The town is situated in the Ore Mountains, 32 km south of Dresden, and 15 km northwest of Teplice, Czech Republic. The village of Zinnwald-Georgenfeld registered the lowest annual mean temperature (4.9 °C) of all inhabited places in Germany during the period 1961–1990. Additionally, it also holds the German record for the highest amount of precipitation recorded in one day, 312 mm. The highest snow depth ever recorded was 163 cm in 2005.
Look-out from the rim of the Great Pinge across the town of Altenberg
The Great Pinge (Große Pinge) of Altenberg is a giant pinge or collapsed mineshaft above old mining excavations (mainly tin ore digging) throughout the last centuries. Today this 12 ha area (150 m deep and 450 m in diameter), bordering the town area, is considered to be one out of 77 of the most important geotopes in Germany.
The basalt mountain Geisingberg (824 m) with mountain hut, tower and look-out. On the flanks of the hill, at the Geisingberg Meadows preserve area, there are important populations of globe-flowers and wild orchids, blooming in spring and early summer.
The FIBT World Championships 2008 ran February 11–24, 2008 in Altenberg, Saxony, for the fifth time, having done so in 1991 (bobsleigh), 1994 (skeleton), 1999 (skeleton), and 2000 (men's bobsleigh). It was the first time Altenberg has hosted all of the events at one championship
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