Bitterfeld-Wolfen () is a town in the district

Anhalt-Bitterfeld Anhalt-Bitterfeld is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its capital is Köthen (Anhalt). Its area is . History This district was established by merging the former districts of Bitterfeld, Köthen and a large part of Anhalt-Zerbst as part ...

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 i ...

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 in south-eastern Saxony-Anhalt, west of the river

Mulde The Mulde () is a river in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and is long. The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz, of the Zwickauer Mulde (running through Zwickau) and the Freiberger Mulde (with ...

, in an area that is dominated by

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

and

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 heat ...

mining. The town was formed by merger of the towns

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 Halle ( ...

and Wolfen and the municipalities Greppin, Holzweißig and Thalheim on 1 July 2007.

Geography

Bitterfeld-Wolfen is northeast of

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-An ...

and about north of

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 ...

. Eastward lies the Muldestausee lake, southward the Goitzsche lake with docks, and westwards the lido of Sandersdorf. The town lies in a nature preserve, Bitterfelder Bergbaurevier.

Neighbouring municipalities

Adjoining municipalities are from the north and clockwise

Raguhn-Jeßnitz Raguhn-Jeßnitz 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 Altjeßnitz, Jeßnitz Jeßnitz ( is a town and a former municipality in the ...

Muldestausee Muldestausee is a municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the former municipalities Burgkemnitz, Friedersdorf, Gossa, Gröbern, Krina, Mühlbeck, Muldens ...

Delitzsch Delitzsch (; Slavic: ''delč'' or ''delcz'' for hill) is a town in Saxony in Germany, 20 km north of Leipzig and 30 km east of Halle (Saale). With 24,850 inhabitants at the end of 2015, it is the largest town in the district of Nordsa ...

Sandersdorf-Brehna Sandersdorf-Brehna is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated southwest of Bitterfeld. The town was formed by the merger of the previously independent town Brehna and the municipalities Glebitzsch, ...

and

Zörbig Zörbig () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km west of Bitterfeld, and 20 km northeast of Halle (Saale). Zörbig is well known for its molasses made from sugar ...

Climate

Klimadiagramm-deutsch-Bitterfeld (ST)-Deutschland

The average air temperature in Bitterfeld is and the yearly rainfall .

History

Town fusion

On 1 July 2007 the independent towns Wolfen and

and the municipalities Greppin, Thalheim and Holzweißig were merged to form the present-day town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. Bobbau was absorbed in September 2009.

Historical Population

(of the present-day town) ¹ Census results
² 2011 Census
³ Source: Bitterfeld-Wolfen Town Hall Source: Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt

Bitterfeld

Bitterfeld has approximately 15,000 inhabitants (2006). It was first mentioned in 1224. Part 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 Charle ...

, it came to the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merg ...

in 1815. Until the administrative reform of 2007, it was the capital of the district of Bitterfeld.

Wolfen

Wolfen has approximately 24,000 inhabitants (2006). It is located north of Bitterfeld. Wolfen was first mentioned around 1400. The discovery of

in 1846, and the construction of an Agfa dye factory in 1895 brought industry and population growth.

Twin towns – sister cities

Bitterfeld-Wolfen is twinned with: *

Vierzon Vierzon () is a commune in the Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher with some light industry and an area of forestry and farming to the north. It is situated some northwes ...

, France (1959) * Villefontaine, France (1990) *

Witten Witten () is a city with almost 100,000 inhabitants in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Witten is situated in the Ruhr valley, in the southern Ruhr area. Bordering municipalities * Bochum * Dortmun ...

, Germany (1994) * Dzerzhinsk, Russia (1996) *

Kamienna Góra Kamienna Góra (german: Landeshut, cs, Lanžhot or Kamenná Hora, szl, Kamiynnŏ Gōra) is a town in south-western Poland with 19,010 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Kamienna Góra County, and also of the rural district called Gmina Kam ...

, Poland (2006) *

Marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part ...

, Germany (2007)

References

{{Authority control Anhalt-Bitterfeld