Freiberg

Silver ore was found near Freiberg around 1168 and set off a rush that founded the town and funded Saxony for centuries. The Bergakademie, established in 1765, is the oldest mining university in the world and still operates, with a mineral collection, the Terra Mineralia, displayed in the castle. The cathedral keeps the Golden Gate, a Romanesque portal of about 1230 with carved figures that retain traces of colour and gilding, and two Silbermann organs; Gottfried Silbermann built organs across Saxony and several survive here. A teaching mine beneath the town, the Reiche Zeche, is open for underground visits.

Background

Freiberg has around 41,000 inhabitants and lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains on the Freiberger Mulde, a tributary of the Mulde, linked to Dresden by line S3 of the S-Bahn. Mining and smelting shaped the town for around 800 years, until 1969, and since then it has turned to semiconductor and solar technology. Its whole historic centre is protected, and together with mining sites such as the Reiche Zeche mine it has formed part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region World Heritage Site since 2019. Copies of the cathedral's Golden Gate stand in Moscow, Budapest and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Source: Wikipedia, "Freiberg"

Highlights

• The Golden Gate - a Romanesque portal of about 1230 with figure carving.
• The Silbermann organs - instruments by the region's foremost builder.
• Terra Mineralia - a large mineral collection in the castle.
• The teaching mine - underground workings entered on guided tours.

When to go

April to October; the mine tours run year-round by booking and are cool underground. Organ recitals are held in the cathedral through the season.

Things to know

Mine visits need booking, boots and warm clothing. The cathedral closes for services. The town is workaday outside the old centre.

Nearby

The Ore Mountains rise south; Dresden lies northeast.

Key facts