Geringswalde

For the village near Wolkenstein in District Erzgebirgskreis, see Gehringswalde.
Geringswalde

View across pond towards Martin Luther church and town hall

Coat of arms
Geringswalde

Coordinates: 51°4′35″N 12°54′15″E / 51.07639°N 12.90417°E / 51.07639; 12.90417Coordinates: 51°4′35″N 12°54′15″E / 51.07639°N 12.90417°E / 51.07639; 12.90417
Country Germany
State Saxony
District Mittelsachsen
Government
  Mayor independent
Area
  Total 29.93 km2 (11.56 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
  Total 4,331
  Density 140/km2 (370/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 09326
Dialling codes 037382
Vehicle registration FG (formerly MW)
Website www.geringswalde.de

Geringswalde (German pronunciation: [ɡeːʁɪŋsˈvaldə]) is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 12 km northwest of Mittweida, and 27 km north of Chemnitz.

History

The town was first mentioned in 1233 in a document confirming the establishment of a Benedictine nun's convent as Gerungeswalde [2] as a deserted oppidum together with a destroyed castle . After the Protestant reformation, the convent was dissolved and transformed into a manor.[3] The town was never walled. An orthodox Lutheran school was funded in 1566, but closed again in 1568 due to the founder and the rector being accused of Gnesio-Lutheranism.[4][5] 134 freeholders were counted in 1587, but in 1764 there were only 36 freeholders and 168 smallholders.[2]

A stream traversing the grounds of the town was dammed in the middle ages, forming a large pond known as Großteich.

Until the 19th century, the economy was chiefly based on agriculture and linen manufacture. After industrialization Geringswalde was known for the production of furniture (mainly chairs and armchairs) and cutting tools. The manor was dissolved after World War II and most of its buildings demolished. Geringswalde was part of Kreis Rochlitz from 1945 to 1994, of Landkreis Mittweida from 1994 to 2008 and belongs now to the Central Saxony administrative district.

In 1949, the neighbouring villages of Hilmsdorf and Klostergeringswalde were incorporated into the town, Altgeringswalde joined in 1994, and in 1999 Aitzendorf (with Dittmannsdorf), Arras, and Holzhausen (with Hoyersdorf and Neuwallwitz) were incorporated.[2]

Year Inhabitants[2]
1834 2252
1871 2850
1890 2891
1910 4499
1925 4293
1939 4278
1950 6290
1964 5956
1990 4680
2000 5445

From 1893 to 1997, the town was served by the standard-gauge railway line Waldheim - Rochlitz.

Economy

Traditional occupations were agriculture, weaving of linen, legwear knitting, tannery, and brewing. A stream drove serval watermills. Industrialisation in the 19th century brought large-scale furniture making and metalworking to the town. There were also a brickyard and a cigar factory. The brewery closed in the 1920s.

After World War II until the early 1990s the economy of the town was dominated by tool making, furniture making and the production of hydraulic cylinders. Some smaller factories produced clothes, cosmetics, electronic circuits, animal fodder, and concrete parts. Most factories closed in the early 1990s, but the tradition of metalworking in particular is still continued by several small and medium-sized enterprises. A number of wind turbines has been erected on the heights surrounding the town since the 2000s.

Sights

The neogothic Martin Luther church of 1890 replaces a former romanesque church. The neo-baroque town hall was opened in 1905, the school house in neo-renaissance style in 1894. An observation tower named after Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, situated north of the town, opened in 1907.

A copy of the 1727 Saxon post milestone (Postmeilensäule) stands near the town centre. The original is kept in a museum in Rochlitz.

A castle in the nearby forest was destroyed in the Middle Ages, only minuscule remains of its basement walls are left.

The village church of Altgeringswalde houses a painted wooden altar which was made around 1510 and restored in 1994.

Personalities

Wolfgang Blochwitz (front) in 1966

References

  1. "Aktuelle Einwohnerzahlen nach Gemeinden 2015] (Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011)" (PDF). Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen (in German). July 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Digitales Historisches Ortsverzeichnis von Sachsen. Geringswalde". Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  3. Gottfried August Bernhardi (1777). Beytrag zu einer Geschichte des Städtlein Geringswalda und besonders des ehemals dabey gelegenen St. Marien-Klosters, Benedictiner-Ordens.
  4. "Sächsische Biographie. Wolf II. Herr von Schönburg". Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  5. Theodor Distel (1879). Der Flacianismus und die Schönburgsche Landesschule zu Geringswalde.

External links


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