Zwiesel

Coat of arms

Zwiesel

Location of Zwiesel within Regen district

Coordinates: 49°01′N 13°14′E / 49.017°N 13.233°ECoordinates: 49°01′N 13°14′E / 49.017°N 13.233°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Franz Xaver Steininger

Area

• Total

41.14 km² (15.88 sq mi)

Population (2015-12-31)

• Total

9,407

• Density

230/km² (590/sq mi)

CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)

94227

09922

REG

Website

www.zwiesel.de

The town of Zwiesel is located in the lower-Bavarian district of Regen, and since 1972 is a state-approved health resort with particularly good air. The name of the town was derived from the Baiuvarian word stem "zwisl" which refers to the form of a fork. The fork of the rivers Großer Regen and Kleiner Regen and the land which lays between these two rivers was called Zwiesel.

The town of Zwiesel is situated in an extensive valley basin at the foot of the mountain range formed by the peeks of Großer Arber, 1456m above sea level, Großer Falkenstein, 1315m and Kiesruck, 1265m, exactly at the spot where the two rivers, the Großer Regen and the Kleiner Regen join and form the Schwarzer Regen. It is located 10 km to the north-east of the district town of Regen, 35 km to the city of Deggendorf, 30 km to the town of Grafenau and 15 km to the border crossing point at Bayerisch Eisenstein, entry point to the Czech Republic. In addition to be accessed by the federal road B11, the town of Zwiesel has a main railway station run by the Bavarian Waldbahn, where trains depart for Plattling, Bayerisch Eisenstein or Bodenmais at hourly intervals, and for Grafenau at two-hours intervals.

Zwiesel consists of 11 districts:

In the area of Zwiesel a great diversity of mineralogical compositions can be found and especially the glass manufacturing companies benefited from the outstanding amount of quartz. The most famous mining site is probably the quartz quarry at the mountain "Hennenkobel" (the name translates as chicken coop) where many rare and popular minerals were found. The mineral Zwieselite, which can be found there, was named after the glass town of Zwiesel.

The town hall built in 1838 According to the legend, the first settlers were gold diggers. It was in 1255 that Zwiesel was first mentioned as a village with a wooden chapel. In 1280 the area was an important trading centre for goods to and from Bohemia. From the year 1313 on, Zwiesel was already designated to as a market municipality. On 11 September 1560, the municipality of Zwiesel was granted the coat of arms by the Duke of Bavaria, Albrecht V., which is valid still today. Philipp Apian indicated the place on his map of 1568 calling it "Zwisel". The development of Zwiesel was frequently hampered by wars and epidemic plagues. I.e. the area was destroyed in 1431 by the Hussites, in 1468 during the "Böckler" war and in 1633 by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years' War. In 1741 it was invaded by the Pandurs and in 1809 there was a great battle at the "Landwehrbergl" against a horde of Bohemian plunderers. It was as early as in the 16th century that mining started in Zwiesel at the Rotkot mine. In 1767 another church was built, known as "Bergkirche", and in 1838 the present town hall was constructed. Serious fires were raging in the municipality in the years 1825, 1832, 1846, 1849 and 1870. With the latter fire, on 19 August 1876, the parish church burst into flames too. Water pipes were laid in 1888, electricity was available from 1896. In the years between 1891 and 1896 the main parish church Staint Nicholas was built. In 1904 Zwiesel was raised to the status of a town and quickly became the economic and cultural centre of the middle part of the Bavarian Forest. From the very beginning development was driven by glass and timber .The regional glass industry around Zwiesel dates back to the 15th century (the glass hut of Rabenstein was founded in 1421). In 1836 the glass factory of Theresienthal was founded and in 1872 the master glass maker, Anton Müller, started to build the glass works Annathal, which later became the Schott-Werke. Today this factory operates under the name of Zwiesel Kristallglas plc. and is an important producer of goblets in Germany. In 1904 the technical school for glass manufacturing and decorating professions was founded, which continuously developed into a national training centre for glass related professions. At the end of World War II, at noon on 20 April 1945, the bombing of the railway bridges destroyed several houses, 15 civilians lost their lives. On 22 April 1945 Zwiesel was handed over to the American army without any further bloodshed. An outstanding event in recent town history was the Bavarian State Exhibition Bavaria - Bohemia: 1500 years of neighbourhood. Many visitors of the exhibition also came from the neighbouring Chech Republic.

...
Wikipedia