Bad Belzig (), until 2010 Belzig, is a historic

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

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 ...

located about southwest of

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 ...

. It is the capital of the

Potsdam-Mittelmark Potsdam-Mittelmark is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the western part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring administrative units are (clockwise from the north) the district of Havelland (district), Havelland, the free cities of Brandenburg (town), ...

district.

Geography

Bad Belzig is located within the Fläming hill range and in the centre of the High Fläming Nature Park. The plains north of the town are home to one of the few

great bustard The great bustard (''Otis tarda'') is a bird in the bustard family, and the only living member of the genus ''Otis (bird), Otis''. It breeds in open grasslands and farmland from northern Morocco, South Europe, South and Central Europe to temperat ...

populations in Germany. Since 2003, when 14 surrounding villages were incorporated into Bad Belzig, some of them voluntarily, others by Brandenburg

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

(state parliament) legislation, Bad Belzig has an area of 234.83 km². These villages became districts (''Ortsteile'') of Belzig: The forest of Verlorenwasser near Werbig encompassed the

geographical centre In geography, the centroid of the two-dimensional shape of a region of the Earth's surface (projected radially to sea level or onto a geoid surface) is known as its geographic centre or geographical centre or (less commonly) gravitational centre. In ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

History

A Slavic fort of ''Belizi'' was first mentioned in a 997 deed issued by Emperor Otto III in favour of the

Archbishopric of Magdeburg The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Catholic Church, Latin Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Bishopric, Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River. Planned since 95 ...

. Whether this denotation refers to Bad Belzig or the neighbouring town of

Beelitz Beelitz () is a historic town in Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for its cultivation of white asparagus (''Beelitzer Spargel''). Geography Beelitz is situated about 18 km (11 mi) south of Potsda ...

has not been conclusively established. Nevertheless, both towns celebrated their 1000 years anniversary in 1997. The estates however had actually already been lost in the Slavic uprising of 983 and were not conquered again until 1153 by

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Life Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, and Eilika of Sa ...

from the

House of Ascania The House of Ascania () was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Principality of Anhalt, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ' ...

. In 1251 the castle ''(Burg Eisenhardt)'' and the adjacent settlement became part of Saxe-Wittenberg under Albert's successor Duke Albert I. However it was claimed by the archbishops of Magdeburg, whose forces devastated Belzig in 1406. The rebuilt castle was again seized by the

Hussite file:Hussitenkriege.tif, upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century file:The Bohemian Realm during the Hussite Wars.png, upright=1.2, The Lands of the ...

general

Prokop the Great Prokop the Great (, ) or Prokop the Bald or the Shaven (, ) (c. 1380 – 30 May 1434) was a Czech Hussite general and a prominent Taborite military leader during the Hussite Wars. On his mother's side, he came from a German patrician family l ...

when he invaded Saxony in 1429, after which Elector Ernest of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

from the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

enlarged it to a fortress. 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 ...

it was seized by the troops of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

in 1636, after Elector John George I had allied with Emperor Ferdinand II in the Peace of Prague. The Romanesque St Mary's Church was built in the late 13th century. According to an inscription in the keystone of the western entrance,

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

preached here on January 14, 1530. Bad Belzig was granted

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1702. During the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition () (December 1812 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation (), a coalition of Austrian Empire, Austria, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia, Russian Empire, Russia, History of Spain (1808– ...

on August 27, 1813 troops of the French Empire and Saxony were attacked by Prussian and Russian forces near the village of Hagelberg. The encounter ended in a French defeat, while several Saxon units went over to the Prussians. According to the Final Act of the 1815

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

Bad Belzig was ceded to Prussia and became part of the Province of Brandenburg, after having belonged to the Saxon Electorate for centuries. In 1934, ammunition works were established in Bad Belzig, including a

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...

with about 1500 forced laborers. During the years 1936–1945, Burg Eisenhardt was the site of the Reichsschule (leadership school) for the Technischen Nothilfe ('technical emergency relief'.) The Technische Nothilfe was abolished in May, 1945, but the idea was revived by Otto Lummitzsch in the form of the

Technisches Hilfswerk The (, (THW) , English: ''Federal Agency for Technical Relief'') is the federal Emergency management, civil protection organisation of Germany. It is legally part of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany), Federal Ministry of the Inte ...

in 1950, which exists to this day as one of the pillars of the German civil protection infrastructure. Between 1940 and 1945 a subcamp of the women's concentration camp Ravensbrück with about 750 inmates was also located nearby. Bad Belzig was also the site of a large radio transmitter station, erected in 1939. In 1952 the town became the capital of the Belzig district and in 1993 of the newly created district of

. In 1995 Bad Belzig was awarded the official title of a climatic health resort. Effective March 2010, the town's name was changed to "Bad Belzig".

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Bad Belzig.pdf, Development of population since 1875 within the current Boundaries: Blue line: Population. Dotted line: Comparison to population development in Brandenburg state. Grey background: Time of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Red rackground: Time of communist

File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Bad Belzig.pdf, Recent population development and projections: Population development before Census 2011 (blue line); recent population development according to the Census in Germany in 2011 (blue bordered line); official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line)

Politics

Mayors

* 1990–2008: Peter Kiep (SPD) * 2008–2016: Hannelore Klabunde-Quast (independent) * since 1. Dezember 2016: Roland Leisegang (independent) Peter Kiep could work in office only till 2006. He died in 2013. Hannelore Klabunde-Quast became in 2006 the substitute of Peter Kiep. She was elected mayor in 2008. Roland Leisegang (a founding member of the band Keimzeit) was elected mayor in 2016 with 65,4 % of the votes. The municipal assembly ''(Stadtverordnetenversammlung)'' has 22 members. The 2014 elections showed the following results: *Social Democrats ( SPD): 6 seats *Left Party (

Die Linke Die Linke (; ), also known as the Left Party ( ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The ...

): 3 seats *Christian Democrats ( CDU): 3 seats *"We, the villagers" group: 3 seats *

Free Voters Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...

: 2 seats * Grüne: 2 seats *Liberals ( FDP): 1 seat * NPD: 1 seat *Belzig Business Association: 1 seat The town's shield depicts the

coat of arms of Saxony The coat of arms of the present-day German free state of Saxony shows a tenfold horizontally-partitioned ('' Barry of ten'') field of black (''sable'') and gold/yellow ('' or'') stripes,

due to the long-time affiliation with the Saxon Electorate.

International relations

Bad Belzig is twinned with Ritterhude, a town in the German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, and is also twinned with

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

, a town in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Bad Belzig exchanges students with Even Yehuda,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Yet, there is not official agreement between the cities.

Places of interest

Main attractions are medieval Eisenhardt castle and the thermal bath SteinTherme. There is also a picturesque historic town centre with the town hall and the market place in the middle. Places of interest in the incorporated villages include Glien Manor (Klein Glien) in Hagelberg and the windmill in Borne. There is also a set of sculpture walks starting from Bad Belzig, heading towards Wiesenburg.

Economy

The district administration is the major employer in Bad Belzig. Bad Belzig is the main town in the rural Higher Fläming area, with schools, shops, supermarkets, a hospital and a cinema all used by the inhabitants of surrounding towns and villages. There is a successful rehabilitation clinic (sanatorium) in Bad Belzig. In 1989, Bad Belzig launched an ambitious programme to become a spa town (achieving recognition in 2009) and promote tourism.

Sons and daughters of the town

* Carl Gottlieb Reißiger (1798-1859), composer and Kapellmeister in Dresden * Matthias Rudolph (born 1982), football coach and player * Felix Holzner (born 1985), football player * Fabian Wiede (born 1994), handball player

References

External links

official website

official website of the Tourist Board

Stein Therme - thermal bath

High Fläming Nature Park
{{Authority control Spa towns in Germany Localities in Potsdam-Mittelmark Fläming Heath