Meissen ( ), is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of approximately 30,000 about northwest of

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 ...

and 75 km (46 mi) west of

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

on both banks of the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

river in the

Free State of 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 ...

, in eastern

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 ...

. Meissen is the home of

Meissen porcelain Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first Europe, European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's ...

, the

Albrechtsburg The Albrechtsburg is a Late Gothic castle erected from 1471 till about 1495. It is located in the town centre of Meissen in the German state of Saxony. It is situated on a hill above the river Elbe, adjacent to the Meissen Cathedral. History ...

castle, the Gothic

Meissen Cathedral Meissen Cathedral or the Church of St John and St Donatus () is a Gothic church in Meissen in Saxony. It is situated on the castle hill of Meissen, adjacent to the Albrechtsburg castle and forms a critical centrepiece of the iconic Meissen skyli ...

and the Meissen Frauenkirche. The ''

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 ...

'' is the capital of the

Meissen district Meissen () is a district ('' Kreis'') in Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the state of Brandenburg, the district of Bautzen, the urban district Dresden, the districts Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, Mittelsachse ...

History

It grew out of the early West Slavic settlement of ''Miśni'' inhabited by Glomatians and was founded as a German town by King

Henry the Fowler Henry the Fowler ( or '; ; – 2 July 936) was the duke of Saxony from 912 and the king of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non- Frankish king of East Francia, he established the Ottonian dynasty of kings and emper ...

in 929. In 968, the Diocese of Meissen was founded, and Meissen became the

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

of a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. The Catholic bishopric was suppressed in 1581 after the diocese accepted the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

(1559), but re-created in 1921 with its seat first at

and now at the

Katholische Hofkirche Dresden Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Dresden, previously the Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony, called in German ''Katholische Hofkirche'' and since 1980 also known as ''Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis'', is the ...

in Dresden. In 965, the

Margraviate of Meissen The Margravate or Margraviate of Meissen () was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' ( Saxon Eastern March ...

, a frontier march of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, was founded, with Meissen as its capital. A

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

by 1000, Meissen passed to the

Duchy of Poland Civitas Schinesghe (; ), also known as the Duchy of Poland or the Principality of Poland, is the historiographical name given to a polity in Central Europe, which existed during the medieval period and was the predecessor state of the Kingdom of ...

in 1002 under Boleslaw I the Brave, afterwards into hands of

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

a few months later and to the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

in 1089. In 1015, Meissen was besieged by the Poles led by future King Mieszko II. In 1241, the town was attacked in the

Mongol raid on Meissen Mongol incursions in the Holy Roman Empire took place in the spring of 1241 and again in the winter of 1241–42. They were part of the first Mongol invasion of Europe. The Mongols did not advance far into the Holy Roman Empire and there was no m ...

. The small Mongol force under

Orda Khan Orda Ichen ( Mongolian: – 1251) was a Mongol Khan and military strategist who ruled the eastern part of the Golden Horde (division of the Mongol Empire) during the 13th century. First Khan of the White Horde Orda Ichen ( – 1251) is cr ...

defeated Meissens's defenders and much of the town was destroyed. The Mongols withdrew from Germany after the death of

Ögedei Khan Ögedei Khan (also Ögedei Khagan or Ogodei; 11 December 1241) was the second Khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. The third son of Genghis Khan, he continued the expansion of the empire that his father had begun. Born in 1186 AD, Öged ...

, sparing the region from further destruction. The town was at the forefront of the

Ostsiedlung (, ) is the term for the Early Middle Ages, early medieval and High Middle Ages, high medieval migration of Germanic peoples and Germanisation of the areas populated by Slavs, Slavic, Balts, Baltic and Uralic languages, Uralic peoples; the ...

, or intensive German settlement of the rural Slavic lands east of the Elbe, and its reception of

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

dates to 1332. The construction of

was begun in 1260 on the same hill as the

castle. The resulting lack of space led to the cathedral being one of the smallest

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

s in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The church is also known as being one of the purest examples of Gothic architecture. In 1423, Meissen became capital of the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

. In 1464, the capital was moved to

. In 1759, the Austrians defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Meissen. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a subcamp of

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flos ...

was located in Meissen. Meissen served as an important place of religious dialogue in 1988 when the agreement on mutual recognition between the German Evangelical Church (both East and West German) and the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

was signed in the town.

Porcelain

Meissen is famous for the manufacture of porcelain, based on extensive local deposits of china clay (

kaolin Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina (). ...

) and potter's clay (potter's earth). Meissen porcelain was the first high-quality porcelain to be produced outside of

the Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

. The first European porcelain was manufactured in Meissen in 1710, when by decree of King

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Porcelain Factory (''Königlich-Polnische und Kurfürstlich-Sächsische Porzellan-Manufaktur'') was opened in the Albrechtsburg. In 1861, it was moved to the ''Triebisch'' river valley of Meissen, where the porcelain factory can still be found today. Along with porcelain, other ceramics are also manufactured in the town. In the old town streets, there have been set up numerous porcelain stores, often selling antique Meissen porcelain and sometimes offering repair of broken porcelain. In Meissen and the surrounding area, several former painters from the manufacturer have set up porcelain painting workshops and galleries with their own pieces of porcelain art.

Main sights

Hohlweg from the bridge to Meissen Castle

The Albrechtsburg, the former residence of the

, is regarded as being the first castle to be used as a royal residence in the German-speaking world. Built between 1472 and 1525, it is a fine example of late Gothic style. It was redecorated in the 19th century with a range of murals depicting Saxon history. Today the castle is a museum. Nearby is the 13th-century Gothic Meissen Cathedral (''Meißner Dom''), whose chapel is one of the most famous burial places of the Wettin family. The hill on which the castle and the cathedral are built offers a view over the roofs of the old town. Meissen's historical district is located mostly around the market at the foot of the castle hill. It contains many buildings of

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

. Also imposing is the view from the 57-metre-high tower of the ''Frauenkirche'' (Church of Our Lady), situated in the old market-place. This church, not to be confused with the Dresden Frauenkirche, was first mentioned in a 1205 deed issued by Bishop Dietrich II and after a blaze about 1450 rebuilt in the Late Gothic style of a

hall church A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

. Its tower hosts the world's first porcelain carillon, manufactured in 1929 on the occasion of the town's 1000-years-jubilee. Another popular tourist sight is the world-famous Meissen porcelain factory. From spring to autumn, several festivals take place in Meissen, such as the

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

market or the ''Weinfest'', which celebrates the

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

harvest. Meissen wine is produced at the

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s in the river valley (''Elbtal'') around the town, part of the Saxonian wine region, one of the northernmost in Europe.

Educational institutions

Meissen is the home of the Saxon public elite college

Sächsisches Landesgymnasium Sankt Afra zu Meißen Sächsisches Landesgymnasium Sankt Afra zu Meißen is a boarding school for highly gifted students in the German city of Meissen, Saxony. Founded in 1543 as ''Fürstliche Landesschule'' and re-established in 2001, the stated aim of the school is ...

. Also the Saxon Civil Servants Academy and the Academy of the Evangelical Church of Saxony are located in the town.

Sport

Meissen Speedway Stadium is located on the eastern side of the town, on the Zaschendorfer Straße. The stadium was the venue for a round of the

Speedway World Team Cup The Speedway World Team Cup was an annual motorcycle speedway, speedway event held each year in different countries. The competition started in 1960 and was replaced with the Speedway World Cup in 2001. Format From 1960 until 1985, each team c ...

in 1965 and multiple qualifying rounds of the Speedway World Championship (the first in 1966).

Notable people

* Saint Benno (c. 1010–1106), Bishop of Meissen *

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen (; ; before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle '' Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' ('' ...

(before 1050 – 1081/1085), medieval chronicler * Heinrich Frauenlob (1250/60–1318), poet * Anna of Saxony, Landgravine of Hesse (1420–1462) * Heinrich von Sachsen (1422–1435), Margrave of Meissen and Duke of Saxony * Johann Klaj (1616–1656), poet * Johann Elias Schlegel (1719–1749), critic and poet * Johann Adolf Schlegel (1721–1793), poet and clergyman *

Samuel Hahnemann Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann ( , ; 10 April 1755 – 2 July 1843) was a German physician, best known for creating the pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine called homeopathy. Early life Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann w ...

(1755–1843), physician and founder of

Homoeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that ...

* Louise Otto-Peters (1819–1895), suffragist and women's rights movement activist * Karl G. Maeser (1828–1901), Mormon academic * Erich Naumann (1905–1951), Nazi SS-Brigadeführer and Einsatzgruppe commander, executed for war crimes * Hans Philipp (1917–1943), combat pilot *

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

(1935–2019), opera singer and conductor * Ralf Schumann (born 1962), shooter, Olympic winner * Stefan Schuster (born 1961), biophysicist and bioinformatician * Jörg Urban (born 1964), politician (AfD) * Stephan Matthias Lademann, classical pianist * Eva Backofen (born 1949), artist and sculptor

Worked in the town

Kaspar Eberhard Kaspar Eberhard (21 March 1523 – 20 October 1575) was a German Lutheran theologian and teacher. He was born at Schneeberg (Erzgebirge), Schneeberg, and died at Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Wittenberg. Life Bibliography

* Walter Friedensbur ...

(1523–1575), superintendent of Meissen 1564–1574 * Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682–1719), co-inventor of the European porcelain * Johann Gregor Herold (1696–1775), porcelain painter and superintendent of the factory * Johann Joachim Kändler (1706–1775), porcelain modeller *

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...

(1729–1781), writer, pupil of the Sächsisches Landesgymnasium * Willy Ascherl (1902–1929), footballer *Erich Schmidt (1910–2005), church musician, in 1950–1980 Domkantor in Meissen * Hans-Ulrich Thomale (born 1944), football player and manager * Matthias Müller (born 1954), football player and manager

Names

* * * * * *

Twin towns – sister cities

Meissen is twinned with: *

Vitry-sur-Seine Vitry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Name Vitry-sur-Seine was originally called simply Vitry. The name Vitry comes from Medieval Latin ''Vitriacum'', and before that ''Victori ...

, France (1973) * Arita, Japan (1979) * Fellbach, Germany (1987) *

Litoměřice Litoměřice (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat of the Roman C ...

, Czech Republic (1996) *

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, Greece (1996) * Provo, United States (2001) *

Legnica Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. Le ...

, Poland (2017)

Citations

External links

Official website

{{Authority control Towns in Saxony Wine regions of Germany Meissen (district) Populated riverside places in Germany Populated places on the Elbe 929 establishments Populated places established in the 10th century