The oldest proven settlement dates back to the Bronze Age, probably from the 11th century BC. The first fortifications of the hill were probably built at that time, which are also evidenced by the findings of several molds for casting bronze products - axes, rings and arrowheads. The name of the castle also comes from the period of Slavic settlement, the oldest preserved form of which, from 1290, is Moibin - the place of Mojbovo. Its change to Oybin occurred in connection with the later German settlement. In 1346, Zittau fell to the Bohemian king, who later became Emperor Charles IV. The new owner began rebuilding the castle so that it better corresponded to the then ideas of beauty and representativeness.
The first building built in this spirit was the imperial palace in 1364. In 1369, Charles IV founded the Celestine Monastery on Oybin, which was subordinate to the order's monastery in Sulmona, Italy. The monastery mainly used the imperial palace and the adjacent buildings towards the church, while the fortifications, the office building and the residential tower remained part of the royal castle. Within 15 years, a new monastery church was built, which bears the characteristic features of the Prague school of church building of Petr Parléř. After its completion, on November 6, 1384, it was consecrated in honor of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary, St. Wenceslas and St. Celestine by the Prague Archbishop Jan of Jenštejn. This was the time of greatest glory. The later monastery gradually declined and was finally severely damaged by a great fire in 1577. Until almost the end of the 18th century, the castle was an overgrown ruin, and only during the Romantic period were its ruins rediscovered. The painters Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Gustav Carus played a special role in this, as their works aroused the interest of other artists and the public. Thanks to this, the ruins were already open to tourists in 1829, and in 1883 Alfred Moschkau created a museum there. The romantic ruins of Oybin Castle and Monastery are probably the biggest tourist attraction in the Zittau Mountains and one of the most important monuments in Upper Lusatia.
The mountain is associated with a legend of the "Jungfernsprung auf dem Oybin", recorded by the Brothers Grimm and Ludwig Bechstein , among others. The picturesque ruins on Oybin with the Oybin village cemetery located there were a favorite motif of many Romantic painters, such as Caspar David Friedrich , Carl Gustav Carus , Ernst Ferdinand Oehme , Carl Blechen and Adrian Ludwig Richter . However, it is by no means the origin of this tradition; already in the 18th century, Oybin was often depicted by renowned artists such as Johann Alexander Thiele , Adrian Zingg and Johann Philipp Veith .
The Evangelical Mountain Church (also known as the village church) is a Baroque hall church in the municipality of Oybin in the Görlitz district of Saxony. It belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran parish of Zittau-Olbersdorf in the Evangelical Lutheran church district of Löbau-Zittau of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church in Saxony.
The chapel at the foot of Mount Oybin was built in 1708-1709 by Johann Georg Scholze as a prayer hall with a gallery. However, it was only used for baptisms, weddings and funerals - the faithful attended services in the church in Lückendorf . In 1712, the prayer hall received an altar and a pulpit. The floor was paved in 1718 and most of the ceiling paintings were created in 1723. In 1732-1734, the prayer hall was expanded into a church. The building was extended to the west by two window axes and a wooden tower with a dome and lantern was built. Another gallery and an organ choir were added. The carpentry work was done by Andreas Kühnel from Zittau. The four-hundred-kilogram bell was brought from Dresden on a horse-drawn cart. The first organ was installed in 1754 by Johann Gottlieb Tamitius from Zittau. Tamitius created it in 1719 for the church in Wittgendorf near Zittau and was transferred to Oybin after the church there was demolished and rebuilt . The ground plan is irregular, as the northwest corner is formed by a rock; the building is covered with a hipped roof. The extension can be recognized by the larger windows with round arches. A sacristy is added to the east side. The building was restored in 2008 with the support of the German Foundation for the Preservation of Monuments .
Obec Pěnčín
Pěnčín 57
468 21 Bratříkov
Tel.: +420 483397028
info@pencin.cz
www.pencin.cz
Obec Oybin
Hauptstraße 15
02797 Kurort Oybin
Tel: +49 35844 766-30
gemeindeamt@oybin.com
www.oybin.com
Tourist Info
Fremdenverkehrsbetrieb Oybin
Hauptstraße 15
02797 Kurort Oybin
Tel: +49 35844 7330
info@oybin.com
www.burgundkloster-oybin.com
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