Penigk Misniae Oppidumbraun

Rare first edition of this c.17th engraved view of Penig, Germany.

The view is taken from a hill to the west of the town, which lies in a meander of the navigable Zwickauer Mulde (D). It is dominated by the late Gothic parish church of Our Lady on the Mountain (C), which was consecrated in 1515. In pre-Reformation times, from about the 12th century on, this was one of the famous places of Marian Pilgrimage in Saxony. On the left, on the other bank of the Mulde, is Old Penig with the Romanesque church of St Giles. The town wall was built from the middle of the 15th century. The 16th-century Renaissance New Castle (B), seat of the Counts of Leisnitz and Schönberg, towers above the houses of the burghers and artisans. Penig is situated on the former Prague-Chemnitz-Magdeburg trade route, and was recorded for the first time in 1301.

Scarcely 300 years ago this whole area was a nest of robbers and murderers, until finally Margrave Frederick of Meissen cleared and liberated all the highways and byways in his land. This town lies on the Mulde at a place where a chapel dedicated to Our Lady once stood, to which came many visitors and pilgrims from distant countries. When some people noticed that there were benefits to be obtained from the great number of pilgrims, they settled here in order to provide hospitality for them. In this way the pilgrimage and the town grew steadily. A fine church was built in place of the chapel, houses were constructed in an orderly manner and divided into streets, and finally a wall was built, thus turning the village into a town.”

References:
Braun/Hogenberg, Cities of the World. Taschen, Cologne 2017 : p.459, ill. 458.
Kroght, p., Koeman’s Atlantes Neerlandici. V IV-2, 3353, ill. p. 1277

Collections:
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: Object number RP-P-AO-20-25
Royal Collection Trust UK: RCIN 1124653
State Library New South Wales: CALL NUMBER T/RAV/FM4/2 (1599)