Hohenstein-Ernstthal (German pronunciation: [ˈhoːənˌʃtaɪ̯n ˈɛʁnstˌtaːl] ⓘ) is a town in the Zwickau rural district, Saxony, Germany.Physicist Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert and inventor Christoph Gottlieb Schröter were born in Hohenstein.The name is said to be derived from the phrase ″uff dem hohen Stein″ (on the high rock), that the first settlers used when they saw the Pfaffenberg mountain.In 1680 some people from Hohenstein moved to the forest near the town to escape the dangers of the plague.The highest point of Hohenstein-Ernstthal is the Pfaffenberg north of the town with an elevation of 479 metres (1,572 ft).