Bitterfeld was a district in

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 it th ...

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 betwe ...

. It was bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the city of Dessau, the district of

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north o ...

, Delitzsch (

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 ...

) and the districts of

Saalkreis Saalkreis was a district (''Kreis'') in the south of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Neighboring districts were (from west clockwise) Mansfelder Land, Bernburg, Köthen, Bitterfeld, the district Delitzsch in Saxony, and the district Merseburg-Querfurt. T ...

and Köthen.

History

The district was a swampy and unpopulated area in the early Middle Ages. In the 12th century

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

settlers helped to drain the swamps. In that time Bitterfeld was known as "the Flemish town" in the region. The present district is roughly identical with the old county of Brehna, which ruled the area from the 10th to the 13th century. Later the region became a part of

. When

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 ...

gained the northern parts of Saxony (including the lands around Bitterfeld), the district of Bitterfeld was established. After the dissolution of

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 it the ...

some places in the north were added to the district. The

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

government tried to establish a socialistic industrial centre in the Bitterfeld region. The city of Bitterfeld and the entire district were infamous for polluted air, poisoned rivers and devastated landscape. After the German reunification there have been measures to change these conditions. Today the power plants work with modern filters, and sewage works greatly improve the water conditions. During the Kreisreform 2007 the district was merged with Köthen and a large part of

Anhalt-Zerbst Anhalt-Zerbst was a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts Potsdam-Mittelmark (Brandenburg) and Wittenberg, the city of Dessau and the districts of Köthen, Schönebeck and Jerichower ...

into the new 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 o ...

Geography

The

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 ...

River crossed the district from south to north.

Coat of arms

Towns and municipalities

External links

* (German)
Unofficial website
(German)
Website from the Level-Tower
(German) {{coord, 51.67, 12.33, display=title, format=dms