Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the southwestern region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau. The city is situated in a valley at the foot of the Erzgebirge Mountains and is also part of the so-called Saxon triangle metropolitan area, an economic network that includes Leipzig-Halle, Dresden. The city has slightly fewer than 100,000 inhabitants but has a regional catchments area of over 480,000 people. The city can be easily reached by car via the nearby Autobahns A4 and A72. The city has a main railway station (Zwickau-Hbf) and is also reachable via a public airfield, which takes light aircraft.
Zwickau, known as the city of Automobiles and Robert Schumann (the famous composer), is the cradle of the Saxon automotive industry with an over one hundred year old tradition. The city has a long history of automotive development and automobile industry along with Auto Union. Well known beyond Germany's borders are trademarks such as Horch, Audi, Trabant and Volkswagen. The "Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau" - University of Applied Sciences - has therefore always been an important centre for automotive development.
The valley of the 166 km long Zwickauer Mulde River stretches from the Vogtland to the famous Colditz Castle at the other extreme. The Silver Road, Saxony's longest scenic road, connects Dresden with Zwickau. The German ADAC City Guide recently wrote, "The town of Zwickau has transformed itself over the years from a traditional mining town into an elegant Art-Nouveau town, which is well worth discovering.“ Sven sent this pretty card to me