is a town in
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 of ...
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 the ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
.
Geography
The town was the seat of the offices of the
administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'') of
Tor zur Dübener Heide until it was disbanded in January 2011. It lies about 25 km southwest of
Lutherstadt 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 of ...
, southeast of
Dessau
Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Ro� ...
and northeast of
Bitterfeld
Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Halle ( ...
on the edge of the
Düben Heath.
Nearby lies the Gremminer See, a lake created as a result of the redevelopment of the former
brown coal
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
strip mine of Golpa-Nord, and on whose shore is found the
Ferropolis
Ferropolis, "the city of iron", is an open-air museum of huge mid-20th century industrial machines in Gräfenhainichen, a city between Wittenberg and Dessau
Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rive ...
("Iron Town") industrial memorial, actually a
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...
dedicated to "industrial culture".
The town Gräfenhainichen consists of the following ''Ortschaften'' or municipal divisions:
[Hauptsatzung der Stadt Gräfenhainichen]
10 March 2021.
*Gräfenhainichen
*
Jüdenberg
*
Möhlau
*
Schköna
*
Tornau
*
Zschornewitz
History
Gräfenhainichen had its first documentary mention in 1254. In 1454, Gräfenhainichen had its town rights reconfirmed after the old documents by which these were granted had been destroyed in a fire. In 1637, during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
, the town was almost utterly destroyed by the
Swedes. The year 1859 saw the dedication of the new
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
line between Wittenberg and Bitterfeld. The town's advantageous location allowed industry to move into town. The first
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
shop was set up in 1874; until 1990, there were still as many as four printing shops in Gräfenhainichen. By 1890, brown coal was being mined in Gräfenhainichen, first underground, and then in strip mines. In 1954, at which time the town was in
East Germany
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 ...
, Gräfenhainichen became a district seat (''Kreisstadt'') for three towns and 27 communities. This lasted until 1994, four years after
Reunification
A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governmen ...
.
Coat of arms
The town's current civic
arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
were granted on 17 December 1993. The town's oldest known seal dates from 1477, and the current arms are based on this. The tower stands for the old fortified city and the inescutcheon with the lion rampant, being
Meißen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrech ...
's arms, recalls that in 1377 the Counts of Meißen became the local overlords. Until 1993, Gräfenhainichen's coat of arms was of a similar design, but with the heraldic elements arranged slightly differently, and with different colours. The old arms were predominantly re
Mayors
*2001-2015: Harry Rüßbült (The Left)
*Since 2015: Enrico Schilling (CDU).
''CDU-Mann Enrico Schilling gewinnt''
In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung
The ''Mitteldeutsche Zeitung'' (''Central German Newspaper'') is a regional daily newspaper for southern Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Published in Halle with several local versions, the paper is owned by M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne.
History and ...
, 13. April 2015
Town partnerships
Gräfenhainichen maintains partnerships with the following towns:
* Laubach
Laubach is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the Gießen region of Hesse, Germany. Laubach is known as a ', a climatic health resort. It is situated east of Gießen. Surrounding Laubach are the towns of Hungen, Grünberg, Schotten and Li ...
, Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...
, since 1992
* Élancourt
Élancourt () is a communes of France, commune in the Yvelines departments of France, department, and the Île-de-France region, north central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, 30.6 km (19.0 mi) from the Kilometre Ze ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
, since 2003
* Zoersel
Zoersel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of , , and Zoersel proper. In 2021, Zoersel had a total population of 22,142. The total area is 38.65 km2.
Sports
The women's A ...
, Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
, since August 2005
Transportation
Gräfenhainichen lies on the ''Bundesstraße
''Bundesstraße'' ( German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.
Germany
Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km.
German ''Bundesstraße ...
'' federal highway, B 107, running from Bad Düben
Bad Düben (), until 1948 Düben is a town in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony in Germany. It is situated at the southern end of the Düben Heath Nature Park ( Düben Heath), between the rivers Elbe and Mulde, which runs through the city cen ...
to Coswig, on the B 100 from 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 of ...
to Bitterfeld
Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Halle ( ...
, and on the ''Landesstraße
''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads ...
'' (state road) L136 to Zschornewitz.
The ''Dessau-Ost'' interchange with the A9 autobahn (Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
- Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
) is about 17 km away.
Gräfenhainichen's railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
lies on the Deutsche Bahn
The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder.
describes itself as the ...
line between Wittenberg and Bitterfeld.
Personalities
* Joachim Gottlob Am Ende, theologian and teacher
*Paul Gerhardt
Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymnodist.
Biography
Gerhardt was born into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in ...
, (1607-1676), theologian and hymn writer
*Johann Gottfried Galle
Johann Gottfried Galle (9 June 1812 – 10 July 1910) was a German astronomer from Radis, Germany, at the Berlin Observatory who, on 23 September 1846, with the assistance of student Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, was the first person to view the ...
, (1812-1910), astronomer
*Hugo Winckler
Hugo Winckler (4 July 1863 – 19 April 1913) was a German archaeologist and historian who uncovered the capital of the Hittite Empire ( Hattusa) at BoÄŸazkale, Turkey.
A student of the languages of the ancient Middle East, he wrote exten ...
, (1863-1913), archaeologist and linguist
* Wilhelm Ohnesorge
''This article is based on a translation of the corresponding article in the German Wikipedia.
Wilhelm Ohnesorge (8 June 1872 – 1 February 1962) was a German politician in the Third Reich who sat in the Hitler Cabinet. From 1937 to 1945, he ...
(1872-1962), politician (NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
), Reichspostminister (minister for mail)
Clubs
* Anglerverein Gräfenhainichen e.V. von 1959 (angling
Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techni ...
club)
* dashrecords e.V.
* Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club e.V.
* Ferropolis Bergbau- u. Erlebnisbahn e.V Gräfenhainichen (Ferropolis Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...
and Adventure Railway)
* Ferropolis-Schule Gräfenhainichen Förderverein e.V. (Ferropolis School of Gräfenhainichen Development Club)
* Gräfenhainicher Carneval Club e.V. von 1973
References
External links
Gräfenhainichen's homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grafenhainichen
Wittenberg (district)