- Vogtlandkreis
Infobox German district
name=Vogtlandkreis
state=Saxony
capital=Plauen
regierungsbezirk=Chemnitz
area=1,412
population=258,538
population_as_of=2006
density=183
carsign=V
url=http://www.vogtlandkreis.de
The Vogtlandkreis is a "Landkreis" (rural district) in the southwest of theFree State of Saxony ,Germany , at the borders toThuringia ,Bavaria , and theCzech Republic . Neighboring districts are (from south clockwise) Hof,Saale-Orla , Greiz, Zwickau andErzgebirgskreis .Plauen is the administrative center of the district.History
The
Vogtland became part of theHoly Roman Empire in the 12th century by kingConrad III . In 1209 the minister dynasty administrating the area split into three lines, Weida, Greiz and Gera-Plauen. When the central power over the area decreased these leaders, called inLatin "advocatus" or in German "Vögte" could rise from administrators to actual county leaders. 1354-1357 the Vogtland war ended these leadership and the area changed ownership toBohemia .In 1546 Henry IV from Plauen got the area from the Bohemian king and later emperor Ferdinand I. His children did not only inherit the land, but also very high debt, so to pay these 1563 the area was bought by
Saxony from Henry VI, and when in 1569 Henry VI finally ceased to claim ownership the new leadership created the first Vogtland district ("Voigtländischen Creiß").1657-1718
Saxony was split into parts, the Vogtland belonged toSaxony-Zeitz . In 1835 the newconstitutional monarchy changed the administration and abolished the old district, and instead the "Amtshauptmannschaft" Plauen was created, and in 1867 those of Auerbach and Oelsnitz. 1907 the city ofPlauen left the district and became district-free city.1952 the East German government with the big administrative reform renamed them to "Kreise" (districts), and created the new districts Klingenthal and Reichenbach by decreasing the size of the previous ones. After the
German Reunification the changes of the 1952 reform were mostly undone, and in 1996 the 5 districts were merged to form the Vogtlandkreis.In the district reform of
August 1 2008 the town of Plauen was included into the district.Geography
The Vogtlandkreis is named after the geographic area it covers, the "Vogtland". Located in the Erzgebirge it contains a lot of forests. The main river is the "Weiße Elster".
People
The first German cosmonaut,
Sigmund Jähn was born in the Vogtland. His hometown, the small town of "Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz", in the VerwaltungsverbandWaldgebiet Vogtland ) houses a small "Space Exploration" exhibition.Coat of arms
Towns and municipalities
:¹ "Has city-rights, but is administrated together with the surrounding Verwaltungsgemeinschaft"
External links
* [http://www.vogtlandkreis.de Official website] (German, Czech)
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