Schwarzbach: Valley, historic sights and Brehm connection

Schwarzbach is a ribbon village in a deep valley. The narrow valley leads directly into the valley villages of the Saale-Holzland district. The village’s location can therefore be understood through two specific features: its settlement form and the valley’s connection to the valley villages. The first describes the character of the settlement; the second places it within the district’s valley landscape.

Valley location and orientation in the landscape

One of the highest elevations in Schwarzbach is 368 metres and is known among local residents as Gänsevorwerk. This elevation adds a named point in the landscape to the picture of the deep valley. Behind Gänsevorwerk is Hirtenberg; a hiking signpost points out a trail leading there. Hirtenberg adds another named destination to the landscape’s points of orientation, one indicated by the signpost.

Historic sights and the Brehm connection

Historic sights in Schwarzbach include the Umgebindehaus and the brewing and drying house. These two buildings add a cultural and historical focus to the landscape’s points of orientation. The local attractions can therefore be viewed from two perspectives: through the landscape and its points of orientation, or through historic sights. If you like to distinguish between nature and history when choosing your destination, Schwarzbach offers both points of interest.

Alfred Brehm provides a special connection between landscape and culture: the forests and meadows around Schwarzbach were often places where the famous naturalist worked. Hiking signposts also guide walkers through a tranquil landscape directly to the Brehm Museum in neighbouring Renthendorf. This clearly links Schwarzbach’s forests and meadows to Brehm’s history and the museum destination in Renthendorf.

Culture and architecture in Greiz

Greiz has its own cultural and architectural attractions. Since 2010, the Upper Castle in Greiz has housed the permanent exhibition “From the Land of the Bailiffs to the Principality of Reuss of the Elder Line.” It explores the history of the bailiffs, lords, counts of the Holy Roman Empire and princes of Reuss, as well as the associated culture of small-state residences. The museum also offers a multimedia historical experience with a computer-animated building history and an interactive journey through time. The Upper Castle thus combines historical themes with multimedia ways of presenting history.

The Lower Castle in Greiz houses a museum and a textile demonstration workshop. Established in 1998, the workshop showcases the production and history of Greiz’s textile industry. Children and adults can take part in the manual production process. Here, the focus is on a different topic than at the Upper Castle: local textile history and its production. The two attractions therefore offer different cultural and historical perspectives on Greiz.

The Summer Palace in Greiz adds its own architectural accent. It was built as the summer residence of the Princes of Reuss of the Elder Line and is one of the earliest Neoclassical buildings in Central Germany. The Summer Palace is located in the Princely Greiz Park on the banks of the White Elster. The park is a 19th-century landscape park, and the overall grounds are designated a national cultural monument. Greiz thus brings together the history of the Summer Palace and the park’s design and heritage status.

Discover more destinations: Greiz, Endschütz, Ronneburg, Steinsdorf, Münchenbernsdorf, Hain, Bocka, Bad Köstritz.

Return to the main travel overview: Greiz.