Großschirma is a town in the district of

Mittelsachsen Mittelsachsen ("Central Saxony") is a district ('' Kreis'') in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. History The district was established by merging the former districts of Döbeln, Freiberg and Mittweida as part of the district reform of August ...

, 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 Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is situated 7 km northwest of

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

. It was formed from the administrative union of the municipality of Großschirma and the town of

Siebenlehn Siebenlehn is a district of the town Großschirma in Landkreis Mittelsachsen. Until 2003 it was a separate town. Upon fusion with the neighbouring rural municipality Großschirma on 1 September 2003, the town privileges were transferred to the j ...

, including their districts, on 1 September 2003.

History

The eponymous village Großschirma was founded in the middle of the 12th century. Claims by local historians that it was already founded in 956 could not be proved. Until the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Großschirma belonged to

Altzella Abbey Altzella Abbey, also Altzelle Abbey (german: Kloster Altzella or ''Altzelle'', previously ''Cella'' or ''Cella Sanctae Mariae''), is a former Cistercian monastery near Nossen in Saxony, Germany. The former abbey contains the tombs of the Wett ...

. In 1555,

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

sold Großschirma and 14 other villages that were part of the estate of the dissolved abbey to his councillor Ulrich von Mordeisen. Rudolph Mordeisen, one of the sons of the latter, sold Großschirma and at least nine more villages in the property of his family to prince-elector

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Großschirma benefited from the growth of mining in the Freiberg Mining Field. The state-owned mine ''Churprinz Friedrich August Erbstolln'' (short: ''Churprinz'') on the west bank of the river Freiberger Mulde was one of the most profitable mines in the field. The ore extracted there was conveyed to the smelters in

Halsbrücke Halsbrücke is a municipality and village in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated just north of Freiberg, on the banks of the Freiberger Mulde river. Geography Halsbrücke lies 5 km north of Freiberg on the le ...

on an artificial waterway, the ''Churprinzer Bergwerkskanal''. In 2003, the hitherto separate town

offered to join the municipality of Großschirma due to financial difficulties. The two municipalities merged on 1 September 2003, whereby the town privileges of Siebenlehn were transferred to the joint municipality. This was the first case of a town being incorporated into a rural municipality in Saxony.

Districts and their incorporations

Infrastructure

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...

101 traverses the area of the municipality from north to south. Motorway A4 runs along the northern boundary of the town, with a junction north-west of Siebenlehn. Nossen–Moldau railway also traverses the town from north to south and has stations in Großvoigtsberg and Großschirma. It is principally used by museum trains and occasional freight trains. A network of hiking paths and cycling routes, integrated into long-distance routes is maintained by local associations.

Sons and daughters of the city

Otto Rühle (1874–1943) born in Siebenlehn. Foremost radical Marxist associated with

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist. Successively, she was a member of the Proletariat party, ...

and Alfredd Ardler. *

Amalie Dietrich Koncordie Amalie Dietrich (née Nelle) (26 May 1821 – 9 March 1891) was a German naturalist who was best known for her work in Australia from 1863 to 1872, collecting specimens for the Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg. Australia Dietrich was one o ...

(1821–1891), born in Siebenlehn, naturalist, botanist, zoologist and plant hunter * Friedrich Wilhelm Putzger (1849–1913), born in Siebenlehn, educator, schoolbook author

References

Mittelsachsen {{Mittelsachsen-geo-stub