Bad Dürrenberg is a
spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...
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, ...
district, in
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...
,
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 ...
. It is situated on the river
Saale
The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian Saale (), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the M ...
, approx. 8 km southeast of
Merseburg
Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...
. It is known for its historic
graduation tower (for extracting
salt
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
from
brine
Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawat ...
), the largest one in Germany.
Geography
The town of Bad Dürrenberg is located on the river
Saale
The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian Saale (), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the M ...
between the cities of
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
,
Merseburg
Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...
and
Weißenfels. In the south of the town, the
Ellerbach river flows into the Saale from the east.
Neighboring districts
The neighboring districts are
Leuna
Leuna () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, south of Merseburg and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle, on the river Saale.
The town is known for the ''Leuna works, Leunawerke'', at 13 km2 one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes i ...
to the north,
Markranstädt
Markranstädt () is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 11 km southwest of the city of Leipzig and has close to 15,000 inhabitants.
Geography Location
Markranstädt is located about south-west of Leipzig ci ...
in (
Leipzig district) to the east,
Lützen (
Burgenlandkreis
Burgenlandkreis () is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is .
History
The district was established as Landkreis Burgenland by the merger of the former Burgenlandkreis and Landkreis Weißenfels as part of the reform of 2007. ...
) to the south and, to the west,
Weißenfels (
Burgenlandkreis
Burgenlandkreis () is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is .
History
The district was established as Landkreis Burgenland by the merger of the former Burgenlandkreis and Landkreis Weißenfels as part of the reform of 2007. ...
).
Town and hinterland
The following table shows the population of the town itself and those of the municipal divisions (''Ortschaften'') which were formerly independent municipalities.
[Hauptsatzung]
Stadt Bad Dürrenberg, October 2019. Oebles-Schlechtewitz was absorbed into Bad Dürrenberg in 2008, and Nempitz and Tollwitz in 2010.
History
Late stone age to early 1700s
The area has been populated since
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
times. The
elaborate Mesolithic burial of a woman and baby dating to 7000-6800 BC was discovered in 1934 in a riverside spa garden. The woman is thought to have been a shaman.
By 993, the oldest part of the town, the Keuschberg district, was occupied by
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu.
Otto III was cro ...
. Documentary evidence exists from 1197 for a fortified royal court.
From 1656 to 1738, the area of the town was part of the Bishopric of Merseburg, in turn part of the Secondary Principality of Saxony-Merseburg.
Mid 1700s: Salt production
In 1741, Johann Gottfried Borlach began drilling for brine near Keuschberg. In 1763, he was successful; since then there has been a constant flow of brine with a salt content of nearly 11%. In 1765, a massive brine pumping tower, named after Borlach, was built above the first brine spring. Nearby graduation towers were constructed. The brine pumping tower now operates as a museum, honoring Borlach's achievements and documenting the history of salt production, the processing of Dürrenberg brine into evaporated table salt, and the development of Dürrenberg into a spa town
1800s: Prussian era
In 1815, the twelve towns of today's Bad Dürrenberg became part of the German state of
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
. In 1816, the towns were assigned to the Merseburg administrative district of the province of Saxony.
In 1836, a 4.5 kilometer long Tollwitz-Dürrenberg railway with a gauge of 585 mm and the first 133 m long railway tunnel in Germany was built. On 22 March 1856 a railway line from Leipzig to Corbetha via Barneck, Markranstädt, Kötschau and Dürrenberg began operations.
The first bathhouse was built in 1845 and the first Saale bridge was built in 1920. In the same year, the Rössen tram route was extended in stages via Daspig and Spergau to Fährdorf, and six years later to Bad Dürrenberg train station.
20th century
During the times of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
, Dürrenberg was adversised as a spa town, with reference to the existing graduation towers (then 1,821 m long) for bathers to “stay in dust-free, ozone-rich air soaked in salt” and described the health resort as a “brine bath”.
In 1930, the ''Greater Municipality Dürrenberg'' was created through the merger of the rural communities Dürrenberg, Keuschberg, Porbitz-Poppitz, Ostrau, Lennewitz and Balditz. Dürrenberg has been called ''Bad Dürrenberg'' since it was awarded the title "Bad" (spa) in 1935.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, foreign forced laborers were employed by companies in Bad Dürrenberg.
On 30 November 1946 the municipality of Bad Dürrenberg was granted town charter. The district president Otto Gotsche made the announcement at a ceremonial meeting of the city council on 6 January 1946. The certificate was handed over to Mayor Paul Drese. On 15 April 1947 the city was given its coat of arms, which is still used today; it features the brine-pumping tower.
[ ]
Beginning in 1950, towns including Kirchfährendorf, Goddula-Vesta, Oebles-Schlechtewitz, Tollwitz, Spergau, and Nempitz were incorporated into the Bad Dürrenberg administrative community.
The production of evaporated salt was discontinued in 1963. Bathing operations were discontinued in 1964.
21st century
A new brine well was put into operation on 24 June 2000. In 2003, the former drinking hall in the spa gardens was renovated and then reopened for brine applications. In 2008 the city was awarded the title of "state-recognized resort".
Events and festivals
Each year on the last weekend of June the town has a festival held over a period of three days, which is known as ''Brunnenfest'' (Well Celebration).
Population development
Historical population ''(as of 31 December unless otherwise noted)''. Values since 2010 also include neighboring villages which were annexed by the town.
1 3 October
Mayors
* Kurt Eckart (SPD), May–June 1945
* Karl Herfurth (KPD), July 1945 – 1946
* Paul Drese (SED), 1946-1947
* Fritz Singer, 1948-1952
* Kurt Boose, from 1951 (deputy)
* Gerry Chisel (SED), from 1952 acting / Edmund Jatz
* Martha Wessler (SED), 1953-1976
* Liselotte Wehowski (SED), 1976-1986
* Frank Klappach (SED), 1986-1988
* Karin Zeisler (SED), 1988-1990
* Thomas Heilmann (CDU), 1990-2001
* Jürgen Elste (FDP), 2001-2008
* Árpád Nemes (CDU), 2008-2015
* Christoph Schulze (CDU), since 2015
Personality
Sons and daughters of the town
*
Ibrahim Böhme (1944–1999), politician
*
Andreas Ihle (born 1979), world champion and Olympic champion in canoe racing
Those associated with the town

*
Novalis
Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (; ), was a German nobility, German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and Mysticism, mystic. He is regarded as an inf ...
(1772–1801), early Romantics, philosopher and lawyer
*
Johann Trommsdorff (1770–1837), pharmacist and chemist
*
Karl von Fritsch (1838–1906), a paleontologist and geologist, president of the
Leopoldina
*
Ernst Fraenkel (political scientist) (1898–1975), political scientist and lawyer
*
Karin Haftenberger, (born 1948), canoeist, competed in the
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...
Twin towns – sister cities
*
Melle, Germany
*
Caudebec-lès-Elbeuf, France
*
Ciechocinek, Poland
*
Encs
Encs is a small town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, 30 kilometers from the county capital Miskolc.
History
The area has been inhabited for at least 6,000 years. After the Hungarians occupied the area, it became part of ''Új ...
, Hungary
Gallery
File:Bad Duerrenberg Gradierwerk S.jpg, Graduation tower
File:Bad Duerrenberg Kurpark.jpg, Spa gardens
File:Bad_Duerrenberg_St_Bonifatius.jpg
File:Bad_Duerrenberg_church.jpg
References
Saalekreis
{{Saalekreis-geo-stub