Wettin is a small

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an or ...

belonging to the municipality of Wettin-Löbejün in the Saale District of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...

(''Saxony- Ascania''), Germany. It is situated on the River

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, ...

, just north of Halle. It is known for Wettin Castle (German: ''Burg'' or ''Schloss Wettin''), the ancestral seat of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of Germany, German monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of ...

, the former ruling dynasty of

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 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...

, Belgium, and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...

. The town and its name are of Slavic origin.

Geography

Wettin lies in the

Saalekreis Saalekreis is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The district seat is Merseburg. Its area is . It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts Kyffhäuserkreis (Thuringia), Mansfeld-Südharz, Salzlandkreis, Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Nor ...

(Saale District) of the eastern German federal state of

, on the river

, which flows into the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) 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 Repu ...

further north. Wettin belongs to the municipality of Wettin-Löbejün which borders Saxony-Anhalt's most populous city of Halle-on-the-Saale in the southeast. It further borders

Petersberg Petersberg may refer to: * The Hotel Petersberg near Bonn, the site of the ** Petersberg Agreement, 1949, regarding the international status of West Germany. ** Petersberg tasks, 1992 and 1997, regarding European security cooperation. Also known as ...

and

Salzatal Salzatal is a municipality in the Saalekreis district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the former municipalities Beesenstedt, Bennstedt, Fienstedt, Höhnstedt, Kloschwitz, Lieskau, Salzmünde, Schoc ...

in the Saale District, Gerbstedt in the district of

Mansfeld-Südharz Mansfeld-Südharz is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . History The district was established by merging the former districts of Sangerhausen and Mansfelder Land as part of the reform of 2007. In the German parliament, the Bu ...

(''Mansfield-Southern Harz''),

Könnern is a town in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the river Saale, approx. 15 km south of Bernburg, and 25 km northwest of Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; fr ...

in the

Salzlandkreis Salzland is a district in the middle of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts Harz, Börde, Magdeburg, Jerichower Land, Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Mansfeld-Südharz and Saalekreis. History ...

(''Saltland District''), and

Südliches Anhalt Südliches Anhalt ("Southern Anhalt") is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the former municipalities Edderitz, Fraßdorf, Glauzig, Großbadegast, Hinsdor ...

in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld (''Ascania-Bitterfield''). The Saale District (German: ''Saalekreis''), which Wettin-Löbejün is a part of, surrounds the city of Halle. The nearest international airport is

Leipzig/Halle Airport Leipzig/Halle Airport (German: ''Flughafen Leipzig/Halle'') is an international airport located in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. It is Germany's 14th largest airport by passengers and ...

Schkeuditz Schkeuditz () is a Große Kreisstadt in the district of Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the White Elster river, 12 km northwest of Leipzig. Leipzig/Halle Airport is located in Schkeuditz. The letter processing center fo ...

, southeast of Halle. The municipality of Wettin-Löbejün further consists of the villages of Brachwitz, Döblitz, Domnitz, Gimritz,

Löbejün Löbejün () is a former town in the Saalekreis in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Wettin-Löbejün. Geography Geographic location Löbejün is located north of Halle (Saale). The town is located in a hilly ...

, Nauendorf, Neutz-Lettewitz, Plötz, and Rothenburg. Most of these villages are of Slavic origin.

History

Wettin was first documented as ''Vitin civitas'' in a 961 deed issued by German king

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of Hen ...

. The settlement thereafter was a

burgward A burgward or castellanyArnold, Benjamin (1991). ''Princes and territories in medieval Germany'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, p. 165. . was a form of settlement used for the organisation of the northeastern marches of the Ki ...

within the

Saxon Eastern March The Saxon Eastern March (german: Sächsische Ostmark) was a march of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th until the 12th century. The term "eastern march" stems from the Latin term ''marchia Orientalis'' and originally could refer to either a march ...

, held by Dietrich I von Wettin, the progenitor of the dynasty. His descendants became

Margraves of Lusatia Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...

in 1032 and of

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

in 1123. In 1288 Wettin was acquired by the Magdeburg archbishop Eric of Brandenburg. ;Mücheln: The small village of Mücheln (not to be confused with the larger Mücheln near Merseburg) became part of Wettin and includes the restored old chapel of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

). ;Lützkendorf: As bombing targets of the Oil Campaign of World War II, the Lützkendorf oil facilities 2 miles East of Mücheln included :*a small

Wintershall Wintershall Holding GmbH, based in Kassel, was Germany's largest crude oil and natural gas producer. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF. The company was active in oil and gas exploration and production with operations in Europe, North Af ...

AG crude oil refinery (100,000 tons/yr), :*a Bergius process hydrogenation unit (125,000 tons/yr) for blending gasolines, :*a Fischer-Tropsch plant (80,000 tons/yr) to process heavier gasoline cuts from synthesized oil, and :*tankage for about 75,000 metric tons. :The Lützkendorf Grube supplied

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low hea ...

from the south end of the mine to the two interconnected plants ("Lutzkendorf" and "Lutzkendorf-Mücheln") at , and the facility also used tar for Low Temperature Carbonization. * * Wettin Aerial Panorama

References

{{Authority control Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Wettin-Löbejün Towns in Saxony-Anhalt Oil campaign of World War II