Haselbachtal is a municipality in the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...

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 ...

with a population of 3,997 (2020). It consists of the villages Bischheim, Häslich, Gersdorf, Möhrsdorf, Reichenau, and Reichenbach.

Geography and transportation

Haselbachtal lies about 7 km south-west of the city of

Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gotthol ...

and about 35 km north-east of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. The

Bundesautobahn 4 is an autobahn that crosses Germany in a west–east direction. The western segment has a length of , the part in the east is long. Works to continue the A 4 are in progress, but currently no plans exist to fill the gap completely. T ...

passes south of the municipality and can be reached over

Pulsnitz Pulsnitz () or Połčnica (Upper Sorbian) is a town in the district of Bautzen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the small river Pulsnitz, 11 km southwest of Kamenz, and 24 km northeast of the centre of Dresden. ...

, which is about 10 km away. The river

flows through Haselbachtal.

History

Reichenbach was first mentioned in 1248. The town emerged during the German East Colonisation. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

248 people, which made up most of the population of the village at the time, died of the pestilence. The borough of Reichenau was first mentioned in 1436, but is probably much older. In the years from 1429 to 1431,

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

s pillaged the village and destroyed the church. During the

Liberation Wars Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...

, first

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n, then

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n troops were stationed in Reichenau. The boroughs of Gersdorf and Möhrsdorf were first mentioned in 1225 and 1264, respectively. They belong together since 14 February 1958. Bischheim was first mentioned in 1225 and was merged with Häslich on 1 January 1969. On 1 January 2001 the towns of Reichenbach, Reichenau, Gersdorf-Möhrsdorf und Bischheim-Häslich were incorporated into the municipality of Haselbachtal.

Attractions

*Park in Bischheim *Museum of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

excavation *Church in Reichenbach *Church and town square in Gersdorf

References

{{Authority control West Lusatia Populated places in Bautzen (district)