication series of the Fichtelgebirgsverein e. V.

Web links

Commons : Fichtelberg (Oberfranken)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Data 2" sheet, Statistical Report A1200C 202041 Population of the municipalities, districts and administrative districts 1st quarter 2020 (population based on the 2011 census) ( help ).
  2. ↑ City Hall. Fichtelberg community, accessed on July 3, 2020 .
  3. ^ Community Fichtelberg in the local database of the Bavarian State Library Online . Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, accessed on January 5, 2020.
  4. ↑ a b A key role in arms production in: Nordbayerischer Kurier from June 12, 2018, p. 21.
  5. ↑ Entry on the coat of arms of Fichtelberg (Upper Franconia)  in the database of the House of Bavarian History
  6. ↑ ref rodi-db.de, TSV Fichtelberg league membership
  7. ^ Bullheads Fichtelberg