Silver built Annaberg. In the late fifteenth century rich silver ore was found in the Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains on the border between Saxony and Bohemia, and a town was founded almost overnight in 1496 to house the miners. Within a few decades Annaberg was one of the largest towns in Saxony, and its wealth paid for the St. Annenkirche, one of the most beautiful late Gothic hall churches in Germany, with slender pillars branching into a star-ribbed vault like the trunks of trees.
The mining landscape of Annaberg-Frohnau is part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, a cross-border site recognising eight hundred years of mining. In Frohnau, the Frohnauer Hammer, an old hammer mill powered by water wheels, is one of the oldest technical monuments in Germany and still demonstrates how iron and copper were worked. The famous mathematician Adam Ries, whose arithmetic books taught generations of Germans to calculate, lived and worked in Annaberg, and his house is now a museum.
The Erzgebirge is excellent riding country. The roads wind over the high plateau and through deep valleys, with forests, meadows and small towns, and the climbs to the Fichtelberg, the highest summit in Saxony at 1,215 metres, and across the border to the Klínovec in the Czech Republic, offer fine views and bends. The B95 runs through Annaberg, linking Chemnitz with the Czech border. Surfaces are generally good, but winters are long and snowy, and the season starts late here. Expect cooler temperatures than in the lowlands.
Annaberg-Buchholz has fuel, shops and restaurants, and the market square, with the church above it, is lively. The Erzgebirge is famous for its wooden toys and Christmas decorations, especially nutcrackers and candle arches, which reflect the traditions of mining families, and the Christmas markets here are magical. Local food includes potato dishes and hearty stews. The Pöhlberg, a basalt hill above the town, has a viewing tower and a restaurant, and a great view over the Erzgebirge.