Größnitz is a village and a former municipality in the

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. ...

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 ...

. Since 1 July 2009 it has been part of the municipality of Balgstädt.

Geography

Größnitz is located between

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East Berlin, East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chem ...

and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. The village of Städten was part of the former municipality of Größnitz.

History

Größnitz and the other towns belonged to the Wettiner, later Electoral Saxon office of Freyburg until 1815. The decisions of the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

were to give them to

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, ...

, and in 1816 it was allocated to the district of

Querfurt Querfurt () is a town in the Saalekreis district, or ''Kreis'', in southern Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is located in a fertile area on the Querne, west from Merseburg. In 2020, the town had a population of 10,454. The town Querfurt consists of Q ...

in the administrative region 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 ...

of Saxony Province until 1944. On 1 July 1950 the previously independent municipality of Städten was incorporated. Größnitz was incorporated into the municipality of Balgstädt on July 1, 2009.

Coat of Arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: "In silver a green

lily ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are ...

in the gate opening of a continuous, black-grooved red wall abutting at the top on a curved green shield base covered with a curved silver strip." The coat of arms symbols are based on several local features. The high stone archways are ones that often belong to the homesteads, which are symbolized in the coat of arms by a jointed wall. In the gate opening is the heraldic lily - not as a symbol of purity and innocence, as is often the case - but rather in real terms related to the wild orchids that are common in the region around Großesnitz. The fact that Großesnitz and its district of towns are located on a mountain is indicated by the arched green shield base covered with a curved silver bar. The coat of arms was designed in 2006 by the municipal heraldist Jörg Mantzsch and he was included in the approval process. The representing colors of the area are green and white.

References

Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Burgenlandkreis {{Burgenlandkreis-geo-stub