The White Elster
Accessed on 16 Jan 2011. (, ) is a long river in central Pleiße
The Pleiße is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany.
The Pleiße has its source southwest of Zwickau at Ebersbrunn, then flows through Werdau, Crimmitschau, Altenburg, and other towns and villages in Saxony and Thuringia, before flowing fr ...
rivers, it nestles in the Leipzig Bay
The Leipzig BayDickinson (1964), p. 29.[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 ...]
''. It is situated within the Central German Metropolitan Region
The Central German Metropolitan Region (german: Metropolregion Mitteldeutschland) is one of the officially established metropolitan regions in Germany. It is centered on the major cities of Leipzig and Halle, extending over Central German parts ...
.
Geography
The town lies about 15 km south of Leipzig and 3 km northwest of the industrial site Böhlen
Böhlen () is a town in Saxony, Germany, south of Leipzig. Its main features are a small airport and a power-plant. It is located in the newly built Neuseenland, the lakes created in the former open-pit mining areas.
History
The first docum ...
/ Lippendorf
Lippendorf is located in the municipality of Neukieritzsch, near Leipzig in Saxony, Germany.
The present town of Lippendorf used to be known as the village of Medewitzsch. In 1934, the towns of Medewitzsch, Lippendorf and Spahnsdorf combined to fo ...
with its landmark, Lippendorf Power Station
Lippendorf Power Station is a lignite-fired power station in Lippendorf, which is located in the municipality of Neukieritzsch, near Leipzig in Saxony, Germany. The power plant is owned and operated by Vattenfall Europe. It has a heating capacity ...
. A former open-cast mine extending from the northeast of Zwenkau to its northwest was set on September 30, 1999 and is currently being rehabilitated and converted to Lake Zwenkau. Several smaller towns and hamlets belong to Zwenkau, being
* the suburbs Kötzschbar, Imnitz and Löbschütz
* the rural towns Großdalzig, Mausitz, Kleindalzig, Tellschütz, and Zitzschen (since October 1, 1993)
* the town Rüssen-Kleinstorkwitz and its hamlet Döhlen (since October 1, 1996)
The rural areas of the historic town Eythra and parts of Bösdorf, both abandoned in favor of lignite deposits in the 1980s, are also administered by the town of Zwenkau and bordered in the west.
History
Pre-industrial period
Prehistoric colonization in the area of Zwenkau was affirmed by archaeological finds dated around 6000 BC.
Zwenkau is one of the oldest cities in what is now 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 ...
. As a Slavic settlement, the earliest documentary mention known is in 974 where it is described as Civitas
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
in Gau Chutizi.
..
In 1929 the towns Imnitz and Kotzschbar which immediately connected to the south of Zwenkau's urban area were amalgamated.
Demography
In the shadow of Leipzig's development Zwenkau grew slowly. In 1748 almost 90 households were counted, this is equivalent to 450 to 500 inhabitants. After the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
the town experienced a commercial boom and the population increased fivefold in less than one-hundred years. So before industrialization in Europe started, 2419 residents were counted in 1834. In the first half of the 20th century Zwenkau developed quickly due to the lignite mining industry and dependent business. From 1950 to 1990 the town lost forty percent of its residents. Since then the population increased mainly as a result of amalgamation of nearby rural towns and hamlets.
Local council
The elections in May 2014 showed the following results:
* CDU: 9 Seats
* Freie Wählergemeinschaft „Gemeinsam für Zwenkau“ e. V. (GfZ) (Together for Zwenkau): 5 Seats
* SPD: 2 Seats
* The Left: 2 Seats
Sons and daughters of the city
*Adolf Ferdinand Weinhold
Adolf Ferdinand Weinhold (19 May 1841 – 1 July 1917) was a German chemist, physician and inventor.
Life
From 1857 to 1861 Weinhold studied chemistry and physics at universities in Göttingen and in Leipzig. His mentors were Otto Linn ...
(1841-1917), professor for physics in Chemnitz, pioneer of the electrification of Saxony and (co-) inventor of the Dewar vessel, from which the principle of the Vacuum flask
A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an insulating storage vessel that greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or cooler than the flask's surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewa ...
derives
* Frank Baum (born 1956,) GDR football national player and winner of a silver medal at the 1980 Olympic Games
*Uwe Zötzsche
Uwe Zötzsche (born September 15, 1960) is a German former footballer.
He played for 1. FC Lok Leipzig for eleven years, and later had spells with RC Strasbourg, Hessen Kassel and 1. FC Markkleeberg.
Zötzsche won 38 caps for East Germany ...
(born 1960), GDR football national player and finalist in the UEFA Cup final in Athens 1987
*Rüdiger Selig
Rüdiger Selig (born 19 February 1989) is a German professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam .
Born in Zwenkau, Selig competed as an amateur until the middle of 2011, when he joined as a ''stagiaire''. In October, ...
(born 1989), cyclist
Pictures
File:Wasserturm Zwenkau 03.JPG, Water tower Zwenkau
File:Lebenswelt Grundschule in Döhlen (Zwenkau) 2014.jpg, Primary school in Döhlen (Zwenkau)
File:ZwenkauBf1.jpg, Zwenkau station
File:Rathaus Zwenkau 01.JPG, Town hall Zwenkau
References
External links
*
Leipzig (district)
{{Leipzig-geo-stub