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Freiberg, Saxony

Freiberg
Fg080509 10dom.jpg
Coat of arms of Freiberg
Coat of arms
Freiberg  is located in Germany
Freiberg
Freiberg
Coordinates: 50°54′43″N 13°20′34″E / 50.91194°N 13.34278°E / 50.91194; 13.34278Coordinates: 50°54′43″N 13°20′34″E / 50.91194°N 13.34278°E / 50.91194; 13.34278
Country Germany
State Saxony
District Mittelsachsen
Government
 • Mayor Sven Krüger (SPD)
Area
 • Total 48.05 km2 (18.55 sq mi)
Elevation 400 m (1,300 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
 • Total 41,641
 • Density 870/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 09599
Dialling codes 03731
Vehicle registration FG
Website www.freiberg.de

Freiberg (German for "free for mining activities") is a university and mining town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called Große Kreisstadt (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.

Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage conservation and is a chosen site for the proposed UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Ore Mountain Mining Region. Until 1969, the town was dominated for around 800 years by the mining and smelting industries. In recent decades it has restructured into a high technology site in the fields of semiconductor manufacture and solar technology, part of Silicon Saxony.

The town lies on the northern declivity of the Ore Mountains, with the majority of the borough west of the Eastern or Freiberger Mulde river. Parts of the town are nestled in the valleys of Münzbach and Goldbach streams. Its centre has an altitude of about 412 m above NHN (at the railway station). Its lowest point is on Münzbach on the town boundary at 340 m above NHN; its highest point is on an old mining tip at 491 m above NHN. Freiberg lies within a region of old forest clearances, subsequently used by the mining industry which left its mark on the landscape. The town is surrounded to the north, southeast and southwest by woods, and in the other directions by fields and meadows. Since the beginning of the 21st century an urbanised area has gradually developed which is formed by the towns of Nossen, Roßwein, Großschirma, Freiberg and Brand-Erbisdorf. It has currently about 75,000 inhabitants.


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