Plauen

Coordinates: 50°29′N 12°07′E / 50.483°N 12.117°E / 50.483; 12.117
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Somerset999 (talk | contribs) at 17:49, 30 September 2018. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Plauen
Panoramic view over Plauen
Panoramic view over Plauen
Coat of arms of Plauen
Location of Plauen within Vogtlandkreis district
Czech RepublicBavariaThuringiaErzgebirgskreisZwickau (district)AdorfAuerbachBad BrambachBad ElsterBergenBösenbrunnEichigtEllefeldElsterbergFalkensteinGrünbachHeinsdorfergrundKlingenthalLengenfeldLimbachMarkneukirchenMühlentalMuldenhammerNetzschkauNeuensalzNeumarkNeustadtOelsnitzPausa-MühltroffPlauenPöhlReichenbach im VogtlandWeischlitzRodewischRosenbachSchöneckSteinbergTriebelTheumaTirpersdorfTreuenWerda
Plauen is located in Germany
Plauen
Plauen
Plauen is located in Saxony
Plauen
Plauen
Coordinates: 50°29′N 12°07′E / 50.483°N 12.117°E / 50.483; 12.117
CountryGermany
StateSaxony
DistrictVogtlandkreis
Subdivisions5 town boroughs with 38 parts
Government
 • Lord mayorRalf Oberdorfer (FDP)
Area
 • Total102.11 km2 (39.42 sq mi)
Elevation
412 m (1,352 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[1]
 • Total64,763
 • Density630/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
08523;-5;-7;-9
Dialling codes03741
Vehicle registrationV, AE, OVL, PL, RC
Websitewww.plauen.de

Plauen (German pronunciation: [ˈplaʊ̯ən])[2][3] is a town in the Free State of Saxony, east-central Germany. It is the capital town of the district Vogtlandkreis. The town is situated near the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic.

History

Plauen was founded by Polabian Slavs in the 12th century as "Plawe" and was passed to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1327. The town was captured by the Archbishop of Magdeburg, Lippold von Bredow, in 1384. In 1466, it was passed to Albertine Saxony and later in 1569 to the Electorate of Saxony. Plauen became incorporated into the Kingdom of Saxony in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the late-19th century, Plauen became a centre of textile manufacturing, specializing in Chemical lace, called Plauen lace. Around 1910, Plauen, as an industrial 'boomtown' of the region, reached its population peak (1910 census: 121,000, 1912: 128,000).

In the 1930s, Plauen hosted the first chapter of the Nazi Party outside of Bavaria. Plauen's population, however, has shrunk dramatically since the Second World War (1939: 111,000 inhabitants). It was occupied by American troops on 16 April 1945 but was left to Red Army on 1 July 1945.

From 1945 onwards, Plauen fell into the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, which later became the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990). Plauen hosted a large Red Army occupation garrison and, in the last years of the GDR (DDR), an officer school of the Border Guards ("Grenztruppen der DDR"). The first mass demonstration against the communist regime in the GDR began in Plauen on 7 October 1989; this was the beginning of a series of mass demonstrations across the country and ultimately led to the re-unification of Germany in 1990.

The exposé Fast Food Nation gives special mention to Plauen as the first town of the GDR to have a McDonald's restaurant following the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

In the district reform of 1 July 2008, Plauen lost its urban district status and was merged into the district Vogtlandkreis.

Industry and infrastructure

Plauen station

Plauen (Vogtland) Oberer Bahnhof lies on the Leipzig–Hof line. The section of this line through Plauen is part of the Saxon-Franconian trunk line running between Nürnberg, Hof, Plauen, Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden. The town had another station, Plauen (Vogtland) Unterer station (now defunct), on the Elster Valley Railway. There is a plan to rename the Oberer (Upper) station into Plauen Hauptbahnhof (Main Station).

Vogtlandbahn (Vogtland Railway), a regional train company, operates services from Plauen to Hof, Werdau, Chemnitz, Zwickau, Falkenstein and Adorf within Germany and Cheb (Eger) in the Czech Republic. At these stations, there are other Vogtlandbahn services to München, Regensburg, Marktredwitz, Dresden and Leipzig within Germany and Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) and Prague in the Czech Republic. A Vogtlandbahn Express Bus service runs between Plauen and Berlin Schönefeld Airport and Zoological Garden.

The Plauen Straßenbahn is a tramway that has 6 lines connecting the centre of town, Plauen-Tunnel stop, to the surrounding areas and the Oberer railway station.

Main sights

Lace curtain factory, 1980

Education and science

Plauen is home to a University of Applied Sciences with about 300 students and a DIPLOMA Fachhochschule.

Notable residents

Christoph Pezel 1598
E. O. Plauen 1943
  • E.O. Plauen (1903–1944), cartoonist
  • Paul Wessel (1904–1967), politician (SED)
  • Egon Zill (1906–1974), Nazi SS commandant of the concentration camp Flossenburg
Horst Dohlus 1986

Honourary citizens

Twin cities

Twin cities of Jößnitz (urban district)

Former twin cities

Notes

  1. ^ "Einwohnerzahlen nach Gemeinden als Excel-Arbeitsmappe" (XLS) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen. 2024.
  2. ^ Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 828. ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6.
  3. ^ Mangold, Max (2005). Das Aussprachewörterbuch (in German) (6th ed.). Mannheim: Dudenverlag. p. 635. ISBN 9783411040667.
  4. ^ Miller 2017, p. 341.

References

External links