Oybin

Oybin
Oybin
Location of Oybin within Görlitz district
Coordinates	50°50′32″N 14°44′34″E / 50.84222°N 14.74278°E / 50.84222; 14.74278Coordinates: 50°50′32″N 14°44′34″E / 50.84222°N 14.74278°E / 50.84222; 14.74278
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
Admin. region	Dresden
District	Görlitz
Municipal assoc.	Olbersdorf
Local subdivisions	4 Ortsteile
Mayor	Hans-Jürgen Goth (Die Linke)
Basic statistics
Area	18.29 km2 (7.06 sq mi)
Elevation	389 m  (1276 ft)
Population	1,534 (31 December 2010)[1]
- Density	84 /km2 (217 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	GR
Postal code	02797
Area code	035844
Website	www.oybin.com

Oybin is a municipality in the district Görlitz, in Saxony, Germany, located very close to the border of the Czech Republic. Following the defeat of the Protestant armies by the Habsburgs in the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620, many Protestant Czechs found refuge across the border in the hills of Upper Lusatia. It is a "Kurort", a resort or spa certified by the state, where people go for rest and recuperation. It is most famous for its mountain of the same name, an exposed natural sandstone dome that towers above the town. The ruins of a medieval monastery lend a wild romantic beauty to it and it was a favorite subject of 19th century Romantic painters like Caspar David Friedrich. Many bizarrely shaped geological rock formations can be found in the surroundings. The scenic narrow gauge Zittau–Oybin–Jonsdorf railway runs from Oybin to the neighboring community of Jonsdorf and the city of Zittau. The town has 3 districts, Oybin, Hain and Lückendorf.

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  Town hall of Oybin

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  Church in Oybin

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  Timber-frame house

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  The half-timbered "Almanka" Inn

Culture and Sights

• a baroque mountain church built in 1734
• Periodic historical monk processions lit by torchlight
• Oybin railway station with small museum about the history of the Zittau Narrow Gauge Railway
• Teufelsmühle ("Devil's Mill")

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  Castle ruin on mount Oybin

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  Camera obscura

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  Narrow-gauge steam train

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  Mount Oybin with restaurant and castle ruins

Surroundings and Landmarks

• Rosensteine (Rose Stones) with via ferrata "Alpiner Grat"
• Mount Scharfenstein (Sharp Stone)
• Mount Hochwald (Highwood) with look-out tower and 2 mountain huts
• Mount Töpfer (Potter) with mountain hut
• Ameisenberg (Anthill rock)
• Mount Oybin

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  Mount Oybin

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  The "Chalice rock" (Kelchstein)

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  The "Mitten Rock" (Handschuh-Felsen)

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  The "Broody Hen" (Brütende Henne) on Mount Töpfer

References

1. ^ "Bevölkerung des Freistaates Sachsen jeweils am Monatsende ausgewählter Berichtsmonate nach Gemeinden" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen. 31 December 2010. http://www.statistik.sachsen.de/download/010_GB-Bev/Bev_Gemeinde.pdf. 

External Links

• Oybin Castle and Monastery
• Mountain church Oybin
• Historical monk processions on Mount Oybin