The previously heavily forested upper
Ore Mountains were settled in the 12th and 13th centuries by
Franconian farmers. Frohnau, Geyersdorf, and Kleinrückerswalde—all now part of present-day town—have all been attested since 1397. In 1491, silver deposits were discovered in the area, and Annaberg soon developed under the patronage of
George, Duke of Saxony and
Barbara Jagiellon. George and Barbara founded the landmark
St. Anne's Church and a Franciscan monastery (dissolved in 1539), and Barbara donated a
relic of
Saint Anne to the church, which thus became a regional
pilgrimage destination.
Barbara Uthmann introduced braid and lace-making to the town in 1561 and the craft was further developed in the 1590s by
Belgian refugees fleeing the policies of
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba,
Spain's governor over the
Low Countries. The industry was further developed in the 19th century, when Annaberg and Buchholz were connected by rail to
Chemnitz and to each other, with both settlements having specialized schools for lace-making. The population of Annaberg in the 1870s was 11,693. This had risen to 16,811 by 1905, with another 9,307 in Buchholz. The town's mines formerly produced
silver,
tin, and
cobalt, but ceased production before the
First World War. After the
Reunification of Germany in 1989, some were restored for viewing by tourists. In 1945, the two towns Annaberg and Buchholz merged into the new town Annaberg-Buchholz. From 1952 to 1990, Annaberg-Buchholz was part of the
Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt of
East Germany.
Historical population At the start of the 16th Century, Annaberg was one of the largest towns in Germany with an estimated 8,000 inhabitants. In 1834 Annaberg had a population of 5,068 and Buchholz with 1,424. In 1875, 11,693 people lived in Annaberg, in 1890 11,725, in 1925 18,204, and in 1933 19,818. The figures in the table are for Annaberg-Buchholz. Historical population
(from 1960, on 31 December): : Before 1945: Sum of population of towns Annaberg and BuchholzData source 1998: Statistical Office of Saxony 1 29 October 2 31 August ==Main sights==