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The town Freital is situated at an altitude of 160 m on the river Weißeritz just south of Dresden. The municipality was formed only in 1921 when the villages Deuben, Döhlen and Potschappel were merged. During the following years several other villages also were included in the municipality of Freital; the last community which joined Freital in 1999 was Pesterwitz. Pesterwitz is also the oldest part of Freital as it was already mentioned in a document in 1068; Döhlen and Potschappel were first mentioned in 1206, while the first mention of Deuben dates from 1360. From 1542 onward, coal mining became important for the development of the area. The industrial development started in the 19th century.

Deuben

The picture on the glass shows parts of the village Deuben:

The Christuskirche (Church of Christ) in Deuben [top centre] was built 1868–1869 and was the forst church in Neogothic style in the Dresden area. The architect was August Pieper (1844–1891) who had arrived from Vienna only in 1867.

The former Town Hall of Deuben [botom left] was built in 1888 by the architect Moritz Käppler. After a recent renovation the building is now part of the administration of the town of Freital.

The railway station of Deuben [botom right] was built for the railway line 'Albertbahn' which was founded in 1853 and opened in 1855. The line connected Dresden (station Dresden-Altstadt) with Potschappel, Deuben, Hainsberg and Tharandt. The railway company was owned by the owners of the coal mines in the area south of Dresden, one of the three pit-coal regions of Saxony. The line was the first mountain railway line in Germany and the second in Europe after the railway line across the Semmering in Austria which was constructed 1848–1854. The Albertbahn was nationalized in 1868 and became part of the 'Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahn' (Royal Saxon State Railway). Since 1921 the name of the station is Freital-Deuben.