Zwickau, with around 89,000 inhabitants, the fourth-largest city of the Free State of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde and lies in a string of cities sitting in the densely populated foreland of the Elster and Ore Mountains stretching from Plauen in the southwest via Zwickau, Chemnitz and Freiberg to Dresden in the northeast. From 1834 until 1952, Zwickau was the seat of the government of the south-western region of Saxony.

The name of the city is of Slavic origin and makes reference to Svarog, the Slavic god of fire and of the sun. Zwickau is the seat of the West Saxon University of Zwickau with campuses in Zwickau, Markneukirchen, Reichenbach im Vogtland and Schneeberg. The city is the birthplace of composer Robert Schumann.

As cradle of Audi's forerunner Horch and as seat of the Sachsenring company which produced East Germany's most popular car, the Trabant, Zwickau has historically been one of the centres of the German automotive industry, with a tradition over one hundred years old, including other car makers like Auto Union and Volkswagen.

The valley of the 166-kilometre (103-mile) long Zwickau Mulde River stretches from the Vogtland to Colditz Castle at the other end. The Silver Road, Saxony's longest tourist route, connects Dresden with Zwickau.

Zwickau can be reached by car via the nearby Autobahns A4 and A72, the main railway station, via a public airfield which takes light aircraft, and by bike along river the Zwickau Mulde River on the so-called Mulderadweg.

In the city centre there are three museums: an art museum from the 19th century and the houses of priests from 13th century, both located next to St. Mary's church. Just around the corner there is the Robert-Schumann museum. The museums offer different collections dedicated to the history of the city, as well as art and a mineralogical, palaeontological and geological collection with many specimens from the city and the nearby Ore Mountains.

Zwickau is the birthplace of the composer Robert Schumann. The house where he was born in 1810 still stands in the marketplace. This is now called Robert Schumann House and is a museum dedicated to him.

The histories of the Audi and Horch automobile factories are presented at the August Horch Museum Zwickau. The museum is an Anchor Point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage (EIRH).