Borna () is a town in

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 ...

, Germany, capital of the Leipzig district. It is situated approximately 30 km southeast 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 ...

city. It has approx. 19,000 inhabitants. The town is the district seat of the district of Leipzig.

Geography

Borna is located about south of

. The river Wyhra flows through the town. The surrounding landscape has been influenced by open-cast coal mining. The town lies in the middle of

Central German Metropolitan Region The Central German Metropolitan Region () 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 of the states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia ...

, with Leipzig distant, Gera , Chemnitz , Halle , and Dresden . Neighboring large towns are

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

, away,

Grimma Grimma (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, southeast of Leipzig. Founded in 1170, it is part of the Leipzig district. Location The town is in northern Saxony, southeast of Leipzig and south of Wurz ...

, and

Zeitz Zeitz (; , ) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. History First a Slavic pagan settlem ...

History

Pre-history and Middle Ages

The current site of Borna town was originally two settlements; Altstadt (the old town) and Wenigborn. Before the foundation of the town, there had been a

water castle A water castle, sometimes water-castle, is a castle which incorporates a natural or artificial body of water into its defences.Forde-Johnston (1979), p. 163. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbo ...

since the 9th Century. The first written mention of the town of Borna was recorded in 1251. Borna was burnt to the ground five times during the wars of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

19th Century Onwards

Since the early 19th century the landscape around Borna has been shaped by open-cast mining of brown coal (lignite) with an apex in the 1980s. For the last 20 years there have been huge efforts to revegetate this landscape e. g. by flooding opencast pits and creating new lakes as well as planting thousands of trees. The

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

of the town coincided with the start of lignite mining around 1800. The lignite industry was predominant in the region until recently.

Population

(December 31 each year)

Railway

On January 14, 1867, with the completion of the Borna-

Neukieritzsch Neukieritzsch is a municipality in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. On 1 April 2008, the former municipality of Lobstädt was incorporated into Neukieritzsch. On 1 July 2014, the former municipality of Deutzen was incorporated into Neu ...

line, Borna joined the German railway network. From Neukieritszch the line connected with the Saxon-Bavarian railway line between Leipzig and Hof. This rail connection was financed by a partnership between private concerns and the town and was the only municipal railway in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

. On April 8, 1872 the link was extended via

Geithain Geithain () is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography Geithain is northwest of Chemnitz and southeast of Leipzig. It lies in hilly country by the wooded area Wickershain and the river Eula. History The first documented ...

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

, creating the

Neukieritzsch–Chemnitz railway The Neukieritzsch–Chemnitz railway is a line in the German state of Saxony. It branches in Neukieritzsch station, Neukieritzsch from the Leipzig–Hof railway and runs via Borna, Leipzig, Borna and Geithain to Chemnitz Hauptbahnhof, Chemnitz Ma ...

. In October 2007 the 14th century romanesque building of Emmaus Church in Heuersdorf ( from Borna) was cut from the ground and relocated in

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 ...

Square of Born

The church's journey took a number of days.

Main sights

*Kunigunden Church *Emmaus Church on Luther square (moved from nearby Heuersdorf, which was resettled because of an open coal mine in 2008) *Town hall *Secondary school ''Gymnasium Am Breiten Teich''

Gallery

File:Reichstor Borna.jpg, Reichstor - Imperial Gate File: Rathaus Borna 02.jpg, Borna Town Hall with Market Place File:Gymnasium Am Breiten Teich.JPG, Borna secondary school File: Emmauskirche mit Luther-Denkmal.JPG, Emmaus Church at Martin Luther Square

Notable citizens

* Gustav Friedrich Dinter (1760–1831), theologian, educator * Karl Immanuel Nitzsch (1767–1868), theologian * Ludwig Otto (1850–1920), artist, was born at BornaLudwig Otto
rkd.nl accessed 27 April 2022 * Clemens Thieme (1861–1945), builder of the Volkerschlacht memorial in Leipzig *

Ludwig Külz Ludwig Külz (18 February 1875 - 1938) was a German colonial physician born in Borna, Germany, Borna. He was a twin brother to liberal politician Wilhelm Külz (1875-1948). Ludwig Külz earned his medical doctorate in 1899, and became a doctor wi ...

(1875–1938), professor of tropical medicine * Wilhelm Külz (1875–1948), politician (DDP, LDPD), MdR, Minister of the Interior * Karl Möbius (1876–1953), German sculptor * Wolfgang Heyl (1921–2014), politician (CDU) * Horst Pehnert (1932–2013), journalist and party official in the GDR * Christine Kurzhals (1950–1998), politician (SPD) *

Thomas Munkelt Thomas Munkelt (born 3 August 1952) is a retired East German athlete, winner of 110 m hurdles at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Born in Zedtlitz, Bezirk Leipzig, East Germany, Thomas Munkelt was a classic high hurdler who dominated European hurdli ...

(born 1952), athlete, hurdler *

Maic Malchow Maic Malchow (born 11 October 1962) is a German former cyclist. He competed in the 1 km time trial event at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seou ...

(born 1962), track cyclist * Sven Lehmann (1965–2013), actor * Torsten Jülich (born 1974), soccer player * Thorsten Görke (born 1976), soccer player * Steffen Radochla (born 1978), cyclist *

Oliver Herber Oliver Herber (born 9 September 1981) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Hertha BSC II, SV Babelsberg 03 and Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or ...

(born 1981), soccer player

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Leipzig (district)