plagues. I.e. the area was destroyed in 1431 by the Hussites, in 1468 during the "Böckler" war and in 1633 by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years' War. In 1741 it was invaded by the Pandurs and in 1809 there was a great battle at the "Landwehrbergl" against a horde of Bohemian plunderers. It was as early as in the 16th century that mining started in Zwiesel at the Rotkot mine. In 1767 another church was built, known as "Bergkirche", and in 1838 the present town hall was constructed. Serious fires were raging in the municipality in the years 1825, 1832, 1846, 1849 and 1870. With the latter fire, on 19 August 1876, the parish church burst into flames too. Water pipes were laid in 1888, electricity was available from 1896. In the years between 1891 and 1896 the main parish church Staint Nicholas was built. In 1904 Zwiesel was raised to the status of a town and quickly became the economic and cultural centre of the middle part of the Bavarian Forest. From the very beginning development was driven by glass and timber. The regional glass industry around Zwiesel dates back to the 15th century (the glass hut of Rabenstein was founded in 1421). In 1836 the glass factory of Theresienthal was founded and in 1872 the master glass maker, Anton Müller, started to build the glass works Annathal, which later became the Schott-Werke. Today this factory operates under the name of Zwiesel Kristallglas plc. and is an important producer of goblets in Germany. In 1904 the technical school for glass manufacturing and decorating professions was founded, which continuously developed into a national training centre for glass related professions. At the end of World War II, at noon on 20 April 1945, the bombing of the railway bridges destroyed several houses, 15 civilians died. On 22 April 1945 Zwiesel was handed over to the American army without any further bloodshed. An outstanding event in recent town history was the Bavarian State Exhibition Bavaria - Bohemia: 1500 years of neighbourhood. Many visitors of the exhibition also came from the neighbouring Czech Republic. Etymology The name of the town was mentioned in 1254 as "Zwisel", soon after in 1301 as "Zwiseln", in 1738 as "Zwisl" and in 1832 as "Zwiesel" or "Zwisel". The Middle High German word "zwisel" means "fork" and refers to the merging of the rivers Großer Regen