Borna () is a town in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Germany, capital of the Leipzig district. It is situated approximately 30 km southeast of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

city. It has approx. 19,000 inhabitants. The town is the district seat of the district of Leipzig.

Geography

Borna is located about south of

. The river

Wyhra The Wyhra (in its upper course: ''Wiera'') is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Pleiße, which it joins near Lobstädt. See also *List of rivers of Saxony *List of rivers of Thuringia A list of rivers o ...

flows through the town. The surrounding landscape has been influenced by open-cast coal mining. The town lies in the middle of

Central German Metropolitan Region The Central German Metropolitan Region (german: Metropolregion Mitteldeutschland) is one of the officially established metropolitan regions in Germany. It is centered on the major cities of Leipzig and Halle, extending over Central German parts ...

, with Leipzig distant, Gera , Chemnitz , Halle , and Dresden . Neighboring large towns are

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

, away,

Grimma Grimma ( hsb, Grima) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, southeast of Leipzig. Founded in 1170, it is part of the Leipzig (district), Leipzig district. Location The town is in ...

, and

Zeitz Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. History Zeitz was first recorded und ...

History

Pre-history and Middle Ages

The current site of Borna town was originally two settlements; Altstadt (the old town) and Wenigborn. Before the foundation of the town, there had been a

water castle A water castle is a castle whose site is largely defended by water. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. The term comes from European castle st ...

since the 9th Century. The first written mention of the town of Borna was recorded in 1251. Borna was burnt to the ground five times during the wars of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

19th Century Onwards

Since the early 19th century the landscape around Borna has been shaped by open-cast mining of brown coal (lignite) with an apex in the 1980s. For the last 20 years there have been huge efforts to revegetate this landscape e. g. by flooding opencast pits and creating new lakes as well as planting thousands of trees. The

industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

of the town coincided with the start of lignite mining around 1800. The lignite industry was predominant in the region until recently.

Population

(December 31 each year)

Railway

On January 14, 1867, with the completion of the Borna-

Neukieritzsch Neukieritzsch is a municipality in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. On 1 April 2008, the former municipality of Lobstädt was incorporated into Neukieritzsch. On 1 July 2014, the former municipality of Deutzen was incorporated into Neuk ...

line, Borna joined the German railway network. From Neukieritszch the line connected with the Saxon-Bavarian railway line between Leipzig and Hof. This rail connection was financed by a partnership between private concerns and the town and was the only municipal railway in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxon ...

. On April 8, 1872 the link was extended via

Geithain Geithain is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography Geithain is northwest of Chemnitz and southeast of Leipzig. It lies in hilly country by the wooded area Wickershain and the river Eula. History The first documented ment ...

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

, creating the Neukieritzsch–Chemnitz railway. In October 2007 the 14th century romanesque building of Emmaus Church in Heuersdorf ( from Borna) was cut from the ground and relocated in

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

Square of Born

The church's journey took a number of days.

Main sights

*Kunigunden Church *Emmaus Church on Luther square (moved from nearby Heuersdorf, which was resettled because of an open coal mine in 2008) *Town hall *Secondary school ''Gymnasium Am Breiten Teich''

Gallery

File:Reichstor Borna.jpg, Reichstor - Imperial Gate File:Bornaer Rathaus.jpg, Borna Town Hall with Market Place File:Borna secondary school.JPG, Borna secondary school File:Emmaus-Heuersdorf2.jpg, Emmaus Church on its way to Borna

Notable citizens

* Gustav Friedrich Dinter (1760-1831), theologian, educator *

Karl Immanuel Nitzsch Karl Immanuel Nitzsch (21 September 1787, Borna – 21 August 1868, Berlin) was a German Lutheran church leader. He was the father of theologian Friedrich August Nitzsch. Biography He was born in the small Saxon town of Borna near Leipzig. Hi ...

(1767-1868), theologian *

Ludwig Otto Louis Eugen Friedrich Otto (21 July 1850 — 15 May 1920), known as Ludwig Otto, was a German landscape and court painter, etcher, and lithographer. Born at Borna, near Leipzig, in the Kingdom of Saxony, in 1865 he was admitted as a student to ...

(1850—1920), artist, was born at BornaLudwig Otto
rkd.nl accessed 27 April 2022 * Clemens Thieme (1861-1945), builder of the Volkerschlacht memorial in Leipzig *

Ludwig Külz Ludwig Külz (18 February 1875 - 1938) was a German colonial physician born in Borna. He was a twin brother to liberal politician Wilhelm Külz (1875-1948). Ludwig Külz earned his medical doctorate in 1899, and became a doctor with the German I ...

(1875-1938), professor of tropical medicine *

Wilhelm Külz Wilhelm Külz (18 February 1875 – 10 April 1948) was a German liberal politician of the National Liberal Party, the German Democratic Party (DDP) and later the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD). He held public office both in the Germ ...

(1875-1948), politician (DDP, LDPD), MdR, Minister of the Interior Fotothek df pk 0000190 018 Porträt des Vorsitzenden der LDP Dr

* Karl Möbius (1876-1953), German sculptor * Wolfgang Heyl (1921-2014), politician (CDU) * Horst Pehnert (1932-2013), journalist and party official in the GDR *

Thomas Munkelt Thomas Munkelt (born 3 August 1952) is a retired East German athlete, winner of 110 m hurdles at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Born in Zedtlitz, Bezirk Leipzig, East Germany, Thomas Munkelt was a classic high hurdler who dominated European hurdlin ...

(born 1952), athlete, hurdler *

Maic Malchow Maic Malchow (born 11 October 1962) is a German former cyclist. He competed in the 1 km time trial event at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known a ...

(born 1962), track cyclist * Sven Lehmann (1965-2013), actor * Torsten Jülich (born 1974), soccer player *

Steffen Radochla Steffen Radochla (born 19 October 1978, in Leipzig) is a German former road bicycle racing, road cyclist, who was professional from 2001 until 2013. He last rode for the team. Major results ;2000 : 1st Rund um Berlin : 1st Stage 1 Sachsen-Tour ...

(born 1978), cyclist * Oliver Herber (born 1981), soccer player

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Leipzig (district)