Saxon Siberia (German: Sächsisches Sibirien) is a term referring to the higher regions of the Western Ore Mountains and the Vogtland in Central Europe.
Comparisons of the Ore Mountains with Siberia, due to their harsh conditions, were encountered by the priest and chronicler Georg Körner from Bockau in 1757.
... the local forest houses are often completely snowed in during the winter, so that their occupants must dig themselves out with shovels and cut channels to enable light to reach their windows ...
Meanwhile this bleak desert is the true homeland of our best and most precious stones, some of which are won from the rocks, like the topaz from the Schneckenstein, and some are found among the hybrid plants of the Auersberger, Steinbächer, Sauschwemmer, Knocker und Pechhöfer soap works.
"[1] When August Schumann's Lexikon of Saxony appeared at the beginning of the 19th century in large numbers, the term "Saxon Siberia" became widespread.