Freyburg, Germany
Encyclopedia
Burgenlandkreis
The Burgenlandkreis was a district in the south of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Neighboring districts are Merseburg-Querfurt, Weißenfels, Leipziger Land, Aschersleben-Staßfurt, Altenburger Land, Greiz, district-free Gera, Saale-Holzland, Weimarer Land, Sömmerda and the Kyffhäuserkreis.- History :The...
district, in Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is situated on the river Unstrut
Unstrut
The Unstrut is a river in Germany and a left tributary of the Saale. It originates in northern Thuringia near Dingelstädt and its catchment area is the whole of the Thuringian Basin...
, 9 km northwest of Hanseatic Naumburg
Naumburg
Naumburg is a town in Germany, on the Saale River. It is in the district Burgenlandkreis in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. It is approximately southwest of Leipzig, south-southwest of Halle, and north-northeast of Jena....
, 63 km from Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
and 231 km from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. It is part of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft ("collective municipality") Unstruttal
Unstruttal (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft)
Unstruttal is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Burgenlandkreis , in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Before 1 January 2010, it was a Verwaltungsgemeinschaft. It is situated along the river Unstrut, approx. 50 km west of Leipzig...
.
The town is a tourist destination, best known for its vineyards, historic town centre, superb 11th century castle and associations with Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist. He is commonly known as Turnvater Jahn, roughly meaning "father of gymnastics" Jahn.- Life :...
(founder of modern gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
). One of the most prosperous towns in the region, Freyburg is nicknamed 'Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
of the North' It is the headquarters of one of the world's largest wine companies.
History
The history of the town is inextricably linked to its massive hilltop fortifications - the Neuenburg Castle. The castle was built around 1090 by the Thuringian count Ludwig der Springer, securing his territory in the east, as did its sister castle WartburgWartburg
The Wartburg is a castle overlooking the town of Eisenach, Germany.Wartburg may also refer to:* Wartburgkreis, a district in Germany named after the Wartburg* Wartburg , former East German brand of automobiles, manufactured in Eisenach...
in the west. The Neuenberg is five times larger than Castle Wartburg and was built in the same style - the latter is known as the most quintessential German castle due to its associations with Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
, and its role in the origination of the modern German flag.
Like its sister castle, the Neuenberg has also played a significant role over the centuries, hosting historical figures like King Henry I
Henry I
Henry I may refer to:* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria * Henry I of France * Henry I, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark...
, Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Friedrich Barbarossa and the poet Heinrich von Veldeke
Heinrich von Veldeke
Hendrik van Veldeke is the first writer in the Low Countries that we know by name who wrote in a European language other than Latin. He was born in Veldeke, a hamlet on the territory of Spalbeek, which has been a community of Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium, since 1977...
. By the 13th century, the Neuenburg came under the control of members of the house of Wettin
Wettin
Wettin is:*House of Wettin, a German Royal House*Wettin Castle, near Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, ancestral seat of the House of Wettin*Asteroid 90709 Wettin, named in the castle's and House's honour...
(now the royal family of England). Not surprisingly, Freyburg has been a strategic military prize throughout history and has been attacked by the Swedish army in the 17th century and the French army in the 19th century under Napolean.
Between 1825-1852, Freyburg was the home in exile to 18th century gymnastics educator Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist. He is commonly known as Turnvater Jahn, roughly meaning "father of gymnastics" Jahn.- Life :...
. He was widely regarded as the founder of modern gymnastics and left behind the world's first gymnasium in Freyburg. He is buried in Freyburg and his memorial in the town has become a pilgrimage site for gymnasts such as Olympic champion Klaus Koeste and world champion Erika Zuchold
Erika Zuchold
Erica Zuchold , is a former East German gymnast who competed at the European, World, and Olympic level from the mid 1960s to early 1970s....
.
Wine
Freyburg is the northernmost wine growing region in Germany and Europe and has a wine festival called the "Winzerfest" every year in September. One of the oldest wine growing regions in Europe, the Freyburg region has more than a thousand years of documented wine growing history.Despite having barely 700 hectares of vineyards under cultivation, the town is the headquarters of one of the world's largest wine companies - Rotkäppchen-Mumm. The winery was founded in 1856, and by 2010, captured nearly half the market for sparkling wine in Germany and has a reported turnover of more than US$1 billion (780 million euros). This Freyburg-based producer is one of the five largest producers of sparkling wine in the world, along with Spanish producer Freixenet
Freixenet
Freixenet is a Cava producer in Spain, located west of Barcelona in Catalonia. Cava is a sparkling wine produced in Spain.Freixenet was started after the union of two Spanish families with a lengthy history in winemaking: the Ferrers, owners of La Freixeneda, a 12th-century farming estate in Sant...
(headquartered near Barcelona) and French producer Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
LVMH
LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A., better known as LVMH, is a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France, France. The company was formed after the 1987 merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy, a company formed after the 1971 merger...
(headquartered in Paris).
There are also other smaller wine producers in the region. Wine critics have pointed out that while there were not that many great wines from the Freyburg area, there were also very few poorly made wines. Quality across vineyards tend to be fairly consistent, ranging from average to very good. However, there are a handful of award winning wine producers that are highly rated by critics, such as Winzerhof Gussek, Weingut U.Lützkendorf and Weingut Bernhard Pawis.
The reason why Freyburg is able to grow wine commercially when other regions of similar latitudes in Europe cannot is because of the high concentration of heat-retaining calcium in the soil and a micro-climate that make it significantly warmer than nearby Berlin and Leipzig. The river Unstrut runs through it, and is home to large pike, trout, carp and beavers. In the hills surrounding the town, there are deer, wild boar, pheasant and fox. There are many working farms scattered around the region, offering a wide range of fresh and organic produce.