ERZGEBIRGE

This article appears in Volume V09, Page 759 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: EMS-EUD

ERZGEBIRGE , a mountain chain of Germany, extending in a W.S.W. direction from the Elbe to the Elstergebirge along the frontier between Saxony and Bohemia. Its length from E.N.E. to W.S.W. is about 8o m., and its average breadth about 25 M. The southern declivity is generally steep and rugged, forming in some places an almost perpendicular

wall

WALL (O. Eng. weal, weall, Mid. Eng. wal, wane, adapted from Lat. vallum, rampart; the
original
- ORIGINAL
O. Eng. word for a wall was wag or tenth)
WALL, RICHARD (1694-1778)

of the height of from 2000 to 2500 ft.; while the northern, divided at intervals into valleys, sometimes of

great

GREAT

fertility and sometimes wildly romantic, slopes gradually towards the

great

GREAT

plain of northern Germany. The central part of the chain forms a

plateau

of an average height of more than 3000 ft. At the extremities of this

plateau

are situated the highest summits of the range:in the south-

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

the Keilberg (4080 ft.); in the north-

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

the Fichtelberg (3980 ft.); and in the south-west the Spitzberg (3650 ft.). Between the Keilberg and the Fichtelberg, at the height of about 3300 ft., is situated Gottesgab, the highest town in Bohemia. Geologically, the Erzgebirge range consists mainly of gneiss, mica and phyllite. As its name (Ore Mountains) indicates, it is famous for its

mineral

MINERAL

ores. These are chiefly silver and lead, the layers of both of which are very extensive, tin, nickel, copper and iron. Gold is found in several places, and some arsenic, antimony, bismuth, manganese, mercury and

sulphur

SULPHUR

. The Erzgebirge is celebrated for its lace manufactures, introduced by

Barbara

BARBARA, SAINT

Uttmann in 1541, embroideries, silk-weaving and toys. The climate is in winter inclement in the higher elevations, and, as the snow lies deep until the

spring

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

, the range is largely frequented by devotees of winter sport, ski, toboganning, &c. In summer the air is bracing, and many climatic health resorts have sprung into existence, among which may be mentioned Kipsdorf, Barenfels and Oberwiesenthal. Communication with the Erzgebirge is provided by numerous lines of railway, some, such as that from Freiberg to Brux, that from Chemnitz to Komotau, and that from Zwickau to Carlsbad, crossing the range, while various local lines serve the higher valleys.
The Elstergebirge, a range some 16 m. in length, in which the Weisse Elster has its source, runs S.W. from the Erzgebirge to the

Fichtelgebirge

FICHTELGEBIRGE

and attains a height of 2630 ft.
See Grohmann, Das Obererzgebirge and seine Stadte (1903), and Schurtz, Die Passe des Erzgebirges (1891); also Daniel, Deutsch-land, vol. ii., and Gebauer, Lander and Volkerkunde, vol. i.

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