Dohna is a town in the

Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains (, ) is a district ('' Kreis'') in Saxony, Germany. It is named after the mountain ranges Saxon Switzerland and Eastern Ore Mountains. History The district was established by merging the former districts ...

district,

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

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 ...

. It is located south of

Heidenau Heidenau is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, 13 km southeast of Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is ...

, in the Müglitz valley and lies at the northeastern foot of the

Eastern Ore Mountains The Eastern Ore Mountains () form a natural region of Saxony that covers the eastern part (in area almost the eastern half) of the Saxon Ore Mountains range. Together with the Western and Central Ore Mountains, it is part of the larger Saxon Hi ...

. It is accessed by the

Pirna Pirna (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a ''Große ...

interchange of highway A17, and by the ''Dohna (Sachs)'' and ''Köttewitz'' stations of the

Müglitz Valley Railway Müglitz may refer to: *''Müglitz'', the German name for Mohelnice, a town in the eastern Czech Republic *''Böhmisch Müglitz'', the German name for Mohelnice, a former village in the northwestern Czech Republic *Müglitz (Altenberg), a village i ...

History

Dohna is one of the oldest towns in Saxony. Traces of settlement dating back to the 16th century BC (

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

) have been found. The Dohna Castle on a strategic hill at the entrance to the Müglitz valley was probably already built in the middle of the 10th century. The town Dohna was first documented as ''Donin'' in 1040. The name comes from ''Property of Doň'' from the Bohemian first name Zdoň. The town and its castle controlled two roads from

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 ...

: one through the Müglitz valley, and one over the heights to Kulm. The

burgrave Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from , ), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especially a royal or episcopal castle, and its territory called a ''Burgraviate'' or ''Burgr ...

s of Dohna controlled a large territory between the

Margraviate of Meissen The Margravate or Margraviate of Meissen () was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' ( Saxon Eastern March ...

and the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

, stretching from Rabenau in the west to Gottleuba in the east. The burgraves of Dohna were defeated in 1402 in the

Dohna Feud The Dohna Feud () was a 14th-century dispute between the Burgraves of Dohna, who resided in the Eastern Ore Mountains of Central Europe, on the one hand and Saxon nobleman, John of Körbitz (''Hans von Körbitz'') and the Meißen Margrave Will ...

, and the town was given to vassals of the Wettin Margrave of Meissen. After 1460, when the seat of administration moved to

Sonnenstein Castle The Sonnenstein Castle is a castle in Pirna, near Dresden, Germany. It housed a mental hospital, which operated from 1811 to the end of World War II in 1945. During the War, it functioned as an Sonnenstein Nazi Death Institute, extermination cen ...

, the castle fell into ruins. In 1587 Fabien I, Burgrave of Dohna, was involved in the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

- commanding Protestant mercenaries which were funded by

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

and the

King of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional political system, institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe Is ...

and confronting the Catholic forces of King

Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he ...

at the Battle of Vimory. The city of Dohna was devastated by French and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n troops during 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 ...

(1813). The primary and secondary school was opened in 1891. It was named after

Marie Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was List of female ...

in 1969. In 1994, Köttewitz and Krebs joined Dohna. In 1999, Meusegast and Röhrsdorf joined Dohna.Gebietsänderungen vom 01.01. bis 31.12.1999

Statistisches Bundesamt The Federal Statistical Office (, shortened ''Destatis'') is a federal authority of Germany. It reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The Office is responsible for collecting, processing, presenting and analysing statistical informati ...

In January 2000, Dohna became the seat of ''

Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Municipal associations (, , ) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and Schleswig-Holstein. In Baden-Württemberg the term ''stipulated municipal association ...

'' ''Dohna-Müglitztal'', which also includes the municipality

Müglitztal Müglitztal is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, 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 th ...

Municipality subdivisions

*Borthen *Bosewitz *Burgstädtel *Dohna *Gamig *Gorknitz *Köttewitz *Krebs *Meusegast *Röhrsdorf *Sürßen *Tronitz

Main sights

* Dohna Castle ruins, and a tower constructed in the 19th century * Saxon post milestone (''Postmeilensäule''), erected in 1731 *Old Chemist's (''Alten Apotheke''), built in 1690, a local historical museum since 1992.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge