Villages in Saxony

human settlement in Germany

human settlement in Germany

Rittersgrün is a district of the municipality of Breitenbrunn/Erzgeb in the Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony, Germany. The scattered settlement with around 1600 inhabitants grew up around several hammer mills, which operated on the course of the Pöhlwasser from the 15th to the 19th century and were supplied with ore from numerous surrounding mines. Due to its location on an important Ore Mountain pass, the settlement was repeatedly plundered by passing mercenaries during the Thirty Years' War. After the decline of the hammer mill industry in the middle of the 19th century, the village's economy was d