Pomßen is a village some 20 kilometres from

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 ...

, Germany. Since 1994, it is part of the municipality of

Parthenstein Parthenstein is a municipality in the Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany. It was created in 1994 by the merger of the former municipalities Grethen, Großsteinberg, Klinga and Pomßen Pomßen is a village some 20 kilometres from Leipzig, Germany ...

There is a

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as the Ávila Cathedra ...

of architectural and historical interest. It has an organ built by Gottfried Richter (1643–1717) The church is also of interest to music historians for its association with

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

. His cantata ''Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn'', BWV 157 was performed there in 1727. Pomssen is the birthplace of

Gerhard Kretschmar Gerhard Herbert Kretschmar (20 February 1939 – 25 July 1939) was a German child born with severe disabilities. After receiving a petition from the child's parents, the German Führer Adolf Hitler authorized one of his personal physicians, Karl Br ...

, a victim of Hitler's program to exterminate children. Kretschmar was born blind, with one leg and one arm. He was killed at the age of only 5 months by direct order from Hitler. He was buried in the Lutheran Cemetery nearby.

References

{{Authority control Former municipalities in Saxony Leipzig (district)