Reitzenhain

Reitzenhain is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany.

References

Reitzenhain (Marienberg)

Reitzenhain is a village in the Ore Mountains which is now a subdivision of Marienberg in the district Erzgebirgskreis.

Geography

Reitzenhain is located on the crest of the Ore Mountains, next to the border between Germany and the Czech republic at an altitude of ca. 778 m (station building) on the stream Schwarze Pockau. The abandoned village Pohraniční (Böhmisch Reizenhain) is situated to its south-east, on the Czech side of the border and on the right bank of the stream.

Etymology

The name of the village is supposedly derived from a wayside inn (locally called a Han) on the nearby mountain pass, which happened to be the thirteenth inn ('Dreizehnter Han') on the road from Leipzig to Prague, counted from either end. This is also reflected by the number "13" (German: 'Dreizehn') in the village's coat of arms.

History

Reitzenhain was first mentioned in a document of 1401 as Reiczenstein, being a village on the border to Bohemia. In 1551 it belonged to Großrückerswalde parish, in 1607 it was transferred to Kühnhaide parish. Reitzenhain children also attended school in Kühnhaide. Due to the strategically important location on the Reitzenhain pass, the village was frequently occupied by military forces, in particular in the Thirty Years' War and in the Seven Years' War. Until 1856 Reitzenhain belonged administratively to Amt Wolkenstein.