Schöneck is a town in the Vogtlandkreis

Vogtlandkreis

The Vogtlandkreis is a Landkreis in the southwest of the Free State of Saxony, Germany, at the borders to Thuringia, Bavaria, and the Czech Republic. Neighboring districts are Hof, Saale-Orla, Greiz, Zwickau and Erzgebirgskreis...

 district, in the Free State of Saxony, 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...

. It is situated 18 km southeast of Plauen

Plauen

Plauen is a town in the Free State of Saxony, east-central Germany.It is the capital of the Vogtlandkreis. The town is situated near the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic.Plauen's slogan is Plauen - echt Spitze.-History:...

, and 35 km north of Cheb

Cheb

Cheb is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře , at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny and near the border with Germany...

. Schöneck is known as the biggest ski resort in the eastern part of Germany. With more than 700 m (church) it is the highest-located city in the Vogtland district. It belongs to the so called music angle.

City structure

The districts of Schöneck are Arnoldsgrün, Eschenbach, Gunzen, Korna, Kottenheide, Schilbach and Zwotental.

History

Schöneck became a city in 1370, but was first mentioned one century ago, when the catle castrum Schoennecke was mentioned as a middleage manor.

After some devastating major fires (1632, 1680, 1761 and 1856), Schöneck took part in the industrialization of the 19th century. The city's main business became the cigar manufactory. In 1875 the railroad to Falkenstein and Klingenthal was built. The population grew significantly until World War II, but later the population contracted again.