Annaberg-Buchholz

Annaberg-Buchholz is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Lying in the Ore Mountains, it is the capital of the district of Erzgebirgskreis.GeographyThe town is located in the Ore Mountains, at the side of the Pöhlberg (832m above sea level).HistoryThe previously heavily forested upper Ore Mountains were settled in the 12th and 13th centuries by Franconian farmers. Frohnau, Geyersdorf, and Kleinrückerswalde—all now part of present-day town—are all attested from 1397.Barbara Uthmann introduced braid- and lace-making in 1561 and it was further developed in the 1590s by Belgian refugees fleeing the policies of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Spain's governor over the Low Countries. The industry was further developed in the 19th century, when Annaberg and Buchholz were connected by rail to Chemnitz and each other and both settlements had specialized schools for lace-making. The population of Annaberg in the 1870s was 11,693. This had risen to 16,811 by 1905, with another 9307 in Buchholz.The town's mines formerly produced silver, tin, and cobalt but ceased production before the First World War. After the Reunification of Germany in 1989, some were restored for tourist purposes.