Jöhstadt - Steinbach

Steam in the Ore Mountains - just like when Grandpa was a boy

It was silver mining that attracted hammer mills and settlements to the Pressnitz Valley. But when the rich deposits of ore in the Ore Mountains dried up, the mills were converted into industrial factories. It was a little railroad, thanks to the regulations of the Royal Saxon State Railroad with a uniform gauge of 750 mm, which transported the wealth from the industry and the people that worked for it. Puffing steadily over many bridges and through narrow cuttings, the Pressnitz Valley Railroad was for a long time the most important means of transport. Sadly, at the end of the 1980s it was demolished. But the love of the locals for their railroad caused a miracle, and in 1990 the reconstruction of part of the railroad began. Even more lively than ever, it now joins Jöhstadt and Steinbach. And if you want to know how our ancestors traveled a hundred years ago, get on board and experience railroad nostalgia from station to station.

Sideline attractions

• the village of Seiffen, Germany's toy capital – wood crafts from the Ore Mountains, toy museum, open-air museum, summer toboggan run

• mining museum 'Saigerhütte' and Stockhausen Toyland in Olbernhau

• mining learning experience in the Pressnitz Valley and old furnace in Schmalzgrube

• walks along the Pressnitz Valley Railroad, from Steinbach on the cycle and walking path to Wolkenstein

• visit to the Czech Republic using the border crossings at Jöhstadt and Schmalzgrube

• visitors’ mine ‘Andreas-Gegentrum-Stolln’ right next to the railroad