Rabenberg

The Rabenberg is a forested mountain massif in the Ore Mountains, rising just over 900 metres between Johanngeorgenstadt and Breitenbrunn. It forms part of the Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony, close to the Czech border. The wooded slopes cover about three kilometres across, with the Vorderer and Hinterer Rabenberg marking its two main ridges. A small scattered settlement clings to the upper slopes and belongs to Breitenbrunn. Granite underpins the massif, with schists and quartzites appearing near the edges. Tin and silver ores were worked here from the 18th to the 19th century.

The mountain carries a long mining past. Records from the early modern period list at least sixty-six pits, including names like Philippi Jakobi, Reiche Zeche and Friedrich-August-Stolln. Some were run by mining cooperatives, while others belonged to individual lessees who paid their own wages. In 1664 Christian Rockstroh received permission to build a house on the mountain. After 1948 the plateau became home to a new settlement built for uranium miners working with the SDAG Wismut. Until 1846 the Hinterer Rabenberg featured the Preißhaus inn and its famous Preißhausbuche tree.

Paths climb from Breitenbrunn, Erlabrunn and Johanngeorgenstadt, some bearing folk names such as Heuschuppenweg or Tränktrögel. The summit itself is wooded and offers no wide views, though an old survey marker stands on a rock. Nearby, the Galgenflügel path leads south-east to a border crossing at Himmelswiese, with onward routes to Halbemeile, Rozhraní and the Berghotel Roter Fuchs in Podlesí. A large sport park below the summit provides facilities for many activities, and mountain-bike trails criss-cross the slopes.