Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [164]
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Trains run from Chemnitz to Erdmannsdorf (€3.40, 20 minutes), from where you take the Drahtseilbahn (funicular) to Augustusburg (one-way/return €4/3).
Coming from Chemnitz, motorists should follow the S236 country road east to the Schloss. From the A4, get off at Frankenberg, take the B169 to Flöha, then switch to the B180 to Augustusburg.
Return to beginning of chapter
ZWICKAU
0375 / pop 95,000
A gateway to the Erzgebirge (Iron Ore Mountains), Zwickau has written an especially important chapter in German automobile history. It is the birthplace of both the Audi brand (in 1910) and the GDR-era Trabant, which began rolling, very slowly, off assembly lines in 1957 (see also the boxed text, opposite). The town’s sparkling car museum is a must for anyone even remotely interested in the subject. Production continues today courtesy of Volkswagen, which brought much-needed jobs to the area. As a result, Zwickau feels less depressed than other former GDR industrial cities, and also has a fairly lively centre teeming with pubs and restaurants. This, plus an impressive cathedral, the birth house of composer Robert Schumann and some of Germany’s oldest homes, make Zwickau worth a stop.
Return to beginning of chapter
Orientation
The compact and largely pedestrianised Altstadt is encircled by Dr-Friedrichs-Ring. The Hauptbahnhof (central train station) is about 800m west of the ring road; simply follow Bahnhofstrasse, then Schumannstrasse.
Vogtlandbahn regional trains to towns in the Czech Republic stop right in the heart of town, just south of the Markt and Rathaus.
Return to beginning of chapter
Information
Citibank (cnr Innere Plauensche Strasse & Dr-Friedrichs-Ring)
Main post office (Hauptstrasse 18-20)
Telecafé (Leipzigerstrasse 4; per hr €1; 10am-11pm Mon-Fri, noon-11pm Sat & Sun) Cheap web access. Tourist office ( 271 3240; www.zwickau-tourist.de; Hauptstrasse 6; 9am-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat)
Return to beginning of chapter
Sights
AUGUST HORCH MUSEUM
Zwickau’s top attraction is this amazing car museum ( 2717 3812; www.horch-museum.de; Audistrasse 7; adult/concession €5/3.50; 9.30am-5pm Tue-Sun) that will enlighten and entertain even non-petrolheads. Housed within the original early-20th-century Audi factory, gleaming and imaginatively presented exhibits range from old-timer gems like the 1911 Horch Phaeton to the latest Audi R8. And, of course, there are plenty of Trabants (three million were produced here until 1990) and other cars that gave communism a bad name. You can walk inside an early gas station, inspect Audi founder August Horch’s original wood-panelled office, stroll down a 1930s streetscape and even learn how Trabants were made. English-language audioguides are available for €2.50. The museum is about 2.5km north of the Altstadt; take tram 4 to Kurt-Eisner-Strasse.
PRIESTERHÄUSER ZWICKAU
Next to the Dom, the Priesterhäuser Zwickau (Priests’ Houses; 834 551; Domhof 5-8; adult/concession/family €4/2/9; 1-6pm Tue-Sun) gives you a close-up look at medieval living conditions. This ensemble of pint-sized cottages was built between the 13th and 15th centuries, and ranks among the country’s oldest surviving residential buildings. Church employees lived here as late as the 19th century. Imagine the people who’ve come before you as you climb up the creaky stairs, duck into small chambers or inspect the soot-stained kitchen. A modern annex has changing exhibits about the town history.
* * *
LORD OF THE RINGS
More than anything else, Zwickau has been shaped by the automobile industry and by one man in particular: August Horch (1868–1951). The first Horch cars rolled into the streets in 1904 and quickly became the queen among luxury vehicles, besting even Mercedes Benz. Horch, alas, was a better engineer than a businessman and in