Bad Elster

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Bad Elster

Coat of arms	Location

Administration
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
Admin. region	Chemnitz
District	Vogtlandkreis
Mayor	Christoph Flämig
Basic statistics
Area	23.42 km² (9 sq mi)
Elevation	546 m (1791 ft)
Population	4,032 (31/12/2006)
- Density	172 /km² (446 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	V
Postal code	08645
Area code	037437
Website	www.badelster.de Coordinates: 50°16′55″N 12°14′5″E / 50.28194, 12.23472

König-Albert-Bad

evang.luth. Kirche

Halbmeilensäule von 1724 am Kirchberg

Briefmarke der DDR mit der Aufschrift: "Elster Bad der Werktätigen", Fünfjahrplan 1953, Werktätige vor Kurhaus Elster

Bad Elster is a spa town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It lies on the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic in the Elster gebirge hills. It is situated on the river Weiße Elster, and is protected from extremes of temperature by the surrounding wooded hills . It is 25 km southeast of Plauen, and 25 km northwest of Cheb. The B 92 runs close by. It is part of the Dreiländerecke and the Freunde im Herzen Europas.

1 History
- 1.1 Elster before 1900
- 1.2 (Bad) Elster in the 19th and 20th century
2 Geography and Traffic
3 Places
4 Demography
5 Business
6 Politics
- 6.1 Town Council
- 6.2 Coat of Arms
7 Attractions
8 Partner Town
9 External links

History

Elster before 1900

Two kilometers north west of the town centre lies the remains of a twelfth century walled village, known today as the "Alte Schloss" or "Old Castle". This was first documented in 1324. 1412 a manor was sold to the von Zedtwitz family, who held it until 1800. 1533 the Reformation reaches Adorf and its daughter church in Elster, and the first Protestant pastor was installed in 1540. The healing properties of the waters from the spring now known as the Moritzquelle were recognised well before, Georg Leisner, physician to the Duke Moritz von Sachsen-Zeitz, wrote in 1669 that inhabitants of both Adorf and Elster come to the spring to take the waters, and he had successfully used them on many different patients. One famous visitor was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who came in 1795. He mentions the spring at Elster in his work Hermann and Dorothea.

(Bad) Elster in the 19th and 20th century

Elster became an independant parish in 1851. In 1892 the old St. Peter und Paul church was demolished and replaced with the Revival Gothic, St. Trinitatiskirche. Elster was promoted to be the "Königlich-Sächsischen Staatsbad", official royal spa of Saxony in 1848. With that the visitor numbers rose: 1848: 129; 1850: 378, 1860: 1.750, 1870: 2450, 1890: 5870, 1900: 8900, 1990: 15.600. Elster prepended the Bad meaning "spa" in 1875, Bad Elster became its official nmae in 1935 In 1880, "Bademuseum Bad Elster" opened, it was the first museum in the town and Vogtland.

Geography and Traffic

Places

Places within Bad Elster include Sohl and Mühlhausen.

Demography

Growth of Population (ab 1964 31. Dezember):

1834 - 701
1871 - 1.248
1890 - 1.120
1910 - 2.251

1925 - 3.368
1939 - 3.546
1946 - 3.657
1964 - 3.353

1971 - 3.336
1990 - 4.701
2003 - 4.101
2004 - 4.060

Business

The main industries are tourism and health. There are seven clinics specialising in recuperation. In 2005 there were 35 establishments offering accommodation with 2400 beds, and receiving 540 000 bednights. The town lies near the B 92. There are two open border crossings into the Czech Republic; open for pedestrians and bicycles but not cars. The station is 2.5km from the town centre at Mühlhausen on the Plauen Eger line where there is a two hourly service.

Politics

Town Council

For the term 2004-09 there is no overall control, the independants being the largest group. The Mayor is an independent.

Freie Wähler (independents): 6 members (including the Mayor)
CDU: 3 members
Linkspartei (the left): 1 members
PDS list: 1 members
FDP: 2 members
SPD: 1 members

Coat of Arms

Field gold (or), with a naturalistic Magpie standing on three green hills (vert). From centre hill, a spring (argent) with water flowing to pool (argent).

Attractions

The most important buildings in Bad Elster are from the last quarter of the 19th century.

Das Königliche Kurhaus is an important example of turn of the 20th century neo classicism, demonstrating the importance of Spa building to the state.
Albert Bad was built in the Jugenstil.
TheKönig Albert Theater, formerly called the Kurtheater, opened in 1914 and has been recently modernised. Alexander Prinz von Sachsen is the theatres patron. It is also an important conference venue for Saxony and the Euroregion.
The NaturTheater lies in a woodland setting. It is the oldest open-air theatre in Saxony. In 2007 it was adapted to meet modern standards and reopened, offering a six month season of Opera, theatre, concerts and cinema.
The 1892 Lutheran church St.-Trinitatis-Kirche was built in the revival gothic style. It contains artifacts from the previous building such as the gothic statues of St Peter and Paul from ca. 1490.
The former luxury hotel building, the Wettiner Hof is listed for protection; it awaits renovation.
There are also smaller monuments such as the Postmeilensäule (1724) and the Schillerdenkmal.