Tirschenreuth

Tirschenreuth lies in the wooded Upper Palatinate near Bohemia. Recorded in 1134, it became the chief town of the lands of Waldsassen Abbey. The monks acquired the estate in 1217 and dammed the Waldnaab to create a great fishpond between 1217 and 1219. Together with an older pond, it left the settlement surrounded by water. Fish farming became a characteristic part of the district's economy.

In 1306 Rudolf of Habsburg granted Tirschenreuth the right to hold a weekly market at the request of Abbot Udalrich of Waldsassen. The town's long association with the abbey linked its trade and ponds to the Cistercian house that governed the surrounding lands. Clothmaking later became another local occupation, adding the work of artisans to the fisheries of the uplands.