View source for Oberwiesenthal

{{Infobox German location
|type               = Stadt
|image_photo       = Oberwiesenthal-Blick.jpg
|image_caption       = May 2001 view of Oberwiesenthal
|image_coa            = Wappen Oberwiesenthal.svg
|coordinates       = {{coord|50|25|9|N|12|58|15|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan          = Oberwiesenthal in ERZ.png
|state        = Sachsen
|district         = Erzgebirgskreis
|elevation              = 914
|area            = 39.98
|postal_code               = 09484
|area_code           = 037348
|licence               = ERZ, ANA, ASZ, AU, MAB, MEK, STL, SZB, ZP
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 14521440
|website           = [http://www.oberwiesenthal.de/ www.oberwiesenthal.de]
|mayor             = Jens Benedict<ref name=mayor>[https://wahlen.sachsen.de/buergermeisterwahl-2021-wahlergebnisse.php Wahlergebnisse 2021], Freistaat Sachsen, accessed 3 February 2022.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2021&ndash;28
|party             = 
}}

'''Oberwiesenthal''' ({{IPA|de|oː.bɐ.ˈviː.zn̩.taːl|lang|De-Oberwiesenthal.ogg}}; officially '''Kurort Oberwiesenthal'''<ref>{{cite web |title=Kurort Oberwiesenthal |url=https://www.oberwiesenthal.de |website=Kurort Oberwiesenthal |access-date=16 July 2019}}</ref>) is a town and a [[ski resort]] in the district of [[Erzgebirgskreis]] in [[Saxony]] in [[Germany]]. It is situated in the [[Ore Mountains]], on the border with the [[Czech Republic]], 19&nbsp;km south of [[Annaberg-Buchholz]], and 23&nbsp;km northeast of [[Karlovy Vary]]. At {{convert|914|m|ft}}, it is the highest [[town]] in Germany.<ref name=oberwiesnthal-info>[http://www.oberwiesenthal.de/ Official web site] (in German)</ref> The [[Winter Olympic Games|Olympic]] and [[FIS Nordic World Ski Championships|World Championships]] goldmedalist in [[ski jumping]] [[Jens Weißflog]] competed for SC Tractor Oberwiesenthal and Oberwiesenthaler SV.

== Geography ==
Oberwiesenthal lies in the county of [[Erzgebirgskreis]], on the border with the [[Czech Republic]] that follows the course of the [[Pöhlbach]] stream as far as [[Bärenstein (Ore Mountains)|Bärenstein]] (10&nbsp;km northeast). The highest elevation in the borough is the [[Fichtelberg (Ore Mountains)|Fichtelberg]] (sometimes called the ''Großer Fichtelberg'' or Great Fichtelberg) which, at {{Höhe|1215|DE-NN}}, is the highest mountain in Saxony.

Other important mountains in the region around Oberwiesenthal are the:
* [[Klínovec|Keilberg]] ''(Klínovec)'' ({{Höhe|1244|DE-NN}}; the highest summit in the Ore Mountains)
* [[Kleiner Fichtelberg|Kleiner or Hinterer Fichtelberg]] ({{Höhe|1206|DE-NN}}) ("Little or Farther Fichtelberg")
* [[Eisenberg (Erzgebirge)|Eisenberg]] ({{Höhe|1029|DE-NN}})

[[File:Klimadiagramm-deutsch-Fichtelberg (SN)-Deutschland.png|thumb|left|Climatic diagram for the Fichtelberg near Oberwiesenthal]]
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Owing its elevation and relatively northern latitude, Oberwiesenthal has a subalpine respectively [[subarctic climate]] (''Dfc'').

=== Neighbouring municipalities ===
On the Czech side is the municipality of [[Loučná pod Klínovcem]] ''(Böhmisch Wiesenthal)'' and, further west, is [[Boží Dar]] ''(Gottesgab)''. Adjacent municipalities in Germany are [[Bärenstein (Ore Mountains)|Bärenstein]], [[Crottendorf]], [[Sehmatal]], [[Breitenbrunn/Erzgeb.]] and [[Raschau-Markersbach]].

=== Subdivisions ===
* Oberwiesenthal
* [[Unterwiesenthal]]
* [[Hammerunterwiesenthal]]
* [[Rotes Vorwerk (Oberwiesenthal)|Rotes Vorwerk]]
* [[Neues Haus]]

[[File:Pano oberwiesenthal.jpg|upright=3.15|thumb|left|View of Oberwiesenthal and the Fichtelberg from the opposite side of the border  (the cemetery at Háj)]]
[[File:Blick vom Großen Fichtelberg.jpg|upright=3.05|thumb|Winter's view from the Great Fichtelberg]]

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[[File:Schwibbogen, modern.jpg|thumb|upright|An Oberwiesenthal candle arch or ''[[Schwibbogen]]'']]

== History ==
The "new town in the Wiesen valley" (''"Neustadt am Wiesenthal"'') was founded in 1527 by the lords [[von Schönburg|of Schönburg]] as a mining town because, one year earlier, silver ore had been found in the region. By 1530 the new settlement had been granted [[town rights]] and, in 1559, its ownership passed to the [[House of Wettin]].

Mining operations finally wound up in the 19th century and tourism increasingly took its place during the 20th. However, after the [[Second World War]], there were attempts by the Russians to mine uranium for the [[nuclear arms race]] in the Zechengrund, today a nature reserve. Traces of their activity are still visible. On 1 September 1921 Oberwiesenthal was merged with the town of Unterwiesenthal further down the valley,<ref>Das Sachsenbuch, Kommunal-Verlag Sachsen KG, Dresden, 1943, page 241</ref> which had first been mentioned in the records in 1406 and had town rights by 1510. From 1952 to 1990, Oberwiesenthal was part of the [[Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt]] of [[East Germany]].

=== Historical population ===
{| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Population
|-
|1559 || 95 [[villein]]s (''besessene Mann'')
|-
|1748 || 190 villeins
|-
|1834 || 1278
|-
|1871 || 1980
|-
|1890 || 1967
|-
|1910 || 1729
|-
|}
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Population
|-
|1925 || 2425
|-
|1939 || 2446
|-
|1946 || 2945
|-
|1950 || 4603
|-
|1964 || 2553
|-
|1971 || 2611
|-
|}
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Population
|-
|1990 || 1621
|-
|1998 || 3381
|-
|1999 || 3273
|-
|2000 || 3163
|-
|2001 || 3069
|-
|2002 || 3015
|-
|}
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Population
|-
|2003 || 2925
|-
|2004 || 2828
|-
|2005 || 2735
|-
|2006 || 2675
|-
|2007 || 2592
|-
|2009 || 2501
|}
|}
<small> Data source to 1990: {{HOV}}<br />Data source from 1998: Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen</small>

== Politics ==
[[File:Rathaus Oberwiesental Pano.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Town hall (''Rathaus'')]]

=== Town council ===
The town council of Oberwiesenthal consists of 14 councillors and the directly elected mayor or ''[[Bürgermeister]]'', who presides over the council. The [[local elections]] of 7 June 2009, which had a voter participation of 62.5%, the following result:
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#ccd1dd" align="center"
| style="width: 5em" align="left" | '''Party''' || style="width: 7em" | [[Freie Demokratische Partei|FDP]] || style="width: 7em" | [[Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands|CDU]] ||  style="width: 7em" | [[Freie Wähler|BfW]] || style="width: 7em" | Die Alternative || style="width: 7em" | [[The Left (Germany)|Die Linke]] || style="width: 5em" | '''Total'''
|- align="center"
| align="left" | '''Seats''' || 5 || 5 || 2 || 2 || 0 ||'''14'''
|- align="center"
| align="left" | '''Stimmenanteil''' || 35.1% || 33.4% || 13.5% || 12.6% || 5.4% ||
|}

=== Mayor ===
Heinz-Michael Kirsten (CDU) was elected mayor (''Bürgermeister'') in January 2002. By February 2002 the Annaberg district office (''Landratsamt Annaberg'') had declared this result void due to unpermitted election advertising. This resulted in a five-year legal battle by all sides that ended with a decision in 2007 by the [[Federal Administrative Court of Germany|Federal Administrative Court]] in Leipzig, that confirmed the decision in February 2007 by the administrative appeals tribunal (''Oberverwaltungsgericht'') of Bautzen as legal. Heinz-Michael Kirsten was then sent on leave by the regional authority (''Regierungspräsidium''). On 4&nbsp;November 2007 a new election took place in which no party achieved an absolute majority. In the second round of elections on 18&nbsp;November the independent (now FDP) candidate, Mirko Ernst, was elected mayor. The current mayor is Jens Benedict, elected in September 2021.<ref name="mayor" />

=== Twinnings ===
* {{DEU|#}} [[Fichtelberg (Oberfranken)|Fichtelberg]], town "friendship" (''Städtefreundschaft'') since 3 October 1990
* {{DEU|#}} [[Lauf an der Pegnitz]], town friendship since 3 October 1990
* {{DEU|#}} [[Schonach im Schwarzwald]], town friendship since 3 October 1990
* {{JPN|#}} [[Hakuba, Nagano|Hakuba]], twin town since 18 August 2002

== Culture and sights ==
* [[Fichtelberg Railway]]
* [[Fichtelberg Cable Car]] (the oldest cable car in Germany)
* Oberwiesenthal [[post coach]] in the style of the ''[[Deutsche Reichspost]]'' of 1939

=== Museum ===
* Ski and local history museum, ''Karlsbader Straße 3''

[[File:DS-Oberwiesenthal.jpg|thumb|upright|Electorate of Saxony postal milepost on the market square]]

=== Structures ===
* [[St Martin Luther's Church, Oberwiesenthal|St Martin Luther's Church]] with its [[Carl Hertelt|Hertelt]] crib
* [[Saxon postal mileposte|Distance post]] on the market square (''Marktplatz''); whole milepost on the footpath to the "New House" (''Neues Haus'') in the ''Zechengrund'' and remnants of a half-milepost from the village of [[Hammerunterwiesenthal]]
* Royal Saxon [[milestone|station stone]] from the market square at the ''Neues Haus'' border crossing
* [[Anton Günther Way]], a cross-border trail

=== Sport ===
* Currently the leading sports club in the town: [[WSC Erzgebirge Oberwiesenthal]]
* Leading former East German Alpine and Nordic ski club, disbanded in 1990: [[SC Traktor Oberwiesenthal]]
* [[Sportfördergruppe der Bundeswehr]], armed forces sports centre

== Notable people ==
* [[Franz Ströher]] (1874-1936), German hairdresser and businessman

[[File:Fichtelbergschanzen 2007.jpg|thumb|left|550px|The Fichtelberg ski jumps]]

{{clear}}

== References ==
<references />

{{commons|Oberwiesenthal}}
{{Cities and towns in Erzgebirgskreis}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Oberwiesenthal| ]]
[[Category:Czech Republic–Germany border crossings]]
[[Category:Erzgebirgskreis]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1527]]