# Hainichen, Saxony

Hainichen is a market town in Saxony, Germany. It is located on the river Kleine Striegis and about 15 miles (24 kilometres) north-east of Chemnitz. Hainichen has been shaped by its industrial past.

## History
### From the foundation until industrial revolution

A first settlement had been mentioned in 1276 (748 years ago) (1276) as villa forensis Heynichen.
Hainichen used to be a place of considerable industry. Its primary manufacture was once that of flannels, baize, and similar fabrics; at the time it may have been called the centre of this industry in Germany.
On April 23, 1800, a F5/TORRO10 tornado devastated Arnsdorf, Dittersdorf and Etzdorf, near Hainichen. Despite its strength, there were no deaths.
The Gellert institution for the poor was established in 1815.
In 1933, a production plant for small delivery vans and minibuses called Framo moved from nearby Frankenberg to Hainichen. Since then, the automotive industry has been the most important employer.

### Nazi era

An early concentration camp, Hainichen concentration camp, was established in April 1933 and dissolute in June 1933. During World War II, a subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp was located here, housing female prisoners working for the Framo enterprise.

### GDR

The former plant of the Framo company was nationalized. The 1960s saw a reingeneering of delivery vans and minibuses under the Barkas B1000 brand. Hainichen became a major producer of parts for these cars.

### After reunification

Production of the B1000 delivery vans and minibuses ceased in 1991.

### Population statistics

Source:
Typical for a market town in the east of Germany, Hainichen faces the demographic problem of a steadily declining population.
| Year | Population |
| 1834 | 4,623 |
| 1933 | 8,047 |
| 1960 | 11,188 |
| 1998 | 10,405 |
| 1999 | 10,266 |
| Year | Population |
| 2000 | 10,061 |
| 2001 | 9,888 |
| 2002 | 9,744 |
| 2003 | 9,628 |
| 2004 | 9,554 |
| Year | Population |
| 2005 | 9,502 |
| 2008 | 9,131 |
| 2010 | 8,876 |
| 2012 | 8,714 |

## Leisure and tourism
### Sites and buildings of interest

Hainichen is home of a camera obscura.
Other important sights are the Gellert museum (literature museum), Tuchmacherhaus (clothier museum) and a communal park. Hainichen is surrounded by the beautiful valleys of the river Striegis.

### Sports

Hainichen has a communal sports centre with a small indoor pool, a communal outdoor swimming pool and a bowling centre. Also, there is a cycling track nearby.

## Industry

Hainichen is characterised by small and medium-sized businesses. The largest employer is the car parts maker Metalsa Automotive Hainichen GmbH (formerly ISE Industries Hainichen GmbH) (429 employees in 2005).

## Districts

Areas of the city include
* Bockendorf,
* Cunnersdorf,
* Eulendorf,
* Gersdorf,
* Falkenau,
* Riechberg,
* Siegfried,
* Schlegel and
* Berthelsdorf.

## International relations

Hainichen is twinned with:
* Dorsten, Germany

## Famous citizens

* Hainichen is the birthplace of Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–1769), to whose memory a bronze statue was erected in the marketplace in 1865. He was an important poet of the Enlightenment.
* Friedrich Gottlob Keller (1816–1895), the inventor of the groundwood pulp technique, was born in Hainichen.

## More sons and daughters of the town

* Rainer Simon (born 1941), film director and screenwriter
* Konrad Zdarsa (born 1944), Bishop of the Diocese of Augsburg