The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Frauenstein

You learn a lot of interesting facts about silver mining.

Blockline: signposted bike route in parts of the Ore Mountains, mostly with rest areas

The Royal Saxon Triangulation was a national survey conducted between 1862 and 1890 that mapped the Kingdom of Saxony with a precise triangular network to create the basis for accurate maps. The network consisted of 158 points, including 36 main stations for the Central European Triangulation System, at which survey pillars were erected. These pillars are now technical monuments and bear witness to one of the most precise land surveys in Europe during the 19th century.

Frauenstein Castle is a Renaissance castle in the Ore Mountains, located right next to a medieval castle ruin that is considered a landmark of the town and was built around 1200. The castle was built in 1585 to meet growing housing needs and today houses the Gottfried Silbermann Museum, dedicated to the famous organ builder. Unfortunately, it was hazy today, so we didn't have a view.

In the Ore Mountains, specifically in Frauenstein, there is a Saxon postal milepost located in the market square, indicating distances to other locations. It is a replica and refers to the historical postal system, in which the mileposts served as distance markers.

The mirror vault, which extends across the entire ceiling of the church, is decorated with illusionistic, ornamental grisaille paintings and depictions of putti in the Neo-Renaissance style. The organ was built in 1873 by the Kreutzbach company and restored in 2008. Also noteworthy are the large pulpit altar in Neo-Renaissance form, the two oil paintings of Moses and John the Baptist by Emil Sachse, the three original stained-glass windows, and the newly cast bells in the church tower in 2022, while the older ones from 1952 found their place in front of the church. The new casting was only made possible by generous donations, which raised €130,000. Thus, the city church "Zu unserer lieben Frau" (Our Lady) is not just a sacred monument, but also the church of a vibrant Christian community. See: https://kirchenbezirk-freiberg.de/kirchort/frauenstein

In the fires of 1728 and 1869, Frauenstein lost the two organs by Gottfried Silbermann, who had built them for his hometown church in 1711 and 1738, respectively. The town church, built in 1873, presents itself in a largely unaltered form both inside and out, having undergone no major alterations in the past 150 years. The plans for the new building were drawn up by Chemnitz professor Emil Alwin Gottschaldt; those for the 48-meter-high tower were drawn up by the chief architect Karl Moritz Haenel. The exterior and interior design follow the Neo-Renaissance style. Since the town church contains virtually no furnishings dating from before 1873, it appears to be a seamless blend of the early imperial period, while the new churches in the surrounding area were built later. The town church of Frauenstein thus holds a special significance in the sacred architecture of this region and is well worth a longer visit.

With the relocation of the village of Frauenstein to its present-day location, the new town church, "Zu unserer lieben Frau," was built on the market square between 1483 and 1491, although the commission for its construction had already been given in 1449. Next to it, the town hall was built between 1602 and 1612, also in the center of the market square. The charming complex of the two buildings, like almost the entire town of Frauenstein, was destroyed by fire in 1869. The town hall was relocated to the market side, so that the town church is the only building standing in the center of the town's large market square. The consecration of the newly built church took place on October 3, 1873. However, it was not the sacred building from 1491 that burned down in 1869, but the second town church, which had been built after the great town fire of 1728. Its surrounding walls were used in the construction of the new church from 1870 to 1873.