Otterwisch is a municipality in the
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 ...
district 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 ...
.
Geography and transport
The town is situated about 12 km southwest of
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 10 km northeast of
Borna. The Leipzig–Geithain railroad passes through the town and the national road B 176 transverses the south of the parish.
History
The first documented mention of Otterwisch was in 1269. The meaning of the place name is not known for certain but may be derived from Otter Wiese (otter meadow). Großbuch is a part of Otterwisch since 1970. Its foundation dates back to the year 1104 and
Wiprecht of Groitzsch
Wiprecht (or Wigbert) of Groitzsch (died 22 May 1124) was the Margrave of Meissen and the Saxon Ostmark from 1123 until his death. He was born to a noble family of the Altmark, the son of Wiprecht of Balsamgau and Sigena of Leinungen. After his fat ...
. Its central point is the church in whose massive tower three valuable bronze bells from pre-
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 ...
times still function.
Großbuch was the scene of
witch trials
A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...
in the period 1488–1489.
Sights of interest
Otterwisch House is in private ownership and is being renovated. It was built between 1727 and 1730 by Duchess Rahel Charlotte Vitzthum von Eckstädt in the
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
style. It belonged to the von Arnim family from 1904 to 1945.
References
Leipzig (district)
{{Leipzig-geo-stub