Merseburg () 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 ...

in central

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 ...

in southern

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 ...

, situated on the river

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian Saale (), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the M ...

, and approximately 14 km south of

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 30 km west of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. It is the capital of the

Saalekreis Saalekreis is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The district seat is Merseburg. Its area is . It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts Kyffhäuserkreis (Thuringia), Mansfeld-Südharz, Salzlandkreis, Anhalt-Bitterfeld, ...

district. It had a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

founded by Archbishop

Adalbert of Magdeburg Adalbert of Magdeburg (c. 91020 June 981), sometimes incorrectly shortened to "Albert", known as the Apostle of the Slavs, was the first Archbishop of Magdeburg (from 968) and a successful missionary to the Polabian Slavs to the east of what was ...

. The

University of Merseburg The Merseburg University of Applied Sciences () is an institution of higher education (a vocational university) located in the town of Merseburg, Germany. It was established on April 1, 1992. Its precursor was the Technische Hochschule Leuna-Mers ...

is located within the town. Merseburg has around 35,000 inhabitants.

Names

* * * * * *

Geography

The town Merseburg consists of Merseburg proper and the following four ''Ortschaften'' or municipal divisions:Hauptsatzung der Stadt Merseburg
§ 15, April 2019. *

Beuna (Geiseltal) Beuna is a village and a former municipality in the Saalekreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2009, it is part of the town Merseburg.Geusa Geusa is a village and a former municipality within the district Saalekreis, in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since January 1, 2010, it is within the town limits of Merseburg. Geography Geusa is approximately 5 kilometres west ...

*Meuschau *Trebnitz

Administrative reforms

Venenien was incorporated into Merseburg on 1 January 1949. The parish Kötzschen followed on 1 July 1950. Since 30 May 1994, Meuschau is part of Merseburg. Trebnitz, previously part of

Kreypau Kreypau is a village and a former municipality in the district of Saalekreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 31 December 2009, it is part of the town Leuna. Geography Kreypau is located between Leuna and Leipzig on the right bank of the river ...

, followed in 2003.

Beuna Beuna is a village and a former municipality in the Saalekreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2009, it is part of the town Merseburg.Geusa Geusa is a village and a former municipality within the district Saalekreis, in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since January 1, 2010, it is within the town limits of Merseburg. Geography Geusa is approximately 5 kilometres west ...

is a part of Merseburg since 1 January 2010.

History

Pre-history and Middle Ages

Merseburg was first mentioned in 850. 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 ...

built a royal palace at Merseburg; in the 933

Battle of Riade The Battle of Riade or Battle of Merseburg was fought between the troops of East Francia under King Henry the Fowler, Henry I and the Principality of Hungary, Magyars at an unidentified location in northern Thuringia along the river Unstrut on ...

, he gained his great victory over the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

in the vicinity. Thietmar, appointed in 973, became the first bishop of the newly created bishopric of Prague in

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 ...

. Prague had been part of the

archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...

for a hundred years before that. From 968 until 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 ...

, Merseburg was the seat of the

Bishop of Merseburg The Bishopric of Merseburg was an episcopal see on the eastern border of the medieval Duchy of Saxony with its centre in Merseburg, where Merseburg Cathedral was constructed. The see was founded in 967 by Emperor Otto I at the same time in the sa ...

, and in addition to being for a time the residence of the

margraves of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Meissen, a march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928–29 campaign against the Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on ...

, it was a favorite residence of the German kings during the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries. Fifteen

diets The Low Countries comprise the coastal Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta region in Western Europe, whose definition usually includes the modern countries of Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and parts of Northern France. Both Belgium and the ...

were held here during the Middle Ages, during which time its fairs enjoyed the importance which was afterwards transferred to those of

. After Ekkehard's treacherous death on 3 April 1002,

Bolesław I Chrobry Bolesław or Boleslav may refer to: People * Bolesław (given name) (also ''Boleslav'' or ''Boleslaus''), including a list of people with this name Geography * Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Olkusz Coun ...

took Merseburg and Meissen, and then Milsko with Bautzen and Strehla, with the help of the local Slavic population. The German princes accepted the sovereignty of the Polish prince in these areas. Some historians believe that since the convention in Gniezno, the Brave might have had certain rights to the German throne after Otto III, guaranteed by some succession document. Merseburg was later the site of a failed assassination attempt on Polish ruler

in 1002. The town suffered severely during the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt () was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It was Europe's largest and most widespread popular uprising befor ...

and also during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

17th century to 20th century

From 1657 to 1738 Merseburg was the residence of the Dukes of

Saxe-Merseburg The Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, with Merseburg as its capital. It existed from 1656 or 1657 to 1738 and was owned by an Albertine secundogeniture of the Saxon House of Wettin. History The Wettin Elector J ...

, after which it fell to 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 1815 following the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, the town became part of the

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, ...

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

. Merseburg is where the

Merseburg Incantations The Merseburg charms, Merseburg spells, or Merseburg incantations () are two medieval magic spells, charms or incantations, written in Old High German. They are the only known examples of Germanic pagan belief preserved in the language. They were ...

were rediscovered in 1841. Written down in

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

, they are hitherto the only preserved German documents with a heathen theme. One of them is a charm to release warriors caught during battle, and the other is a charm to heal a horse's sprained foot. At the beginning of the 20th century, Merseburg was transformed into an industrial town, largely due to the pioneering work done by

Carl Bosch Carl Bosch (; 27 August 1874 – 26 April 1940) was a German chemist and engineer and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. He was a pioneer in the field of high-pressure industrial chemistry and founder of IG Farben, at one point the world's largest ...

and Friedrich Bergius, who laid down the scientific fundamentals of the catalytic high-pressure

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

synthesis from 1909 to 1913. The nearby

Leuna works The Leuna works () in Leuna, Saxony-Anhalt, is one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes in Germany. The site, now owned jointly by companies such as TotalEnergies, BASF, Linde plc, and DOMO Group, covers 13 km2 and produces a very wid ...

continue this tradition of chemical industry. The ''Merseburger Tageblatt'' was published as a local newspaper in Merseburg. Merseburg was badly damaged in

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 ...

. In 23 air raids, 6,200 dwellings were completely or partly destroyed. The historic town centre was almost completely destroyed. Briefly part of

after the war, it was then administered within the ''Bezirk'' Halle in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. It became part of Saxony-Anhalt again after the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

Demographics

Like many towns in the former East Germany, Merseburg has had a general decline in population since German Reunification despite annexing and merging with a number of smaller nearby villages. Population of Merseburg ''(from 1960, population on 31 December, unless otherwise indicated)'': Data source from 1990: Statistical Office of Saxony Anhalt
1 29 October
2 31 August
3 3 October
4 14 July 2008

Sights

Among the notable buildings of Merseburg are the Merseburg Cathedral of St

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

(founded 1015, rebuilt in the 13th and 16th centuries) and the episcopal palace (15th century). The cathedral-and-palace ensemble also features a palace garden. Other sights include the Merseburg House of Trades with a cultural stage and the German Museum of Chemistry, Merseburg. MerseburgDomschloßsaale.JPG, Merseburg Castle Dom Merseburg 01.jpg,

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 ...

Merseburg, Germany - panoramio (30).jpg, Ständehaus Merseburg, Kirchenruine Sankt Sixti, 001.jpg, St. Sixti Merseburg, the church St. Maximi.jpg, St. Maximi Church AltesRathausMerseburg.jpg, Old Town Hall Merseburg, Stadtbefestigung, Eulenturm, 001.jpg, Eulenturm

Arts and culture

The Merseburg Palace Festival with the Historical Pageant, the International Palace-Moat Concerts, Merseburg Organ Days and the Puppet Show Festival Week are events celebrated every year.

Transport

Merseburg station is located on the

Halle–Bebra railway The Halle–Bebra railway, known in German as the Thüringer Bahn ("Thuringian Railway"), is a 210 kilometre-long railway line from Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) via Erfurt and Gerstungen to Bebra, mainly in Thuringia. As far as Gerstungen t ...

Leipzig/Halle Airport Leipzig/Halle Airport is an international airport located in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany, and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. It is a state-owned enterprise and allows 24 hour take off and landing for cargo flights. In ...

is 25 kilometers away. Merseburg is connected with the Halle (Saale) tramway network. A tram ride from Halle's city centre to Merseburg takes about 50 minutes. MerseburgBf.JPG, Merseburg station Leipzig-Halle Airport Check-in.jpg, Leipzig/Halle Airport, 25 kilometres away from Merseburg Schkopau Strassenbahn.jpg, Tram in Schkopau, near Merseburg

Twin towns – sister cities

Merseburg is twinned with: * Châtillon, France *

Genzano di Roma Genzano di Roma is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is one of the Castelli Romani, at a distance of from Rome, in the Alban Hills. History The origin of the name ''Genzano'' is st ...

, Italy *

Bottrop Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr area, Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and ...

, Germany

Notable people

Thietmar of Merseburg Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death in 1018, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynas ...

(975–1018), bishop and chronist * Menahem of Merseburg (first half of 15th century), rabbi and author * Johannes Knolleisen (1450–1513), theological professor *

Szymon Bogumił Zug Szymon Bogumił Zug (20 February 1733 – 11 August 1807), born Simon Gottlieb Zug, and also known as Zugk, was a renowned Polish- German classicist architect and designer of gardens. Born in Merseburg in Saxony, he spent most of his life in t ...

(1733–1807), Polish-German architect and designer of gardens *

Karl Adolph von Basedow Carl Adolph von Basedow (28 March 1799 – 11 April 1854) was a German physician most famous for reporting the symptoms of what could later be dubbed Graves-Basedow disease, now technically known as exophthalmic goiter. Biography Basedow was bo ...

(1799–1854), physician *

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, natural history, naturalist, eugenics, eugenicist, Philosophy, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biology, marine biologist and artist ...

(1834–1919), biologist, philosopher, physician * Lucian Müller (1836–1898), classical scholar * Oskar Herrfurth (1862-1934), painter and illustrator * Elisabeth Schumann (1888–1952), operatic soprano * Klaus Tennstedt (1926–1998), conductor * Uwe Nolte (born 1969), poet, musician and graphic artist *

Jawed Karim Jawed Karim (born October 28, 1979) is an American software engineer and Internet entrepreneur. He is one of the co-founders of YouTube and the first person to upload a video to the site. The site's inaugural video, "Me at the zoo", uploaded o ...

(born 1979), American software engineer,

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

co-founder, creator of the first video uploaded to YouTube "

Me at the zoo "Me at the zoo" is a YouTube video uploaded on April 23, 2005, recognized as the first video uploaded to the platform. The 19-second video features Jawed Karim, one of the co-founders of YouTube, being recorded by his high school friend, Yakov ...

" * Dave Grunewald (born 1986), metalcore singer for Annisokay (2011-2019), fitness expert, and podcaster

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Saalekreis Members of the Hanseatic League