Rosslau (in

German orthography German orthography is the orthography used in writing the German language, which is largely phonemic. However, it shows many instances of spellings that are historic or analogous to other spellings rather than phonemic. The pronunciation of al ...

: Roßlau) was until 30 June 2007 a town in

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, belonging to the district

Anhalt-Zerbst Anhalt-Zerbst was a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts Potsdam-Mittelmark (Brandenburg) and Wittenberg, the city of Dessau and the districts of Köthen, Schönebeck and Jerichower Lan ...

. After a fusion with the town of

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

it became eponym of the newly founded town of

Dessau-Roßlau Dessau-Roßlau () is a '' kreisfreie Stadt'' (urban district) in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Elbe and Mulde. The town was formed by merging the towns of Dessau and Roßlau as part of the 20 ...

and a quarter of it. Rosslau is situated on the right bank of the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

, here crossed by two railway bridges, 3 mi. by rail N. of

and 35 mi. S.E. of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

. It has a ducal residence, an old castle, a handsome parish church, and manufactures of machinery, paper, sealing-wax, wire goods, sugar, bricks and chemicals. Rosslau became a town in 1603.

Town merger

On 1 July 2007 the town ''Rosslau (Elbe)'' was consolidated with the town ''

''. Together they are named

. The mayor of the new town is Klemens Koschig, who was elected on 22 April 2007.

History

The town “Rozelowe“ was first documented in 1215. In 1359 “Dat borchlen zu Rozlau” was mentioned. The name is of Dutch heritage and suggests the foundation and the settlement of Rosslau by inhabitants of the Dutch town Reuzel in

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

. The construction of the bridge over the Elbe River occurred in 1583 and just 20 years later the town was chartered and received its right to hold markets. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

the bridge was a scene of a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

. A few years later, in 1631, the bridge was destroyed. Six years after that, imperial soldiers burned down the town; in 1717 the town was in flames again. In 1740 the town hall and castle were built. From 1765-1767 Rosslau was a point of origin for colonial crusades of the Russian Tsarina

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

, a princess of the

principality of Anhalt-Zerbst Anhalt-Zerbst was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the House of Ascania, with its residence at Zerbst in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subdivision of the Principality of Anhalt from 1 ...

. In 1806 fleeing Prussians set the Elbe-bridge on fire again. From 1836-1838 Henry, Duke of Anhalt-Köthen prompted the renovation of the deteriorating medieval castle in a gothic and romantic fashion. In the following years the connection to the network of the

Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company The Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company (German: ''Berlin-Anhaltische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', BAE) was a railway company in Prussia. The railway connection between Berlin and Köthen, built by the BAE, was one of the first long-distance railways in Ger ...

, the foundation of fabrics, newspapers and shipyards took place. In 1907 the tramline between Dessau and Rosslau was put into operation. In fall 1933 the National Socialist government of Anhalt setup one of the early

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

in the former ''Volkshaus'' in the Hauptstraße 51 in which predominantly members of the Communist Party (KPD) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) were detained and deviled. In summer 1934 the concentration camp was closed. The remaining inmates were transferred to the concentration camp in Lichtenburg. Aiding the town of

in becoming the capital of the district, the town Rosslau (Elbe) became suburbanised into Dessau from 1 April 1935 to 1 April 1946 which gave the town the required number of 100,000 inhabitants. In 1952 the district of Rosslau was built out of the eastern part of the district of Zerbst. This gave Rosslau the status of a

country town ''Country Town'' is a 1971 Australian drama film directed by Peter Maxwell (director), Peter Maxwell, produced by Fenton Rosewarne and starring Terry McDermott (actor), Terry McDermott, Gary Gray (Australian actor), Gary Gray and Lynette Curran. ...

, which it hold until 30 Juny 1994, before it became part of the Anhalt-Zerbst district. Until 1991 Rosslau was the base of the 7th Guards Tank Division of the

Soviet forces in Germany The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

. The Elbe-flood from 2002 exceeded the Elbe-flood from 1845.

Sights

The

moated castle A water castle, sometimes water-castle, is a castle which incorporates a natural or artificial body of water into its defences.Forde-Johnston (1979), p. 163. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbo ...

of Rosslau is very popular location for Open-Air Events and Stage Plays. The annual This is Ska Festival takes part in the castle since 1997. There's also a Country Festival offering Liveacts, Linedance and a Western Casino. The Knight Dinner is a popular event too. The European village was built after an architectural competition from 1993 to 1996. Architects’ offices from

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

created the plans and a few conspicuous buildings were built. Other places to see are the "Öhlmühle" (Oil Mill) and St. Mary's City Church.

Traffic

The "Bundesstrassen" B184 and B187 go through Rosslau. Rosslau also has a main train station with connections to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Halle,

Bitterfeld Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Hall ...

and Lutherstadt

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

Sons and daughters

* Gottfried Bandhauer (1790–1837), master-builder of

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

Gotthard Sachsenberg Gotthard Sachsenberg (6 December 1891 – 23 August 1961) was a German World War I fighter ace with 31 victories who went on to command the world's first naval air wing. In later life, he founded the airline ''Deutscher Aero Lloyd'', became an ant ...

(1891–1961), officer, entrepreneur and politician (

Wirtschaftspartei The Reich Party of the German Middle Class (), known from 1920 to 1925 as the Economic Party of the German Middle Classes (), was a conservative German political party during the Weimar Republic. It was commonly known as the Economic Party (, WP). ...

) *

Richard Paulick Richard Paulick (7 November 1903 – 4 March 1979) was a German architect with political connections. He enjoyed a productive period in the Shanghai International Settlement between 1933 and 1949. He has been described as the "father of East-Germa ...

(1903–1979), architect * Wolfgang Schwenke (1921–2006), zoologist, entomologist and forest scientist *

Bobby Bölke Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People *Bobby (given name), a list of names *Bobby (surname), a list of surnames *Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh *Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter ...

(1926–2007), actor and entertainer * Reiner Kontressowitz (born 1942), musicologist * Günter Dreibrodt (born 1951), former handball player * Peter Müller (born 1967), German art historian and publicist

Twin towns

Ibbenbüren Ibbenbüren (Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Ippenbürn'') is a town in the district of Steinfurt (district), Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Ibbenbüren is on the Ibbenbürener Aa river at the northwest end of the ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Roudnice nad Labem Roudnice nad Labem (; ) is a town in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Rep ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

References

External links

History of Rosslau

This is Ska Festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosslau Towns in Saxony-Anhalt Rosslau Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt