Schwarzenberg, Saxony

Schwarzenberg is a town in the Erzgebirgskreis district of Saxony, Germany, in the Ore Mountains near the border with the Czech Republic. Founded in the 12th century to protect a trade route, it became the largest producer of washing machines in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. Writer Stefan Heym gave it wider recognition in 1987 by using the phrase Free Republic of Schwarzenberg for the brief gap between Soviet and American occupation zones that existed there in 1945. Known as the Pearl of the Erzgebirge for its historic center, castle, and St.-Georgen-Kirche built between 1690 and 1699, the town had a population of 15,475 as of December 2024.