Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt
Encyclopedia
Wettin is a small town
and a former municipality in the Saalekreis
district of Saxony-Anhalt
, Germany
, situated on the River Saale
north of Halle
. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Löbejün-Wettin. It is known for Wettin Castle
, the ancestral seat of the House of Wettin, ruling dynasty of Saxony
and Poland. Wettin sights include the Tower of Bismarck
, the town hall, and the castle (used as the Burggymnasium).
. The settlement thereafter was a burgward
within the Saxon Eastern March
, held by Dietrich I von Wettin
, the progenitor of the dynasty. His descendants became Margraves of Lusatia in 1032 and of Meissen in 1123. In 1288 Wettin was acquired by the Magdeburg archbishop
Eric of Brandenburg.
Mücheln: The small village of Mücheln (not to be confused with the larger Mücheln
near Merseburg) became part of Wettin and includes the restored old chapel of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Knights Templar
).
Lützkendorf: As bombing targets of the Oil Campaign of World War II
, the Lützkendorf oil facilities 2 miles East of Mücheln included
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
and a former municipality in the Saalekreis
Saalekreis
Saalekreis is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The district seat is Merseburg. It is bounded by the districts Kyffhäuserkreis , Mansfeld-Südharz, Salzlandkreis, Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Nordsachsen, Leipzig and Burgenlandkreis. The district-free city of Halle is completely surrounded by the...
district of 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...
, situated on the River Saale
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 Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale in Lower Saxony, a tributary of the Leine.-Course:The Saale...
north of Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Löbejün-Wettin. It is known for Wettin Castle
Wettin Castle
Wettin Castle is a former castle that stood near the town of Wettin on the Saale river in Germany, and which is the ancestral home of the House of Wettin, the dynasty that included several royal families, including that of the current ruling family of the United Kingdom.In 982, Dedo I and...
, the ancestral seat of the House of Wettin, ruling dynasty of Saxony
Kingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...
and Poland. Wettin sights include the Tower of Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
, the town hall, and the castle (used as the Burggymnasium).
History
Wettin was first documented as Vitin civitas in a 961 deed issued by German king Otto IOtto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
. The settlement thereafter was a burgward
Burgward
A burgward was a form of settlement used for the organisation of the northeastern marches of the Kingdom of Germany in the mid-10th century. Based on earlier organisations within the Frankish Empire and among the Slavs, the burgwards were composed of a central fortification with a number of...
within the Saxon Eastern March
Saxon Eastern March
The Saxon Eastern March or Ostmark was a march of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th until the 12th century. The term "eastern march" or "ostmark" comes from the Latin term marchia Orientalis and originally could refer to either a march created on the eastern frontier of the Duchy of Saxony or...
, held by Dietrich I von Wettin
Dietrich I von Wettin
Dietrich , also known as Thierry I of Liesgau, is considered the oldest traceable member of the House of Wettin who is known for certain...
, the progenitor of the dynasty. His descendants became Margraves of Lusatia in 1032 and of Meissen in 1123. In 1288 Wettin was acquired by the Magdeburg archbishop
Archbishopric of Magdeburg
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese and Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River....
Eric of Brandenburg.
Mücheln: The small village of Mücheln (not to be confused with the larger Mücheln
Mücheln
' is a town in the Saalekreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km west of Merseburg....
near Merseburg) became part of Wettin and includes the restored old chapel of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
).
Lützkendorf: As bombing targets of the Oil Campaign of World War II
Oil Campaign chronology of World War II
The Oil Campaign chronology of World War II lists bombing missions and related events regarding the petroleum/oil/lubrication facilities that supplied Nazi Germany.-Legend:...
, the Lützkendorf oil facilities 2 miles East of Mücheln included
- a small WintershallWintershallWintershall AG is the largest crude oil and natural gas producer in Germany. The company is based in Kassel, Germany. Wintershall is a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF, based in Ludwigshafen. The name Wintershall is derived from the surname of the enterprise co-founder Carl Julius Winter and the...
AG crude oil refinery (100,000 tons/yr), - a Bergius processBergius processThe Bergius Process is a method of production of liquid hydrocarbons for use as synthetic fuel by hydrogenation of high-volatile bituminous coal at high temperature and pressure...
hydrogenation unit (125,000 tons/yr) for blending gasolines, - a Fischer-Tropsch plant (80,000 tons/yr) to process heavier gasoline cuts from synthesized oil, and
- tankage for about 75,000 metric tons.
- The Lützkendorf Grube supplied ligniteLigniteLignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
from the south end of the mine to the two interconnected plants ("Lutzkendorf" and "Lutzkendorf-Mücheln") at 51°17′"N 11°52′"E, and the facility also used tar for Low Temperature Carbonization.