Lauter () is a town in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony, Germany. It lies between the two towns of Aue and Schwarzenberg. It lies in the Ore Mountains, 4 km southeast of Aue, and 4 km northwest of Schwarzenberg, has about 4,700 inhabitants in an area of 21.55 km2 and belongs to the Town League of Silberberg (). Since 1 January 2013, it is part of the town Lauter-Bernsbach.
Through the town runs the Silver Road, the B 101. Lauter has a station on the Zwickau–Schwarzenberg railway and is served by Regionalbahn trains, operated by (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn) between Zwickau and Johanngeorgenstadt.
History The town arose from a forest village (Waldhufendorf) established in the late 12th century on the western ridge of the Schwarzwasser Valley. The name is recorded over the centuries as Lawther (1460), Lawte (1501) and Lauttera (1590). The town draws this name from a brook called die Lauter, although this name is now no longer used for any waterway.
Besides agriculture and log driving, mining and basket making afforded the population livelihoods. When industrialization began in the 19th century, many machine factories, and metal- and woodworking businesses as well as an enamel factory set up shop in town. From 1952 to 1990, Lauter was part of the Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt of East Germany. Town rights were conferred in 1962.
In the early 1950s, the BSG Empor Lauter football club played successfully in the DDR-Oberliga, until it was delegated to Rostock in 1954. Its successor club Hansa Rostock played in the Bundesliga.
Population development The following figures refer to 31 December in each given year.
1982 to 1988 1982 − 6778 1983 − 6659 1984 − 6567 1985 − 6457 1986 − 6299 1987 − 6200 1988 − 6107 1989 to 1995 1989 − 5880 1990 − 5589 1991 − 5442 1992 − 5399 1993 − 5328 1994 − 5499 1995 − 5401 1996 to 2002 1996 − 5303 1997 − 5283 1998 − 5255 1999 − 5185 2000 − 5199 2001 − 5135 2002 − 5103 2003 to 2006 2003 − 5066 2004 − 5007 2005 − 4968 2006 − 4927 Source: Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen
Notable people Steffi Martin (1962–2017), luger, Olympic medalist; lived here
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