The origin of the name Fichtelberg, as well as the Fichtel Mountains is probably to be found in mining lore and not, as long suspected, its dense, spruce forests.

At the time the name originated, pollen analysis shows that in the North Bavarian region mixed forests of beech, fir and spruce existed.

In 1600 the uppermost reaches of the Fichtelnaab valley near the present villages of Neubau and Fichtelberg was still covered with a rugged, forest-covered wilderness.

Iron ore mining in the upper Fichtelnaab valley began in 1478, but only a small settlement of a few houses extended from the south up to the outskirts of what is now Fichtelberg today.

In 1602, Johann Glaser founded a company of six influential and financially powerful men, in order to work with them to begin mining on Gleißingerfels (about halfway between the modern villages of Hütten und Neubau), to search for suitable iron ore lodes, smelt them in blast furnaces using the most modern and profitable methods of the day and to process them profitably.

Fichtelberg came under the Amberg Rentamt [bar; de; es] and the Waldeck district court (Landgericht) in the Electorate of Bavaria.

In 1808 the Fichtelberg Mining Office, as a border region, changed hand repeatedly between the Kingdom of Bavaria and Margrave of Bayreuth.

It was initially followed by an economic decline which could only be partially compensated for by quarrying of granite and 'greenstone' (Proterobas), which had already since been worked on the Ochsenkopf massif since the beginning of the 17th century - and which was used especially for glass production - and by the timber industry.

Since then it has largely lost its industrial importance, but survives because of its scenic location on the southwestern slope of the Ochsenkopf, mainly from tourism, and its function as a winter sports centre.