Zwiesel

Zwiesel is a town 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.GeographyThe 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.Division of the townZwiesel consists of 11 districts: Ableg Bärnzell Glasberg Griesbach Innenried Klautzenbach Lichtenthal Rabenstein Theresienthal Zwiesel ZwieselbergMineralogyIn 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.