Zschorlau lies nestled in the gentle hills in the western Ore Mountains some 5 km from Aue and is overhung in the south by the Steinberg. The community, as is so with many former forest homestead villages in the Ore Mountains, grew up on a stream, in this case the Zschorlaubach, which rises southwest of the community on a broad moory plateau known in the local speech as Dr Forst or Hoher Forst. Before the stream reaches the community, its waters feed the Filzteich, a popular recreation area. At the end of the community’s area at the Gößnitzgrund comes a glen through which the Zschorlauer Talstraße was built in 1907. Also in this glen is found the St. Anna am Freudensteinvisitor mine.
Geology
The community lies on the southeast flank of the Schneeberger Lagerstätte, which reaches to the edge of the community. This is made clear by the headframe of the Türkschacht standing on a bank only a few metres behind the houses between Zschorlau and Neustädtel. One thing that sets the St. Anna am Freudenstein visitor mine area apart is that it belongs geologically to the Schneeberger Lagerstätte, but is also considered an outlying part of that deposit. Furthermore, the wolframite deposits discovered and mined in the municipal area are interesting.
Constituent communities
The centres of Albernau and Burkhardtsgrün are parts of Zschorlau, which together with neighbouring Bockau forms an administrative community.
Politics
Municipal council
Zschorlau’s council consists of 16 seats, 15 of which are held by the CDU and the other by the Albernauer Alternative.
Partnerships
There is a partnership with the community of Dietenhofen in the district of Ansbach.
Culture and sightseeing
The St. Anna am Freudenstein visitor mine is found at the lower end of the community on the connecting road to Aue, where the traditional Mettenschicht is still held at Christmastoday, and it is public. It is a special event held on the last mining shift before Christmas, and it involves music, food and drink. A special high point in the community’s cultural life is the Sommergastspiel by the Dombrowsky Puppet Theatre. With cheerful plays for young and old, great numbers of visitors are lured to the quartzcave to Germany’s first underground puppet theatre.
Education
Zschorlau has at its disposal the Mittelschule Zschorlau and the Grundschule Zschorlau.
