First settlements in the Weißeritz valley date back to 13th century. Since Middle Ages, the valley was known as a coal reserve. The coal mining began in 16th century and was rapidly enhanced in the end of 18th century. In the first half of 19th century, the Weißeritz valley was a leader of coal-mining in Germany. The latest technical inventions were introduced here: for example, the first German steam engine was installed in the Burgk village and is now on display in the local museum. The Freital valley was also pioneering in the coke production and in street gas lighting. Finally, the first mine railroad with electrical locomotives also appeared in the Freital valley in 1882.
In 1921, small towns and villages of the Weißeritz valley merged into the town of Freital (Frei Tal means 'free valley'). In the middle of 20th century, coal mining was gradually ceased. However, after the World War II some of the mines were used again, this time for the mining of uranium. During 40 years (till re-unification of Germany in 1989), the region produced more than 3000 tons of uranium. Presently, any mining is abandoned. The population of Freital is about 39000 (2007).
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Freital Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
