To the north of Chemnitz in the foothills of the Erzgebirge a scenically very attractive and interesting area is located, the Zschopau Valley between Mittweida and Waldheim.

The Zschopau Valley is a real treasure trove for nature lovers and with the nature reserves of the storage basin Kriebstein and the central Zschopau Valley a jewel for holiday makers seeking recreation. The river Zschopau has cut into the plateau until 70 m deep and thus creates a widely romantic river landscape.

Steep rocks, narrow valleys, wooded slopes and gentle meadows are constantly changing the landscape. At each bend in the river there are interesting things to discover.

However, not only the landscape but also the numerous witnesses of the past are worth seeing. Especially the Castle Kriebstein. It is the most famous and best preserved castle plant in the region. Castle concerts and knight’s spectacles take place there, which magically attract thousands of visitors each year.

An especially adventurous holiday highlight awaits everybody who travels with the “historical settlement convoy” in a covered wagon through the romantic Striegis Valleys (each year in July/ August).

You can, of course, also participate in the traditional festivals and historical spectacles in Frankenberg, Hainichen and Sachsenburg and enjoy the “Central Saxon Cultural Summer”.

Special purpose association Kriebstein-storage basin
An der Talsperre 1
09648 Kriebstein OT Höfchen
E-mail: ZV-Kriebstein@t-online.de
phone: +49 (0)3 43 27 / 9 31 54, fax: 6 83 38

Accessible via Mittweida, Waldheim, Geringswalde.

Worth seeing: storage basin Kriebstein, built in 1927/29, a place of popular resort for people seeking recreation of all kinds, bordering parts of town and municipalities, like for example, Tanneberg (Waldhufen village), Lauenhain, Kriebstein (knight’s castle), Kriebethal, Ringethal (Silbermann organ) with part of town Falkenhein, Ehrenberg, Höfchen, Erlebach and town of Mittweida

Offer: passenger shipping, ferryboat service, boat hire, water sports, catering service, developed hiking route network, visit of the museum on the Castle Kriebstein

Events: storage basin festival, castle of fairytales on Castle Kriebstein, castle concerts, concerts on the Silbermann organ in the Ringethaler Church

Waldheim information/ tourist office in the cultural centre
Gartenstraße 42
04736 Waldheim
E-mail: kulturzentrum.waldheim@t-online.de
phone: +49 (0)3 43 27 / 9 30 16 or 5 72 34, fax: 67 98 50

9,500 inhabitants, the pearl of the Zschopau Valley, accessible via the motorway A 14 exit Döbeln, the A 4 exit Hainichen, the B 175, the B 169, rail connection, bus connections

Worth seeing: a lot of Art Nouveau buildings, town hall, market place, post mile co,umn, oldest place of detention in Saxony – with museum, railway viaducts, 13 heights (viewpoints), castle and storage basin Kriebstein

Offer: guided tours: Kellerberg, town hall at the tower, town, museum / small gallery, library, within the municipal border 55 km of hiking routes, huge sports hall, children’s playgrounds, indoor mini-golf, fitness studio, cross centre

Events: town hall concerts, motocross in the part of town Reinsdorf, town festival, flower and farmer market

Town council Hainichen
Marktstraße 4
09661 Hainichen
phone: +49 (0)3 72 07 / 5 96 11 02 (free press), fax: 6 01 12

9,800 inhabitants, hometown of the fable poet Christian Fürchtegott Gellert and the inventor of the mechanical wood pulp paper Friedrich Gottlob Keller, accessible via the motorway A 4, connection Hainichen or B 169, rail connection Chemnitz – Hainichen, bus connections from Mittweida, Chemnitz among others

Worth seeing: town park with animal preserve, the Gellert Museum in the Park Castle, camera obscura, cloth manufacturing house with visitor’s workshop of hand weaving mill, Trinitat Church, market place with patrician houses, beautiful town centre

Offer: outdoor swimming pool, indoor swimming pool, riding-stable, cycle racing track, water-ski facility Rossau (3km), hiking routes in the Striegis Valley, teaching path about the nature, offers of spinning and hand weaving in the cloth manufacturing house, subculture catering trade

Events: concerts, song recital evenings, literature evenings and exhibitions, dancing, bath festival, Christmas fair

Mittweida information/ tourist office
Rochlitzer Straße 3
09648 Mittweida
phone: +49 (0)37 27/ 96 73 50, fax: 96 71 85

16,800 inhabitants, Mittweida is known for its college of technology, which was founded in 1867. For example, Alfred Horch and Friedrich Opel studied her, Accessible via the motorway A 4, rail connection, bus connection

Worth seeing: old town centre under a preservation order, town church, market place with interesting bourgeois houses, post mile column, relics of the town wall, electric power station (technical monument), village church Ringethal with Silbermann organ, storage basin Kriebstein, Castle Kriebstein

Offer: cinema, town museum, town church, outdoor swimming pool, library, well-developed hiking route network in the Zschopau Valley, guided city tours, private space travel museum, bike hire, biking tours, bridle-paths, mine “Old Hope Shaft” open to the public in Schönborn-Dreiwerden (historical silver mine), fitness, sports and cultural events in the sports hall at the Schwanenteich

Events: church and town hall concerts, Ringelthal summer music, Mittweida magic of sound, old town festival, island pond festival in the part of town Ringethal, Whit Sunday fair, further festivals of associations and in various parts of town, hiking day of Mittweida, Christmas fair