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Oberrothenbach (German pronunciation: [ˈo:bɐ̯ʁɔtn̩ˌbax]) is a village (Ortsteil) and former municipality in Saxony, Germany. It was incorporated into the municipality of Zwickau in 1999. Its population was 647 in 2018. Oberrothenbach is situated on the left bank of the Zwickauer Mulde, 6 km north of the centre of Zwickau.
History
Siegelmark of Oberrothenbach dating c. 1850 - 1923, when the village was a Gemeinde
Oberrothenbach is first definitively attested in 1221 as Rudnbax. An early local legend apparently involves the Virgin Mary appearing to a founder and saying, "Here you will build a haven for laborers." The settlement later flourished as a mining area by the Late Middle Ages, of which it was part of Electoral Saxony. During the Industrial Revolution in the German Empire, industrial mineral mining would be established in the town and many moved to Oberrothenbach to work.
After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union secretly set up an industrial operation in Occupied Germany and later East Germany, particularly in the villages of the region such as Wismut and Oberrothenbach. Before the end of the Cold War and fall of the communist regime, over 20,000 workers died from harsh labor, radiation and other pollution. Conditions were so bad, the local saying of the region was "Kumpels sterben früher", German for: "Buddies (miners/coworkers in this context) die young".
Although the operation is now abandoned, the effects last to this day. About 450,000 people worked in the factories and mines in the village's history. Exposed to radon, arsenic, radioactive dust, lead, and other toxic compounds, an estimated 10–15,000 deaths are expected from illnesses such as cancer. A barbed-wire fence was built around the local polluted lake in the 1980s, which no longer supports most life.
Today
The village now forms part 35 of the Northern district of Zwickau (Nord-Zwickau).Haltepunkt at train station in Oberrothenbach
Oberrothenbach is a quiet village within Zwickau, hosting approximately 700 inhabitants, mainly working-class. The population was less than 400 in 1993. The village hosts several events and attractions for tourists such as festivals common in German culture.
Oberrothenbach Show map of Germany
Media related to Oberrothenbach at Wikimedia Commons