Annaberg-Frohnau Mining Landscape and Schindlers Werk Smalt Works
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
169 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 26
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
169 km from Annaberg-Buchholz to Annaberg-Buchholz, about 3 h 26 of riding. On the way it passes Mědník Hill Mining Landscape, Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, Schindlers Werk Smalt Works and back through Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region. It crosses from Germany into Czechia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Annaberg-Frohnau Mining Landscape
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Annaberg-Frohnau Mining Landscape is where the day begins. Next is Mědník Hill Mining Landscape.
2. Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
Mědník is a small, steep hill on the Czech side of the Ore Mountains, or Krušné hory, the range that forms the border between Bohemia and Saxony. It rises above the village of Měděnec, whose name, like the hill's, comes from the Czech word for copper. For centuries, miners tunnelled into the hill for copper and iron ore, and the hill is now part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, inscribed by UNESCO in 2019 as a cross-border site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region.
3. Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region
The word dollar comes from these hills. In the early sixteenth century, a silver rush at Joachimsthal, today's Jáchymov, made the town one of the largest in Bohemia, and the coins minted there, the Joachimsthaler, shortened to thaler, gave their name to currencies around the world. The Erzgebirge, or Krušné hory, the Ore Mountains on the Czech-German border, were mined for silver, tin, cobalt, iron and finally uranium for eight centuries, and the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2019.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region. Next is Schindlers Werk Smalt Works.
4. Schindlers Werk Smalt Works
In the Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains of Saxony, a handful of workshops once produced a colour that conquered Europe. Schindlers Werk, at Zschorlau near Aue, was a smalt works, where cobalt ore from the surrounding mines was ground, roasted and fused with sand and potash into a deep blue glass, then milled into pigment. Smalt coloured Dutch tiles, German porcelain and painters' blues, and Saxony held an almost complete monopoly on it for generations. The works was founded in the seventeenth century and has been preserved as a museum.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Annaberg-Frohnau Mining Landscape closes the day.
Leg by leg
Annaberg-Frohnau Mining Landscape to Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
Annaberg-Frohnau Mining Landscape → Mědník Hill Mining Landscape is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape to Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape → Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region to Schindlers Werk Smalt Works
Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region → Schindlers Werk Smalt Works is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Schindlers Werk Smalt Works to back through Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region
Schindlers Werk Smalt Works → back through Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region to back through Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
back through Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region → back through Mědník Hill Mining Landscape is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mědník Hill Mining Landscape to Annaberg-Frohnau Mining Landscape
back through Mědník Hill Mining Landscape → Annaberg-Frohnau Mining Landscape is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.