Großenhain (; also written as Grossenhain; , ) is a

Große Kreisstadt ''Große Kreisstadt'' (, "major district town") is a term in the municipal law (''Gemeindeordnung'') of several States of Germany, German states. In some federal states the term is used as a special legal status for a Districts of Germany, distric ...

(German for major district town) in the district of

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

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 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 was originally known as Hayne. The current name simply means "big Hayne".

History

Großenhain was originally a Sorbian settlement, and remains an area where this language is spoken. It was first mentioned in 1205. It was for a time occupied by the

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

ns, by whom it was strongly fortified. It afterwards came into the possession of the margraves of

, from whom it was taken in 1312 by the margraves of

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 ...

. In the middle-ages, Großenhain was one of the most powerful towns in Saxony. It suffered considerably in all the great German wars, and in 1744 was nearly destroyed by fire. The fire destroyed the church which was then replaced by the current Marienkirche, which echoes internally echoes the Frauenkirche in nearby

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. On May 16, 1813, a battle took place here between the French (Napoleon's army) and the Russians. A

military airfield An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

was created near the town, opening in February 1914. From 1945 to 1993, this served as an air base of the

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

, complete with a secret facility storing nuclear weapons. Kulturzentrum Grossenhain (the culture centre) was recently created, cleverly converting the ruined fragments of Schloss Grossenhain into a modern building. On May 24, 2010, Großenhain was hit by a rain-wrapped F3 tornado which killed 1 and injured 40 others. This event made sirens sound for 60 seconds in and around Großenhain. The fatality was a 6-year-old girl who was killed by a falling tree.

Geography

Großenhain is located on the river Röder, northwest of

, and east of

Riesa Riesa (; ) is a town in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany. It is located on the river Elbe, approximately northwest of Dresden. History The name ''Riesa'' is derived from Slavic ''Riezowe''. This name, romanised as "Rezoa", appears f ...

. It is also situated on

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History ...

from

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

Divisions

The town Großenhain consists of Großenhain proper and the following ''Ortschaften'' or municipal divisions:Hauptsatzung der Großen Kreisstadt Großenhain
August 2019. *Bauda *Colmnitz *Folbern *Görzig *Nasseböhla (incl. Stroga) *Skassa *Skäßchen (incl. Krauschütz, Skaup and Uebigau) *Strauch *Walda-Kleinthiemig *Weßnitz-Rostig * Wildenhain * Zabeltitz (incl. Treugeböhla) These ''Ortschaften'' correspond with former municipalities or their divisions, that were absorbed into Großenhain between 1994 and 2010. The localities Großraschütz, Kleinraschütz, Mülbitz, Naundorf, Zschauitz and Zschieschen are former municipalities that were absorbed into Großenhain between 1913 and 1961.

Infrastructure

There are two train stations in Großenhain. The ''Großenhain Berliner Bahnhof'' had been out of service since 2002, leaving only the '' Großenhain Cottbusser Bahnhof'', served by trains from

Elsterwerda Elsterwerda (; Lower Sorbian: ''Wikow'') is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the Black Elster river, 48 km northwest of Dresden, and 11 km southeast of Bad Liebenwerda. Histor ...

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

and Hoyerswerda. Großenhain is accessible by car via Bundesstraße 98 and Bundesstraße 101.

Famous people

Statue in Grossenhain town square looking north to the spire of the Marienkirche

* Martin Blochwich (1602-1629): German physician, born here * Lucas Krzikalla (born 1994): German handball player, born here * Karl Benjamin Preusker (1786–1871): Founder of the first

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

in Germany (1828) *

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of th ...

(1892–1918): German fighter pilot known as ''The Red Baron'', was trained as observer at the local airport *

Corinna Harfouch Corinna Harfouch (; ; born 16 October 1954) is a German actress. Early life and education Harfouch was born in Suhl, East Germany, the daughter of the teacher Wolfgang Meffert and his wife Marianne (née Kleber). She worked as a nurse and stu ...

(born 1954): German actress, passed her childhood here *

Benjamin Hedericus Benjamin Hedericus (''Benjamin Hederich''; 12 December 1675 in Geithain, Germany – 18 July 1748 in Großenhain, Meißen, Germany) was a German lexicographer. He is most notable as the author of a Greek lexicon that was widely used in the Roman ...

(1675-1748): Lexicographer * Heino (born 1938): German schlager artist, passed his childhood here * Carlo Mierendorff (1897-1943), representatives of the SPD, a member of the German Reichstag and resistance fighter against Nazism *

Frederick Traugott Pursh Frederick Traugott Pursh (or Friedrich Traugott Pursch) (February 4, 1774 – July 11, 1820) was a German people, German–United States, American botanist. Born in Großenhain, in the Electorate of Saxony, under the name Friedrich Traugott Pursh, ...

(1774-1820), actually '' Friedrich Pursch '', botanist * Helmut H. Schaefer (1925-2005), mathematician, professor at the University of Halle (Saale), at the University of Tübingen, at the California Institute of Technology and other US universities * Ingo Senftleben (born 1974), German politician (CDU) * Valentin Weigel (1533-1588), theologian and philosopher *

Frieder Zschoch Frieder Zschoch (30 March 1932 – 3 March 2016) was a German musicologist. Life Zschoch was born in Großenhain as the second son of the Lutheran pastor Reinhold Zschoch and his wife Hildegard. He grew up in a musical home and received piano ...

(1932–2016), musicologist

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grossenhain Meissen (district)