Etzenricht is a municipality in the Upper Palatinate

Upper Palatinate

The Upper Palatinate is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria.- History :The region took its name first in the early 16th century, because it was by the Treaty of Pavia one of the main portions of the territory of the Wittelsbach Elector...

, ca. 6 km southeast of Weiden

Weiden in der Oberpfalz

Weiden in der Oberpfalz is a district-free city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located 100 km east of Nuremberg and 35 km west of the Czech border. A branch of the German Army's NCO Academy is located here...

 in the district of Neustadt in Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Etzenricht has 1721 inhabitants and various small industries. East of Etzenricht toward Rothenstadt is a transformer station of the E.ON AG with the GKK Etzenricht (described below) and a large compressor station for natural gas. Near Etzenricht are numerous fish-rich small waters, which can be used by anglers after obtaining a fishing license from the local fishery association.

History

Etzenricht was mentioned for the first time in a written document in 1270. In 1283 it was mentioned in the Salbuch of Louis II ("Ludwig der Strenge" as "Aechswinreuth". The inhabitants of Etzenricht lived at that time on honey production and agriculture. The Reformer Jan Huss visited Etzenricht in 1414 on his way to the council of Konstanz. During the war from 1618 to 1648 Etzenricht was destroyed in 1631. In 1875 a railway was built and the town got its own railway station in 1877. Until the completion of the Catholic Church in 1932, Evangelist and Catholic services in Etzenricht took place in the same church.

A transformer station

Electrical substation

A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions...

 of the Bayernwerk AG (now E.ON AG) was built near Etzenricht and was expanded several times in subsequent years. A HVDC

High-voltage direct current

A high-voltage, direct current electric power transmission system uses direct current for the bulk transmission of electrical power, in contrast with the more common alternating current systems. For long-distance transmission, HVDC systems may be less expensive and suffer lower electrical losses...

 back-to-back facility called GKK Etzenricht

GKK Etzenricht

GKK Etzenricht, abbreviation for Gleichstromkurzkupplung) Etzenricht, that means Etzenricht HVDC-back-to-back station was an HVDC back-to-back facility near Etzenricht in the district of Neustadt in Bavaria, Germany. It was built up on area of Etzenricht substation, a 380 kV/220 kV/110...

was installed there from 1991 to 1993, which made the name of the municipality Etzenricht supraregionally popular.