Zeitz
Encyclopedia
Zeitz is a town in the Burgenlandkreis
district, in Saxony-Anhalt
, Germany
. It is situated on the river Weiße Elster
, in the middle of the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt
, Thuringia
and Saxony
.
. Between 968 and 1028 Zeitz was a bishops residence which has later been laid to Naumburg
. But since the end of the 13th century the bishops were again residing in their castle at Zeitz. The Herrmannsschacht (Built in 1889) is one of the oldest brick factories in the world.
A bombing target of the Oil Campaign of World War II
, the BRABAG plant northeast of Zeitz used lignite coal to synthesize Ersatz
oil – forced labor was provided by the nearby Wille
subcamp of Buchenwald
in Rehmsdorf and Gleina. In the middle of the 1960s work started on the "Zeitz-Ost" residential area, and in the mid-1980s, housing estates such as the "Völkerfreundschaft" (International Friendship) were built.
On the 18th August 1976, the Protestant clergyman Oskar Brüsewitz
from Rippicha burnt himself to death in front of the Michaeliskirche. This was a protest against the DDR
system and was one of the roots of the 1989 uprising.
The town was an industrial centre until German Reunification
made many companies in eastern Germany uncompetitive. The town still has a large sugar factory.
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 Weiße Elster
Weiße Elster
The White Elster or Weisse Elster is a long river in central Europe, right tributary of the Saale. Its source is in the westernmost part of the Czech Republic, near Aš. After a few kilometres, it flows into eastern Germany...
, in the middle of the triangle of the federal states 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...
, Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
and Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
.
History
Zeitz was first recorded under the name Cici in the synode of Ravenna in 967. Between 965 and 982, it was the chief fortress of the March of ZeitzMarch of Zeitz
The March of Zeitz was a frontier county of the Holy Roman Empire, created through the division of the marca Geronis in 965, when the Emperor Otto I, on the death of Gero the Great. Its capital was Zeitz. Its first and only margrave was Wigger...
. Between 968 and 1028 Zeitz was a bishops residence which has later been laid to 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....
. But since the end of the 13th century the bishops were again residing in their castle at Zeitz. The Herrmannsschacht (Built in 1889) is one of the oldest brick factories in the world.
A bombing target of the Oil Campaign of World War II
Oil Campaign of World War II
The Allied Oil Campaign of World War II was directed at facilities supplying Nazi Germany with petroleum, oil, and lubrication products...
, the BRABAG plant northeast of Zeitz used lignite coal to synthesize Ersatz
Ersatz
Ersatz means 'substituting for, and typically inferior in quality to', e.g. 'chicory is ersatz coffee'. It is a German word literally meaning substitute or replacement...
oil – forced labor was provided by the nearby Wille
Imre Kertész
Imre Kertész is a Hungarian Jewish author, Holocaust concentration camp survivor, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2002 "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history"....
subcamp of Buchenwald
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
in Rehmsdorf and Gleina. In the middle of the 1960s work started on the "Zeitz-Ost" residential area, and in the mid-1980s, housing estates such as the "Völkerfreundschaft" (International Friendship) were built.
On the 18th August 1976, the Protestant clergyman Oskar Brüsewitz
Oskar Brüsewitz
Oskar Brüsewitz was an East German Lutheran pastor who committed self-immolation to protest the repression of religion in the Communist state of East Germany...
from Rippicha burnt himself to death in front of the Michaeliskirche. This was a protest against the DDR
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
system and was one of the roots of the 1989 uprising.
The town was an industrial centre until German Reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
made many companies in eastern Germany uncompetitive. The town still has a large sugar factory.
Main sights
Zeitz sights are predominantly situated along the Romanesque Road (point 52).- Schloss MoritzburgSchloss Moritzburg (Zeitz)Schloss Moritzburg is a castle in Zeitz on the White Elster in the Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt. The present baroque castle dates from the 17th Century and was previously a royal palace and fortified seat of a bishop...
, a baroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
-style castle with the cathedral of St. Peter and PaulNaumburg CathedralThe Naumburger Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, located in Germany, is an important architectural work of the Late-Romanic as well as the Early- and Late-Gothic. Especially interesting are statues of the twelve cathedral founders and the magnificent Lettner of the western choir, works of the...
. The 10th century crypt displays 17th century tin coffins including that of Moritz, Duke of Saxony. - Michaeliskirche (1154), originally a Roman basilica and contains a 1517 original of Martin LutherMartin LutherMartin 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...
's 95 Theses95 ThesesThe Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences , commonly known as , was written by Martin Luther, 1517 and is widely regarded as the primary catalyst for the Protestant Reformation...
. - Town Hall (1509, rebuilt in 1909). It is a Gothic structure that, together with restored houses and 3 market-places, provides Zeitz' medieval appearance.
- Herrmannsschacht, a technical monument in a former brick factory.