Legend has it that, 850 years ago, a shiny lump of ore at the roadside paved the way for Freiberg to becoming a “Silberstadt®” (silver town). Today, the town is part of the UNESCO-listed Ore Mountains mining region – officially known as Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region – and still displays the sparkle and shine of its former wealth, with more than 550 listed buildings in the late medieval town centre bearing witness to the "silver age".
These include the Freiberg Mining Academy, founded in 1765 and the oldest of its kind in the world, and St. Mary's Cathedral with its world-famous Silbermann organs and the noted Goldene Pforte (Golden Portal). There’s also the magnificent Freudenstein Castle housing the treasures of "terra mineralia", Germany's largest mineral exhibition with over 3,500 minerals, gemstones and meteorites. And if you want to delve even deeper into Freiberg’s mining tradition, venture 150 metres underground and visit Freiberg's silver show mine.
