It is located on the river Kleine Striegis and about 15 miles (24 kilometres) north-east of Chemnitz.

Its primary manufacture was once that of flannels, baize, and similar fabrics; at the time it may have been called the centre of this industry in Germany.

[3] In 1933, a production plant for small delivery vans and minibuses called Framo moved from nearby Frankenberg to Hainichen.

During World War II, a subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp was located here, housing female prisoners working for the Framo enterprise.

Source:[6] Typical for a market town in the east of Germany, Hainichen faces the demographic problem of a steadily declining population.