Lauter, Saxony

The town of Lauter lies in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, between the two towns of Aue and Schwarzenberg. It lies in the Ore Mountains, 4 km southeast of Aue, and 4 km northwest of Schwarzenberg, has 4,927 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2006) in an area of 21.55 km² and belongs to the Town League of Silberberg (Städtebund Silberberg). Through town runs the Silver Road, Bundesstraße 101. Lauter has a has a station on the Zwickau–Schwarzenberg railway and is served by Regionalbahn trains, operated by Erzgebirgsbahn (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn) between Zwickau and Johanngeorgenstadt.

History

The town arose from a forest village (Waldhufendorf) established in the late 12th century on the western ridge of the Schwarzwasser Valley. The name is recorded over the centuries as Lawther (1460), Lawte (1501) and Lauttera (1590). The town draws this name from a brook called die Lauter, although this name is now no longer used for any waterway.

Besides agriculture and log driving, mining and basket making afforded the population livelihoods. When industrialization began in the 19th century, many machine factories, and metal- and woodworking businesses as well as an enamel factory set up shop in town. Town rights were conferred in 1962.

In the early 1950s, the BSG Empor Lauter football club played successfully in the DDR-Oberliga, until it was delegated to Rostock in 1954. Its successor club Hansa Rostock now plays in the First Fußball-Bundesliga.

Population development

The following figures refer to 31 December in each given year.

Source: Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen

Famous people

• Edwin Bauersachs (1893–1948), Ore Mountain “homeland poet” (Heimatdichter), was active in Lauter from 1919 to 1945
• Steffi Martin (b. 1962), two-time Olympic medallist in luge, lived here

Sons and daughters of the town

• Johann Georg Rachalß (1630–1671), Saxony’s chief forester
• Walter Weidauer (1899–1986), from 1946 to 1958 Mayor of Dresden
• Werner Krusche (1917–2009), Evangelical German theologian and Bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony

References

External links

• Town’s website

This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.