The Oybin is a 514 m high mountain in the Zittau Mountains above the town of the same name in south-east Saxony. It is home to the ruins of Oybin Castle, which Emperor Charles IV had converted into his retirement residence, and a Cölestine monastery founded in 1369.<br /><br />The hilltop castle complex covers the entire summit area of Mount Oybin. In addition to the actual castle on the west side with the Imperial House, it also includes the ruins of the monastery, the mountain cemetery of the municipality of Oybin and a castle restaurant. <br />Prehistory until (1300)<br />The first archaeological evidence of a Bronze Age settlement on Mount Oybin dates back to the 11th and 12th centuries B.C. Settlement in the Slavic period has been proven on the basis of a few individual shards. The earliest traces of construction date back to the 13th century A.D. This century also saw the first documented destruction by the town of Zittau in 1291. The castle was used as a base for raids by robber barons. This is also the first documented mention of Oybin (Moybin). The castle was soon rebuilt.<br /><br />Painting<br /><br />The picturesque ruins on the Oybin with the cemetery of the village of Oybin located there were a favourite motif of numerous Romantic painters, such as Caspar David Friedrich, Carl Gustav Carus, Ernst Ferdinand Oehme, Carl Blechen and Adrian Ludwig Richter. However, they are by no means at the beginning of this tradition; as early as the 18th century, Oybin was frequently depicted by renowned artists such as Johann Alexander Thiele, Adrian Zingg and Johann Philipp Veith.<br /><br />Zitat<br />Aus Zittau’s blauen Bergen,<br />Vom Glockenfels Oybin,<br />Mag mit der Wolken Fluge<br />Ein Gruß hin zu Dir zieh’n.