Marienberg

Marienberg
Marienberg in 1650
Coat of arms
Marienberg
Location of Marienberg within Erzgebirgskreis district
Coordinates: 50°38′N 13°9′E / 50.633°N 13.150°E / 50.633; 13.150Coordinates: 50°38′N 13°9′E / 50.633°N 13.150°E / 50.633; 13.150
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Erzgebirgskreis
Government
• Mayor	Thomas Wittig (CDU)
Area
• Total	133.47 km2 (51.53 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	17,409
• Density	130/km2 (340/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	09491-09496
Dialling codes	03735
Vehicle registration	ERZ, ANA, ASZ, AU, MAB, MEK, STL, SZB, ZP
Website	www.marienberg.de

Marienberg is a town in Germany. It was the district capital of the Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis (Central Ore Mountains district) in the southern part of Saxony, and since August 2008 it has been part of the new district of Erzgebirgskreis. As of 2007, the town had 14,181 inhabitants.

The town is situated on a plateau north of the Ore Mountain ridge, at an elevation between 460 and 891 metres above sea level. It is approximately 31 kilometres south of Chemnitz, to which it is connected via the Flöha Valley Railway.

The historical town centre follows a rectangular plan, imitating Italian renaissance. The centre is the market square, a square of 1.7 hectares in area.

Marienberg and Pobershau were merged into the administrative unit (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft) of Marienberg, Pobershau has been incorporated into Marienberg with effect from 1 January 2012.

The first documented evidence relating to Marienberg is a mention of the village of Wüstenschletta as Sletyn in 1323. But by 1481 it was being referred as wüste Schlette ("abandoned Schlette"). The owner of the eponymous glassworks in 1486 was Barthol Preußler. On 17 July 1519, silver was first discovered as the entrance to the Hüttengrund by Clemens Schiffel and, on 11 May 1520, the first ore mine (Fundgrube), St. Fabian Sebastian, was leased to Schiffel. The town was founded on 27 April 1521 by Henry the Pious, Duke of Saxony. The town plan was designed by Ulrich Rülein von Calw. Marienberg was granted town rights in 1523 and was given its own mining office (Bergamt) in 1525. A grammar school (Lateinschule) was first mentioned in 1530. The village of Wüstenschletta was subordinated to the jurisdiction of the town in 1533. With the Protestant Reformation reaching the town in 1536/37, Marienberg became an independent parish. Mining reached its peak in 1540. From 1541 to 1566, the town walls were erected. In 1555, there were more than a thousand pits in the Marienberg mining area. The Late Gothic hall church of St. Mary's was built from 1558 to 1564.