After the Drei-Talsperren-Marathon: Schwarzenberg
The Route: Eibenstock → Schwarzenberg → Eibenstock Logistics: Regional bus or rail connection. A compact day trip well suited to a recovery day after the marathon's climbing. Marathon Month: September Duration: Day trip
Eibenstock ──(regional bus/rail, ~30-40 mins)──> Schwarzenberg ──(regional bus/rail, return)──> Eibenstock
Schwarzenberg is one of the more picturesque market towns in the Western Erzgebirge, its old town climbing gently up toward a hilltop castle above the Schwarzwasser river valley. For a runner who wants a second gentle day trip beyond Aue-Bad Schlema's spa focus, it offers a more conventional historic-town experience, with genuinely walkable streets at a pace that suits legs still recovering from the marathon.
September in Schwarzenberg carries the same cool Erzgebirge conditions as Eibenstock itself, with the added benefit of a valley-floor position that keeps the old town somewhat more sheltered than the exposed ridge sections the marathon crosses.
The old town and Schwarzenberg Castle
The Marktplatz, ringed by pastel-fronted merchant houses, forms the natural centre of a short circuit through the old town, largely flat where it matters most. From the Marktplatz, a gentle rather than steep path leads up to Schwarzenberg Castle, whose grounds offer a view back down over the town's rooftops; the climb is modest enough to manage at a slow pace the day after a mountain marathon, though anyone whose legs object entirely can enjoy much the same view from lower vantage points closer to the Marktplatz.
The town's connection to a brief and unusual piece of post-war history, the short-lived "Republic of Schwarzenberg" that existed in the power vacuum of May and June 1945 before Soviet occupation began, gives the old town a specific historical footnote worth knowing before wandering its streets, even without a dedicated museum to visit on the subject.
A slow lunch at one of the Marktplatz cafés, with a Eierschecke (a regional Saxon layered cake) to finish, suits the unhurried pace this kind of day trip calls for.
Return buses and trains to Eibenstock run at regular but not frequent intervals; checking the timetable before finishing lunch avoids a longer-than-necessary wait for the journey back.