Altenburg
Altenburg | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Altenburg within Altenburger Land district  | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Thuringia |
| District | Altenburger Land |
| Subdivisions | 4 |
| Government | |
| • Lord mayor | Michael Wolf (SPD) |
| Area | |
• Total | 45.60 km2 (17.61 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 227 m (745 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31)[1] | |
• Total | 31,315 |
| • Density | 690/km2 (1,800/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 04600 |
| Dialling codes | 03447 |
| Vehicle registration | ABG |
| Website | www.altenburg.eu |
Altenburg is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located 40 kilometres (25 miles) S of Leipzig, 90 kilometres (56 miles) W of Dresden and 100 kilometres (62 miles) E of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region between Gera, Zwickau and Chemnitz with more than 1 million inhabitants, while the city itself has a population of 33,000.
Altenburg was first mentioned in 976 and became later one of the first German cities within the former Slavic area east of Saale river (as part of the medieval Ostsiedlung movement). The emperor Frederick Barbarossa visited Altenburg several times between 1165 and 1188, why the town is named a Barbarossa city today. Since the 17th century, Altenburg was the residence of different Ernestine duchies, among whom Saxe-Altenburg persisted until the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918. Industrialization reached Altenburg and the region quite early in the first half of 19th century so that manufacturing saw a heyday until the Great Depression around 1930. The economic crisis deepened after the German reunification in 1990 and isn't overcome yet, so that a lack of employment, a decline in population and house vacancy are significant.
The main sights of Altenburg are the castle, the Lindenau-Museum, the historic city centre (most buildings are from early-modern origin) and the worth seeing Gründerzeit architecture around the centre. The popular German card game Skat was developed in Altenburg during the 1810s and the founder of the famous Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, lived and worked in Altenburg between 1810 and 1817.
Altenburg lies in the flat and fertile landscape of Osterland at Pleiße river in the very east of Thuringia, next to the Saxonian border.
History
Middle Ages
The town (civitas Altenburg) was first mentioned in a deed to the Bishop of Zeitz in 976. Remains of a Slavic castle on the Schloßberg ("Castle Hill") demonstrate that the town was probably a Slavic foundation, the capital of the shire of Plisni, taken over during the conquest of Meißen by Henry I. As shown by place names, the surrounding area (Osterland) was mainly settled by Slavs.
The town's location on the imperial road between Halle and Cheb in Bohemia gave Altenburg economic importance in the salt trade.
The first castle, located under the present day church St. Bartholomäi, was destroyed after the Battle of Hohenmölsen between Henry IV and Rudolph of Swabia. It was rebuilt on the Schloßberg outside of the town. The 11th century Mantelturm tower is still preserved. The castle later became an imperial palatinate and played an important part in the German takeover and settlement of the area between the Harz-mountains and the Elbe.
In the middle of the 12th century, the Hohenstaufen emperors patronized Altenburg, allowing the town to become a market and a mint. Together with the Royal forests Leina, Pahna, Kammerforst and Luckauer Forst, lands of the Groitzsch family bought by Frederick Barbarossa, Altenburg, Colditz, Zwickau and Chemnitz were turned into the Terra Plisnensis. Altenburg and Chemnitz as Imperial towns were intended to reduce the importance of Leipzig held by the Margrave of Meißen. Under Frederick Barbarossa much building took place, especially in the market area, and the town grew rapidly. An priory of canons regular was founded and the parish church was finished in 1172. The twin towers (Rote Spitzen) are still preserved. A town wall was constructed at the end of the 12th century.
During the Interregnum, the Terra Plisnensis was impounded, but bought back by Rudolph I of Germany, who desired the crown of Thuringia. Together with Zwickau and Chemnitz, Altenburg was part of the anti-Meißen Pleiße-city Union of 1290. After the Battle of Lucka in 1307 against Frederick the Brave of Meißen and his brother Diezmann, King Albert I lost Altenburg and the Pleiße-lands to the margraves of Meißen.
In 1455, Altenburg saw the division (Altenburger Teilung) of the Meißen lands between Elector Frederick II (the Gentle) and Duke William that led, after a failed attempt at reconciliation (Hallescher Machtspruch) to a war (1446–1451) between the two brothers (Bruderkrieg). In the second division of the Wettin lands between Ernest and Albert at Leipzig in 1485, Altenburg fell to Ernest, together with the Electorate (Kurland), Grimma, the Mutschener Pflege, Leisnig, Thuringia and the Vogtland. From this time on, Altenburg was historically connected with Thuringia.
Early modern period
During the German Peasants' War of 1525, the Altenburg Augustinian monastery was attacked. In the summer, four peasant rebels were executed at the marketplace.
From 1603 to 1672, Altenburg was the residence of the Ernestine line, after that, it fell to Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. During the Napoleonic wars it was a scene of a brief Allied raid by the Saxon General Johann von Thielmann.
Since 1815
When the Ernestine lands were re-divided in 1826, Altenburg became the capital of Saxe-Altenburg. The last duke abdicated on 13 November 1918 after being promised 12 million Marks and the ownership of numerous castles. The free-state Saxe-Altenburg was merged with Thuringia in 1920.
During World War II, several subcamps of the Buchenwald concentration camp were located here. They provided forced labour for HASAG, the third largest Germany company to use concentration camp labour.[2]
In 1952, Altenburg fell to the Leipzig District, but became part of Thuringia again in 1990.
Geography and Demographics
Topography
Altenburg is located on the southern edge of the Leipzig Bay, a flat and fertile area, which is marked by insensive agricultural use same as Lignite surface mining (10 km north of the city). The next mountains are the Ore Mountains approximately 50 km (31 mi) in the south-east. The Pleiße valley runs east of the city, whereas the centre itself is located at Blaue Flut river, a small tributary of Pleiße river. The Blaue Flut feeds the Großer Teich, an inner-city pond with an island in the middle, on which the Altenburg zoo is located. There is only few forest within the municipal territory: the small Stadtwald and Herzog-Ernst-Wald south of the centre and the Fasanerieholz at Ehrenberg district. The elevation of the city centre is 200 m, to the north it declines down to 162 m and in the south next to Mockzig district it raises up to 261 m.
Administrative division
Altenburg is bounded by Windischleuba, Nobitz, Altkirchen, Göhren, Lödla, Rositz, Meuselwitz, Treben and Gerstenberg.
Because of the quite densely settlement of the region, many small villages and ancient former suburbiums are situated within the municipal territory, which is officially divided in 4 districts:
- Altenburg (including the villages Drescha, Kauerndorf, Poschwitz, Rasephas, Steinwitz and Zschernitzsch)
- Ehrenberg, incorporated in 1993 (with Greipzig, Lehnitzsch, Mockzig, Modelwitz, Paditz, Stünzhain, Zschaiga and Zschechwitz)
- Kosma, incorporated in 1996 (with Altendorf and Kürbitz)
- Zetzscha, incorporated in 1994 (with Knau, Oberzetzscha, Rautenberg and Unterzetzscha)
For a detailed view of Altenburg's administrative division, see the list in German Wikipedia.
Demographics
Altenburg has been a relatively big city (compared to others in the wider region) during the centuries, because of its importance as a Kaiserpfalz and later as a ducal residence. During the Middle Ages, it had a population of about 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants, raising to 6,000 around 1700, 10,000 around 1800 and 20,000 around 1870, making it to Thuringia's second-largest city for short time in mid-19th century. The population grew further to 40,000 in 1910, 44,000 in 1940 and 56,000 at the peak around 1980, as the decline started. In 1988, before the reunification, Altenburg counted 53,000 inhabitants, shrinking to 41,000 in 2000 and 33,000 in 2012. With a decline of nearly 40% since 1988, Altenburg is among the heaviest shrinking cities in Germany.
The average decrease of population between 2009 and 2012 was approximately 1.27% p. a, whereas the population in bordering rural regions is shrinking with accelerating tendency. Suburbanization played only a small role in Altenburg. It occurred after the reunification for a short time in the 1990s, but most of the suburban areas were situated within the administrative city borders, others are Windischleuba and Nobitz. During the 1990s and the 2000s, many inhabitants left Altenburg to search a better life in west Germany or other major east German cities like Leipzig, Dresden or Jena. The birth deficit, caused by the high average age of the population, is getting a bigger problem because there is no immigration to compensate it yet. Despite urban planning activities to tear down unused flats, vacancy is still a problem with rates around 16% (according to 2011 EU census), which is the largest amount among Thuringia's major cities. A positive side effect for the inhabitants is that Altenburg has one of the lowest rent levels in Germany.
The birth deficit was 282 in 2012, this is -8.5 per 1,000 inhabitants (Thuringian average: -4.5; national average: -2.4). The net migration rate was -1.7 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2012 (Thuringian average: -0.8; national average: +4.6).[3] The most important target regions of Altenburg migrants are the large cities around like Leipzig, Dresden, Halle, Jena and Erfurt same as the western German conurbations.
Like other eastern German cities, Altenburg has only a small amount of foreign population: circa 1.7% are non-Germans by citizenship and overall 1.6% are migrants (according to 2011 EU census). Differing from the national average, the biggest groups of migrants in Altenburg are Russians and Vietnamese people. During recent years, the economic situation of the city improved a bit: the unemployment rate in the district declined from 24% in 2005 to 10% in 2013 with little bit higher rates in the city than in the other municipalities of the Altenburger Land district. Nevertheless, this is still one of the highest rates in Thuringia. Due to the official atheism in former GDR, most of the population is non-religious. 12.1% are members of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany and 2.5% are Catholics (according to 2011 EU census).
| 1831 - 1939 | 1946 - 1996 | 1997 - 2004 |
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- Source (since 1994): Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik
Culture, sights and cityscape
Culture
Altenburg is called the playing cards town. The game of skat is said to have originated here, based on the Bavarian tarock. Because of the influence Emperor Frederick Barbarossa had on the town, it is nicknamed a "Barbarossa town".
Museums
There are some museums in Altenburg:
- The Schloss- und Spielkartenmuseum inside the castle hosts an exhibition about Altenburg as a ducal residence, same as a historic playing cards collection.
- The Lindenau-Museum (established in 1876) shows Bernhard von Lindenau's art collection with Italian paintings of the 13th-15th centuries, a collection of classical antiquities and cast and modern art.
- The Mauritianum (opened in 1908) is Altenburg's museum of natural history with the largest well-known mummified rat king, which was found in 1828 in a miller's fireplace at Buchheim.
- The Brauereimuseum inside the Altenburger brewery shows an exhibition about beer and its history with a local focus.
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Schloss- und Spielkartenmuseum inside the castle -
Lindenau-Museum -
Mauritianum -
Altenburg brewery
Cityscape
The city centre of Altenburg within the former wall has a planned grid from 12th/13th century origin, whereas the two old settlement cores were located around Brühl in the north-east same as around St. Nicholas' Church in the south-west. The area around the castle and southward on the eastern bank of Blaue Flut river has also been urban since the middle ages, nevertheless, it was located outside the city wall. During the 19th and early 20th century, Altenburg saw a construction boom and the city enlarged to all directions, but specially to the north and east towards the new railway station (opened in 1878). Its time as a state capital until 1918 led to many interesting public and private buildings in Gründerzeit style, same as in other historist styles. Later, the city lost some of it's importance and became a simple district capital in Thuringia. The World War II brought no destruction to Altenburg, so that all the historic buildings are preserved. Nevertheless, the buildings' maintenance was neglected during the GDR period, instead, some big Plattenbau settlements were set up on the northern and south-eastern periphery of Altenburg. After the reunification, most of the main sights and historic buildings were refurbished. On the other hand, the city lost much of its population which led to a very high vacancy rate, especially in the old inner-city buildings, which endangers the historic city structure until today with many vacant old private houses.
Sights and architectural heritage
Churches
- The St. Bartholomew's Church at Burgstraße is the evangelical main parish church of Altenburg, built between 1428 and 1443 in Gothic style.
- The Fraternity Church at Marktplatz is another evangelical parish church, founded as a Franciscans monastery during the 12th century. It was abandoned after the Reformation in 1529 and reused as evangelical church. Today's building was established in 1905 in Neo-Gothic style.
- The St. Nicholas' Church at Nikolaikirchhof was the first church of Altenburg, mentioned in 1140. It was demolished during the 16th century, only the steeple remained.
- The St. George's Church is the castles church, built in picturesque Gothic style during mid-15th century.
- The St. Mary's Monastery (Augustines) is a former monastery on a hill east of the centre. It was founded during the 12th century and abandoned in 1543. Only the two Romanesque towers and some walls remained, being the city's landmark called "Rote Spitzen" (red spires).
- The Duchess Agnes Memorial Church at Hausweg is an evangelical church, built between 1903 and 1906 in historist style.
- The Cemetery Church at Hospitalplatz was built between 1639 and 1651 in Renaissance style.
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St. Bartholomew's Church -
Fraternity Church -
St. Nicholas' Steeple -
St. George's Church at the castle -
Rote Spitzen -
Duchess Agnes Memorial Church -
Cemetery Church
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Ducal buildings
- The Altenburg Castle is the big ducal residence on a hill above the city centre. It was in use first as fortification and later as residence since the 9th century until the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918. Today's castle is from 17th and 18th century origin and was built in Renaissance, later in Baroque style. The church is from older origin (see above). The castle is the scene of the famous Prinzenraub, related by Carlyle in his "Miscellanies".
- Further buildings within the castle complex are the Junkerei in the north, built in 16th century, the Flasche, an old castle tower from 11th century, the Hausmannturm, built in 12th century as the castle's keep as well as the Prinzenpalais and the Hofmarschallamt in the south, built after a fire in 1868.
- Next to the castle lies the Schlosspark with some more ducal buildings: the Baroque Teehaus (1712), the Baroque Orangerie (1712) and the historist Marstall (1851).
- The Amtshaus was built between 1725 and 1728 in Baroque style at Burgstraße and is now used as district court.
- The Kanzlei was the seat of some ducal authorities, built in 1476 at Brühl.
- The Neues Ministerium at Lindenaustraße was built in 1895 in Classicist style and is now the seat of the district government.
- The former Landgericht at Pauritzer Platz was built in 1859 in Neo-Renaissance style and hosts the social court now.
- The Landesbank at Burgstraße was built in 1865 in Neo-Renaissance style. Currently, it is vacant.
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Altenburg Castle -
Junkerei and Flasche tower -
Orangerie -
Amtshaus -
Neues Ministerium -
Former Landesgericht -
Former Landesbank
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Other sights
- The town hall is one of the most important Renaissance buildings in Germany. It was built between 1562 and 1564 by the architect Nikolaus Gromann.
- The Landestheater is the theatre of Altenburg, built in Neo-Baroque style in 1871.
- The city wall remained in the north behind Johannisstraße and in the south at Langengasse. Two towers are preserved at Langengasse and Kunstgasse.
- The Palais Seckendorff at Brühl is a Baroque style nobility palace, built in 1724.
- The Wasserkunst at Kunstgasse is an old waterwork, built in 1844 in Classicist style.
- The Pohlhof at Pohlhofgasse is a small Renaissance palace.
- The Freemansons' Lodge at Johannisgraben was built in 1804 in Classicist style.
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Town hall -
Theatre -
Tower at the city wall -
Palais Seckendorff -
Wasserkunst -
Pohlhof -
Freemasons' Lodge
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Economy and infrastructure
Agriculture, industry and services
Agriculture plays an important role in the region, because the Loess soil around the city is very fertile. 69% (this is nearly the complete unbuild area) of the municipal territory is in agricultural use, both for cultivation and cattle farming. A famous product of the region is Altenburger Ziegenkäse, a soft cheese of goat milk with some caraway seed inside with protected Geographical indication. Another typical plate of Altenburg is Mutzbraten, a flame-grilled pork speciality. Furthermore, Altenburg is known for its mustard, which is produced by Altenburger Senf und Feinkost.
The industry of Altenburg was based on the production of textiles and hardware during the 19th and 20th century, but most of the companies didn't survive the economic transition after the German reunification. Altenburg was especially known for its sewing machine production with companies like Vesta. Today, the main branches are food industries (with a factory of Vion NV among others) and engineering with car component production in focus. The Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur produced the Gumpert Apollo supercar between 2005 and the bankrupt in 2013. Furthermore, Altenburg is noted for produced playing cards. The Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik was founded in 1831; today it is a subsidiary company of Cartamundi and market leader in Germany. In 2012, there were 19 companies with more than 20 workers in industrial sector, employing 1,400 people and generating an overall turnover of € 451 millions.[4]
Altenburg is a regional service hub in retail, hospitals, government, culture etc. Tourism doesn't play a big role yet, although the city hosts many historic sights and is a centre in culture with theatre and museums. In 2012, there were 37,000 hotel guests having 87,000 overnight stays in Altenburg.[5]
Transport
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Altenburg was the first city in Thuringia with connection to the railway, established in 1842 with the Leipzig–Hof line. Initially, the Altenburg station was a terminus station, which was impractical the more the traffic grew, so that a new through station was built in 1878 in the north-east of the city. In addition to the connections to Leipzig (1842) and Hof/Zwickau (1844), some more lines were established to Glauchau (1858, via Gößnitz), to Gera (1865, via Gößnitz), to Zeitz (1872, abandoned in 2002) and to Narsdorf (1901, abandoned in 1998). Today, the Altenburg station is the only station within the municipality, after the Paditz station (at the Hof line) and the Altenburg Nord station (at the Zeitz line) got abandoned. There are some regional trains to Leipzig, Zwickau and Erfurt (via Gera and Jena) today. Glauchau can be reached with changing trains in the near Gößnitz station. With the implementing of the Leipzig City Tunnel in December 2013, the services on the Leipzig–Hof/Zwickau line will get reorganized and being integrated in the Leipzig-Halle S-Bahn with connections to Leipzig twice an hour. The connection to long-distance trains is carried out via Leipzig (north and east), Jena (south) and Erfurt (west), since the last long-distance trains on the Leipzig–Hof line were ceased in 2006.
Altenburg is situated between two Autobahnen: The Bundesautobahn 4 (Erfurt–Dresden) runs approximately 20 km south and the Bundesautobahn 72 (Leipzig–Chemnitz) runs approximately 20 km east of the city. The regional traffic is carried out by the three Bundesstraßen in Altenburg. The Bundesstraße 7 is the connection to Gera (and A 4 in Erfurt direction) in the south-west and to Rochlitz in the north-east, the Bundesstraße 93 runs to Borna (and A 72 in Leipzig direction) in the north and to Zwickau in the south and the Bundesstraße 180 links Altenburg with Zeitz in the west and Hohenstein-Ernstthal (and A 72/A 4 in Chemnitz and Dresden direction via secondary road 1357) in the south-east. An important secondary road connects Altenburg with Gera north to the B 7 via Lumpzig. The B 7 and B 93 are led around the centre by a bypass road to absorb the transit traffic between Leipzig and Zwickau.
The Leipzig-Altenburg Airport, a former Soviet military airport, is situated 5 km east of the city and was used by Ryanair for flights to London Stansted, Barcelona-Girona and Edinburgh until 2011. Currently, there are no public flights on this airport. The next regional airport is located in Leipzig/Halle (60 km to the north) and the next major airport is Berlin, 250 km to the north.
Biking is getting more and more popular since the construction of quality cycle tracks began in the 1990s. For tourism serve the Pleiße track and the Thuringian city string track (Radweg Thüringer Städtekette). Both connect points of tourist interest, the first along the Pleiße valley from Werdau near Zwickau to Leipzig and second from Eisenach via Erfurt, Weimar, Jena and Gera to Altenburg.
Local transport within Altenburg relies exclusively on buses. 6 lines connect the outlying quarters to the downtown. Furthermore, there are some regional bus services to the villages in the district. The Altenburg Tramway was in operation from 1895 until 1920.
Education
There are three Gymnasiums in Altenburg: two state-owned and one christian (ecumenical).
Politics
Mayor and city council
The current mayor Michael Wolf, SPD is in office since 2000.
The last municipal election was held in 2009 with the result:
| Party | Percentage | Seats in council |
|---|---|---|
| SPD (social democratic) | 31.0 | 13 |
| CDU (conservative) | 29.5 | 5 |
| Pro Altenburg (populist CDU breakaway) | — | 6 |
| The Left (post-socialistic left) | 24.1 | 9 |
| FDP (classical liberal) | 12.4 | 2 |
| Greens (green) | 3.0 | 1 |
Two FDP members changed to the SPD in 2010. In 2011, six CDU members founded a new group "Pro Altenburg".
Twin towns
Altenburg is twinned with:
Notable natives
- Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus
- Joachim Büchner
- Carl Adolph Douai
- Frederick I
- Hans Conon von der Gabelentz
- Georg von der Gabelentz
- Johann Georg August Galletti
- Ralf Haber
- Johann Ludwig Krebs
- Bernhard von Lindenau
- Uwe Rösler
- Hermann Schlegel
- Ingo Schulze
- George Spalatin
References
- ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden, erfüllenden Gemeinden und Verwaltungsgemeinschaften in Thüringen Gebietsstand: 31.12.2022" (in German). Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik. June 2023.
- ^ Edward Victor, Alphabetical List of Camps, Subcamps and Other Camps.
- ^ According to Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik
- ^ According to Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik
- ^ According to Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik
External links
