Freiberg

Freiberg has significance as the first free mining town in Germany. The city forms the gateway to the Eastern Ore Mountains and is located about 30 kilometers east of Chemnitz. Silver mining helped the once most populous city of the Margraviate of Meissen to wealth. Mining came to a complete halt in 1969. Freiberg remained the site of the world's oldest university of mining technology. The historic city center is located on Obermarkt, around the late Gothic town hall. One of the most beautiful secular buildings in the city is the Schönlebehaus. In Freiberg's St. Petri church you can find a famous Silbermann organ. The most famous building of the city is the cathedral St. Marien with valuable late medieval art treasures. A visitor mine in Freiberg reminds of the long mining tradition.