Schönheide

Schönheide is a community in Saxony's district of Erzgebirgskreis that lies in the western Ore Mountains, and was founded as an industrial village.GeographySchönheide is five kilometres long, and lies in the west of the District of Aue-Schwarzenberg, mostly in a side valley of the River Mulde, which forms the community's southern boundary. In the north lies Stützengrün, in the east and southeast Eibenstock, in the west Auerbach and Rodewisch, and in the northwest Steinberg.Schönheide has four subdistricts, namely: Schönheide, Schwarzwinkel, Neuheide and Wilzschhaus. Schönheide is further subdivided into Oberdorf, Heinzwinkel, Mitteldorf, Webersberg and Schönheiderhammer. Wilzschaus lies in the valley of the River Mulde.The highest point is der Knock at 767m.HistoryThe first settler recorded in the Schönheide area was Urban Männel, who was mentioned during a regal visit of 1537. Five years later, twelve settlers were listed in the Fürstenverzeichnis directory of Schneeberg. Subsequently in 1549, the village of Schönheide was granted its charter with 20 homesteads.In 1563, the village was sold to the House of Wettin. In 1566, its ironworks was founded, and is still in operation. In 1596, the first church was built, but its tower collapsed in 1764, and killed a man. In 1669, a craftsmen’s guild was founded.