From cakes to card games - city names tell a story

Plauen is lace

The Saxon city of Plauen also recalls an industrial tradition with its nickname "Lace City": the Vogtland lace and embroidery industry. At the height of its heyday in 1912, 16,000 embroidery machines are said to have been in use in Plauen, as the town writes in a "History of Plauen Lace".

Bombed during the Second World War, nationalized in the GDR and privatized after 1990 - Plauen lace has survived various eras. It is still produced today. Eight regional companies are members of the Plauener Spitze industry association. The tradition is also celebrated with the town festival - which in Plauen is of course called the "Lace Festival".

Who is the boot town?

In Central Saxony, two towns have a giant boot as their figurehead, look back on a great shoemaking tradition and are therefore also known as the "boot town": Döbeln and Leisnig.

The towns, which are around 20 kilometers apart, have even been involved in a "boot war". It was sparked by the first giant boot from Döbeln: master shoemakers from Döbeln made the 3.70-metre-high boot in 1925. It made its way to Leisnig, where it was kept and exhibited at Mildenstein Castle for decades from the 1950s onwards. It was finally decided in court that the oversized footwear had to go back to Döbeln. Last year, the "100 years of giant boots" anniversary was celebrated there.

However, the people of Leisnig also have a giant boot again. It was made in secret by two master shoemakers and presented in 1996 for Leisnig's 950th anniversary celebrations. At 4.90 meters, it is taller than the historic giant boot from Döbeln.

Döbeln and Leisnig have long since stopped talking about a "war" over the giant boots. "Both towns are working together to promote the boot region," explained Döbeln's town spokesman Thomas Mettcher.

"18, 20, 22, gone..."

There's no getting around Skat in Altenburg. Not only have playing cards been produced in the Thuringian town for 500 years, and not only has it been considered the "cradle of skat" since the invention of the game 200 years ago, but it is also home to a playing card museum with around 30,000 decks of cards as well as the headquarters of the German Skat Association and the International Skat Court.

In addition, water gushes from a skat fountain in the town, skat is recognized as an intangible cultural heritage and a skat club from Altenburg has recently started playing in the first national league, according to town spokesman Christian Bettels.

In short: Altenburg is the "Skat City" - and with full conviction: "We don't think that any other place will dispute this honorary title," said Bettels.

Chess village Ströbeck is cultural heritage

What skat is for Altenburg, chess is for the village of Ströbeck in Saxony-Anhalt: since 2016, the chess tradition in Ströbeck has been part of the intangible cultural heritage. The "chess village of Ströbeck", a district of Halberstadt, is dedicated to this tradition in a unique and diverse way, according to the list. "According to legend, Ströbeck residents have been playing chess since 1011."

Chess has also been taught as a compulsory subject at the elementary school in Ströbeck for more than 200 years. And anyone who moves to Ströbeck will probably soon come into contact with the intellectual sport: "New residents are included in the chess community through the many different ways in which tradition is cultivated."

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