Zwiesel () is a town in the lower-Bavarian district of Regen, and since 1972 is a Luftkurort with particularly good air. The name of the town was derived from the Bavarian word stem "zwisl" which refers to the form of a fork. The fork of the rivers Großer Regen and Kleiner Regen and the land that lies between these two rivers were called Zwiesel. Geography The town of Zwiesel is situated in an extensive valley basin at the foot of the mountain range formed by the peaks of the Großer Arber (1,456 m), Großer Falkenstein (1,315 m) and Kiesruck (1,265 m), exactly at the spot where the two rivers, the Großer Regen and the Kleiner Regen join and form the Black Regen. It is located to the north-east of the district town of Regen, from the town of Deggendorf, from the town of Grafenau and from the border crossing point at Bayerisch Eisenstein, entry point to the Czech Republic. In addition to be accessed by the federal road B11, the town of Zwiesel has a main railway station run by the Bavarian Forest Railway, where trains depart for Plattling, Bayerisch Eisenstein or Bodenmais at hourly intervals, and for Grafenau at two-hour intervals. Division of the town Zwiesel consists of 11 districts: Ableg Bärnzell Glasberg Griesbach Innenried Klautzenbach Lichtenthal Rabenstein Theresienthal Zwiesel Zwieselberg Mineralogy In the area of Zwiesel a great diversity of mineralogical compositions can be found and especially the glass manufacturing companies benefited from the outstanding amount of quartz. The most famous mining site is probably the quartz quarry at the mountain "Hennenkobel" (the name translates as chicken coop) where many rare and popular minerals were found. The mineral Zwieselite, which can be found there, was named after the glass town of Zwiesel. History According to the legend, the first settlers were gold diggers. It was in 1255 that Zwiesel was first mentioned as a village with a wooden chapel. In 1280 the area was an important trading centre for goods to and from Bohemia. From the year 1313 on, Zwiesel was already designated to as a market municipality. On 11 September 1560, the municipality of Zwiesel was granted the coat of arms by the Duke of Bavaria, Albrecht V., which is valid still today. Philipp Apian indicated the place on his map of 1568 calling it "Zwisel". The development of Zwiesel was frequently hampered by wars and epidemic