Plauen

Plauen (German pronunciation: [ˈplaʊ̯ən])[2][3] is a town in the Free State of Saxony, east-central Germany. It is the capital town of the district Vogtlandkreis. The town is situated near the border of Thuringia, Bavaria and the Czech Republic.

Plauen
Panoramic view over Plauen
Coat of arms
Location of Plauen within Vogtlandkreis district
Plauen
Plauen
Coordinates: 50°29′N 12°07′E
CountryGermany
StateSaxony
DistrictVogtlandkreis
Subdivisions5 town boroughs with 38 parts
Government
  Lord mayorRalf Oberdorfer (FDP)
Area
  Total102.11 km2 (39.42 sq mi)
Elevation
412 m (1,352 ft)
Population
 (2019-12-31)[1]
  Total64,597
  Density630/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
08523;-5;-7;-9
Dialling codes03741
Vehicle registrationV, AE, OVL, PL, RC
Websitewww.plauen.de

History

Plauen was founded by Polabian Slavs in the 12th century as "Plawe" and was passed to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1327. The town was captured by the Archbishop of Magdeburg, Lippold von Bredow, in 1384. In 1466, it was passed to Albertine Saxony and later in 1569 to the Electorate of Saxony. Plauen became incorporated into the Kingdom of Saxony in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the late-19th century, Plauen became a centre of textile manufacturing, specializing in Chemical lace, called Plauen lace. Around 1910, Plauen, as an industrial 'boomtown' of the region, reached its population peak (1910 census: 121,000, 1912: 128,000).

In the 1930s, Plauen hosted the first chapter of the Nazi Party outside of Bavaria. Plauen's population, however, has shrunk dramatically since the Second World War (1939: 111,000 inhabitants). It was occupied by American troops on 16 April 1945 but was left to Red Army on 1 July 1945.

From 1945 onwards, Plauen fell into the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, which later became the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990). Plauen hosted a large Red Army occupation garrison and, in the last years of the GDR (DDR), an officer school of the Border Guards ("Grenztruppen der DDR"). The first mass demonstration against the communist regime in the GDR began in Plauen on 7 October 1989; this was the beginning of a series of mass demonstrations across the country and ultimately led to the re-unification of Germany in 1990.

The exposé Fast Food Nation gives special mention to Plauen as the first town of the GDR to have a McDonald's restaurant following the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

In the district reform of 1 July 2008, Plauen lost its urban district status and was merged into the district Vogtlandkreis.

Politics

The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was Rolf Magerkord of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 2000. The mayor was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected. Ralf Oberdorfer of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) has been mayor since 2000. The most recent mayoral election was held on 15 June 2014, with a runoff held on 6 July, and the results were as follows:

Candidate Party First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
Ralf Oberdorfer Free Democratic Party 8,641 40.1 9,327 53.7
Steffen Zenner Christian Democratic Union 7,213 33.4 8,029 46.3
Uwe Täschner Green / Left / SPD 5,711 26.5
Valid votes 21,565 99.2 17,356 98.6
Invalid votes 168 0.8 240 1.4
Total 21,733 100.0 17,596 100.0
Electorate/voter turnout 54,227 40.1 54,214 32.5
Source: Wahlen in Sachsen

The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows:

Party Votes % +/- Seats +/-
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 20,717 23.7 11.7 11 5
Alternative for Germany (AfD) 17,464 20.0 New 11 New
The Left (Die Linke) 12,728 14.5 6.9 6 3
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 12,245 14.0 5.0 6 2
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 8,687 9.9 2.6 4 1
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 7,529 8.6 2.7 3 1
Initiative Plauen (WV) 4,752 5.4 0.4 2 ±0
The III. Path 3,366 3.8 New 1 New
Valid votes 30,247 98.2
Invalid votes 556 1.8
Total 30,803 100.0 42 ±0
Electorate/voter turnout 52,962 58.2 13.8
Source: Wahlen in Sachsen

Industry and infrastructure

Plauen (Vogtland) Oberer Bahnhof lies on the Leipzig–Hof line. The section of this line through Plauen is part of the Saxon-Franconian trunk line running between Nürnberg, Hof, Plauen, Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden. The town had another station, Plauen (Vogtland) Unterer station (now defunct), on the Elster Valley Railway. There is a plan to rename the Oberer (Upper) station into Plauen Hauptbahnhof (Main Station).

Vogtlandbahn (Vogtland Railway), a regional train company, operates services from Plauen to Hof, Werdau, Chemnitz, Zwickau, Falkenstein and Adorf within Germany and Cheb (Eger) in the Czech Republic. At these stations, there are other Vogtlandbahn services to München, Regensburg, Marktredwitz, Dresden and Leipzig within Germany and Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) and Prague in the Czech Republic. A Vogtlandbahn Express Bus service runs between Plauen and Berlin Schönefeld Airport and Zoological Garden.

The Plauen Straßenbahn is a tramway that has 6 lines connecting the centre of town, Plauen-Tunnel stop, to the surrounding areas and the Oberer railway station.

Main sights

Lace curtain factory, 1980

Education and science

Plauen is home to a University of Applied Sciences with about 300 students and a DIPLOMA Fachhochschule.


Sport

VFC Plauen

Notable residents

Christoph Pezel 1598
E. O. Plauen 1943
Horst Dohlus 1986

Honorary citizens

Twin cities

Twin cities of Jößnitz (urban district)

Former twin cities

Notes

  1. "Bevölkerung des Freistaates Sachsen nach Gemeinden am 31. Dezember 2019". Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen (in German). July 2020.
  2. Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 828. ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6.
  3. Mangold, Max (2005). Das Aussprachewörterbuch (in German) (6th ed.). Mannheim: Dudenverlag. p. 635. ISBN 9783411040667.
  4. Miller 2017, p. 341.

References

  • Miller, Michael (2017). Gauleiter Volume 2. California: R James Bender Publishing. ISBN 1-932970-32-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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