Neuschönau – History
The municipality of Neuschönau was first mentioned in documents in 1395 when it was simply referred to as “Schönau”.
By the end of the 14th century, a glassworks had settled here.
In June 1603, the glassworks was then taken over by a certain Thomas Kaiser, after whom the villages of “Altkaiserhütte” and “Neukaiserhütte” were named. The first land register for the Schönau glassworks estate was created at the start of the 19th century. The traditional name for Neuschönau in local dialect was “Koishüttn” – a name stemming from this period which still gives the local “Heimatverein” (village club) its name today.
Over the course of time, Schönau became “Altschönau” while the village of Neukaiserhütte was renamed “Neuschönau”. The glassworks itself changed owners on a regular basis until it closed its doors in 1813.
On the back of immigration and people moving to the area, particularly from neighbouring Bohemia, the local population grew so rapidly that in 1889 it already totalled 1,000 residents with 200 children of school age. During the course of this development, the canon vicar Johann Baptist Stinglhammer from Passau started the construction of St. Anna parish church in 1895. The church was then completed in 1903.
The parish was subsequently founded on 22 August 1917 and the first pastor was “expositus” Georg Kaiser.
In 1926, two large fires raged through Neuschönau. This was followed by a large storm in 1929 which inflicted serious damage on the church tower and roof.
Local government reorganisation measures in 1978 saw St. Oswald and Schönanger merge into one shared administrative area. At this point, the municipality was called “Schönanger”. In 1980, Schönanger municipality became autonomous again, and it was released from the St. Oswald shared administration on 31.12.2017. On 01.06.1981, the name of the municipality was changed from Schönanger to Neuschönau. Neuschönau was the largest municipal district at the time with 914 residents. The town not only forms the geographical centre of the municipality, but also hosts the majority of its public facilities.
The municipal coat of arms was also created during this period (1983). The coat of arms can be described as follows: "Above the silver base depicting a battlement, there is a green background with a slanting golden stripe and a silver wine glass"
The green element within the coat of arms represents the municipality’s location directly within the Bavarian Forest, at the heart of an extensively wooded area (sometimes known today as “Europe’s green roof”). The local “Kaiserhütte” glassworks produced mirrored glass which was used in locations as exclusive as the opera in Munich. This once vital branch of industry is represented by the wine glass on the coat of arms. The diagonal stripe symbolises the old trading route which led through the municipality to Bohemia and played a key role in the salt trade. The battlement at the bottom is included to memorialise the castle in the Schönanger district which was destroyed in the middle ages.
The local glassworks closed down before the middle of the 19th century.
Another key event for Neuschönau municipality was the foundation of the Bavarian Forest National Park on 7 October 1970, which became the first national park in Germany. From this point on, tourism has grown increasingly vital to the local economy.
Today, the National Park and its philosophy of allowing “nature to be natural” is still one of the region’s biggest draws.