Wurzen () is a town 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 ...

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 o ...

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 betwee ...

. It is situated on the river Mulde, here crossed by two bridges, 25 km east of

, by rail N.E. of Leipzig on the main line via Riesa to Dresden. It has a cathedral dating from the twelfth century, a castle, at one time a residence of the bishops 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 Albrechts ...

and later utilized as law courts, several schools, an agricultural college and as a police station including a prison.

History

Founded after 600 by

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, m ...

, Wurzen is first mentioned in the act of donation from

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 ...

in 961 as a "Burgward" civitas vurcine. Situated in the "anderen Gau Neletici", it was a town early in the twelfth century when Herwig, bishop of Meissen, founded a

Collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over b ...

here. In 1581 it passed to the

elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

(1637) it was sacked by the Swedish army and burned almost completely down. In 1768

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treati ...

travelled from

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 l ...

and back through Wurzen. The long wait for the ferry later inspired a passage in his first edition of ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

''. On 31 July 1838 Wurzen was connected through

Wurzen railway station Wurzen railway station (german: Bahnhof Wurzen) is a railway station in Wurzen, Saxony, Germany. The station is located on the Leipzig–Dresden line and operated by DB Station&Service. Services Railway services As of March 2017, DB Regio ...

to the first German long-distance railway ( Leipzig–Dresden, opened 7 April 1839). Therefore, the first German railway bridge was constructed to cross the Mulde. From 1935 to 1945 the city housed a military district command and several anti-aircraft units during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. From October 1943 to April 1945 Wurzen experienced several US air raids, with over 40 fatalities. The most severe occurred on October 7, 1944, when 13 "Flying Fortresses"

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theate ...

dropped around 85 high-explosive bombs on Wurzen, which were actually intended for the Brüx hydrogenation works in northern

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohe ...

. From July 1939 to May 1945, Armin Graebert (1898–1947) was mayor of the city; On April 24, 1945, together with members of the SPD, KPD and the pastors of the Protestant and Catholic churches, he achieved the surrender of the city to Major Victor G. Conley of the 273rd US Infantry Regiment and thus saved it from destruction. Like in comparable cities of the former GDR, the city saw right-wing influence and right-wing motivated violence in the 1990s. However, there has been an active network of antifascist groups, civil society groups for democracy and church-related groups working against this - also with the support of the city administration.

Via regia and Central German St. James Way

Wurzen is located on the central German route of the St. James pilgrims way to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...

, the so-called

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

. It follows the old

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History Origins Th ...

street which was designated a

Cultural Route of the Council of Europe A Culture Route of the Council of Europe, sometimes referred to as a European Cultural Route, is a certification awarded by the Council of Europe to networks promoting the European shared culture, history and memory. These routes must also matc ...

in 2005.

International relations

Wurzen is twinned with: * Barsinghausen,

Warstein Warstein () is a municipality with town status in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of Sauerland. Geography Warstein is located north of the Arnsberger Wald (forest) at a brook called Wä ...

, Germany *

Tamási Tamási is a town in Tolna County, Hungary. Tamási, named after St. Thomas, with a population of approximately 9200 is located just 30 kilometers East of Lake Balaton. The town was founded during Roman times and the Catholic church in the town ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

Economy

A main commercial focus is the production of pastries and candies. Furthermore, there are several high-performance medium-sized businesses in mechanical engineering and some specialty companies in town (conveying machinery, lighting design, production of felt).

Transport

Wurzen is connected to the Leipzig metropolitan area via national highway B6, the closest expressway (

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

) connector being situated about 15 km south of Wurzen. Wurzen railway station is linked to the central German commuter train network (S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland) and to the regional express train line between Leipzig and Dresden. There are two airports which can be reached within one hour's driving time, Halle-Leipzig airport and Dresden airport.

Main sights

''St. Marien'' (

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominat ...

, consecrated in 1114). Romanesque up to late

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

(1508). Large ensemble of bronze sculptures by Georg Wrba (1932) *

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

''St. Wenceslai'' (16th/17th century) *

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

''Herz-Jesu'' (consecrated in 1902), in

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style. * Castle of Wurzen (from 1497 to 1581 occasionally residence of the Bishop of Dresden-Meissen), an example of late

* House Lossow (historic-cultural museum with an exhibition of Ringelnatz art).

Mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, th ...

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 ...

(1668) * Birthplace of the fabulist Magnus Gottfried Lichtwer at Cathedral's Square (17th century) * Birthplace of

Joachim Ringelnatz Joachim Ringelnatz is the pen name of the German author and painter Hans Bötticher (7 August 1883, Wurzen, Saxony – 17 November 1934, Berlin). His pen name ''Ringelnatz'' is usually explained as a dialect expression for an animal, possibly a ...

(17th/18th century). * Fountain at the marketplace in honour of

(1983) showing Ringelnatz on a

Seahorse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

. * Former post-office of the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

with emblem-adorned gate (1734). * Postal column (miles distance column) (1724) (re-erected in 1984). *

Classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

City hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

(after a fire 1803). Today library and gallery of the town. * Former (royal) Gymnasium (1883) with mural paintings by Max Seliger. * Memorial for the dead soldiers of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fight ...

in the former old cemetery (bronze sculpture by Georg Wrba 1930). * ''Pesthäuschen'', memorial for the victims of the

Bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium ('' Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as ...

1607 (17th century) in the former old cemetery. * Memorial for the victims of Fascism and the dead of the long march (1945) in the new cemetery. * Memorial place for the soldiers of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

and Albert Kuntz in the municipal park (1974). * Commemorative plaque for the victims of

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theor ...

in the castle courtyard (2005). * Millennial stone (Badergraben) (2000). * Cityscape dominating buildings of the mill (Mühlgraben) (1917–1925). * Former North-station of the "Muldentalbahn" (1875), today Magistrates' Court. *

Water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conj ...

of the former municipal waterworks (1893). * Imperial

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

with telegraph station tower (1890/91). * Bismarck tower on the ''Wachtelberg'' hill (Dehnitz, 1911).

Notable residents

* Max Baumbach (1859–1915), sculptor in Berlin * Johann Gottlob Böhme (1717–1780), historian of the Enlightenment, Goethe's teacher at the University of Leipzig * Ruth Bodenstein-Hoyme (1924–2006), composer * Kristina Dörfer (born 1984), singer and actress * Wilhelm Fischer (1796–1884), Saxon mining official * Fritz Geißler(1921–1984), composer, most famous symphony musician of the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

* Herwig (died 1119), Bishop of Dresden-Meissen, founder of the

in Wurzen * Hans-Ludwig Hirsch (born 1950), graduate chemist; * Hermann Ilgen (1856–1940), pharmacist, entrepreneur, sports and art patron, honorary citizen of Wurzen from 1929 * Ekkehart Jesse (born 1948), historian and sociologist, researcher of

Extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied sha ...

* Detlev Kästner, boxer, bronze medallist

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Boxing at the 1980 Summer Olympics * Karl Ludwig Langbein (1811–1873), jurist and Member of

Frankfurt Parliament The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...

* Magnus Gottfried Lichtwer (1719–1783), jurist and one of the most important German fabulists * Nadja Michael (* 1969), German opera song and oratorio singer * Julian Riedel, (born 1990), German TV host *

(1883–1934), author and painter (The city styles itself 'Ringelnatz City' in its official advertisements and website as a tribute to him.) * Paul Röber, (1587–1651), Lutheran theologian * Johann Christian Schöttgen (1687–1751), Hebraist, historian and educator, rector of the Kreuzschule in

* Abraham Teller (1609–1658), theologian, songwriter of

Hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn' ...

s, rector of

Thomasschule zu Leipzig St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools i ...

Otto Georg Thierack Otto Georg Thierack (19 April 188926 October 1946) was a German Nazi jurist and politician. Early life and career Thierack was born in Wurzen in Saxony. He took part in the First World War from 1914 to 1918 as a volunteer, reaching the rank of ...

(1889–1946), 1936 to 1942 President of the People's Court (German) and last Minister of Justice in the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

* Ralf Thomas (born 1932), evangelical

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and municipal politician * Theodor Uhlig, musician (1822–1853), songwriter, composer * Siegfried H. Horn, archaeologist (1908–1993) * Manfred Walter (born 1937), football player (national team GDR) * Philipp Wende (born 1985), rower, Gold medal winner at the Summer Olympic Games * Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt (born 1932), mail artist and visual poet

Persons with relation to Wurzen

John IX of Haugwitz John IX of Haugwitz (german: Johann IX. von Haugwitz, 29 Aug 1524 – 26 March 1595) was Bishop of Meissen from 1555 to 1559 or 1581. Biography John IX was born on 29 August 1524 in Thalheim, Saxony in the Ore Mountains of Saxony. He came from t ...

(1524–1595); Last Catholic bishop of Meissen * Anna Katharina Schönkopf (1746–1810); Youth friend of Goethe in Leipzig * Wilhelm Hasenclever (1837–1889); Social Democratic publicist and politician; Lived in Wurzen * Georg Wrba (1872–1939); sculptor

References

External links

*
History about the castle of Wurzen
{{Authority control Leipzig (district)