Grimma (; , ) is a town in

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 ...

, Central Germany, on the left bank of the

Mulde The Mulde () is a river in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and is long. The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz, of the Zwickauer Mulde (running through Zwickau) and the Freiberger Mulde (wit ...

, southeast of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. Founded in 1170, it is part of the

district.

Location

The town is in northern

, southeast of

and south of

Wurzen Wurzen () is a town in the district Leipzig (district), Leipzig Land (voting) and Muldental (number plates), in Saxony, Germany. It is situated next to the river Mulde, here crossed by two bridges, 25 km east of Leipzig, by rail N.E. of Leipzig L ...

Flooding

The river

flows through the town, a significant section of which is situated in a floodplain. Massive

floods A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

in 2002 washed away the old Pöppelmannbrücke bridge and caused significant damage to buildings in the town. In the summer of 2013 there was further flood damage. Grimma Poeppelmannbruecke

Suburbs

* Großbardau (merged with Grimma January 2006) * Döben * Hohnstädt * Höfgen * Beiersdorf * Kaditzsch * Schkortitz * Naundorf * Neunitz * Grechwitz * Dorna * Kleinbardau (merged with Grimma January 2006) * Bernbruch (merged with Grimma 2006) * Waldbardau (merged with Grimma 2006) *

Nerchau Nerchau is a town and a former municipality in the Leipzig district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is a part (''Ortschaft'') of the town Grimma. It is situated on the river Mulde, 7 km northeast of Grimma, and ...

(merged with Grimma 2011) *

Thümmlitzwalde Thümmlitzwalde is a village and a former municipality in the Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Grimma Grimma (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, south ...

(merged with Grimma 2011) *

Großbothen Großbothen is a village and a former municipality in the Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany. Großbothen had an area of 33.45 km2 and a population of 3,453 (as of December 31, 2009). At a local government reform on 1 January 2011, the munic ...

(merged with Grimma 2011) *

Mutzschen Mutzschen () is a former town in the Leipzig district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 13 km east of Grimma, and 21 km northwest of Döbeln. With effect from 1 January 2012, it has been incorporated into the town of ...

(merged with Grimma 1 January 2012)

History

Grimma is of Sorbian origin and was first documented in 1065. The

Margraves of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Meissen, a march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928–29 campaign against the Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on ...

and the

Electors of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

often resided at the castle in the town. The town was chosen as one of three government elite boarding schools, the 'Princely Schools of Saxony', in 1550. The purpose of these schools was to educate future civil servants and to prepare them for further studies at universities which is why a number of historical personalities are biographically related to this rather small town. The Gymnasium St. Augustine still exists today as one of only a few public boarding schools in Saxony. Grimma was the scene of

witch trials A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the Middle East. ...

between 1494 and 1701. At least two women were executed as witches. Due to the town being located at the second main railway line between Leipzig and Dresden (via Meissen), the town developed well in the 19th century. By 1890 the population had reached 8,957. The town was affected by heavy flooding in 2013. Work had by this time started on the construction of flood barriers, but their completion had been delayed by local opposition. In 2017, the

Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC) is an international fellowship of 34 Confessional Lutheran church bodies. The CELC was founded in 1993 in Oberwesel, Germany with an initial thirteen church bodies. Plenary sessions are he ...

held their international, triennial convention in Grimma.

Culture

Grimma has been the site of many historic structures, including a town hall dating from 1442, a famous school (the Fürstenschule) erected on the site of a former Augustinian monastery in 1550, and a school of brewing.

Twin towns – sister cities

The city is twinned with: *

Bron Bron () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, eastern France. Geography Bron lies east-southeast of central Lyon. It is the sixth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to its east side. Climat ...

, France *

Gezer Gezer, or Tel Gezer (), in – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari is an archaeological site in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains at the border of the Shfela region roughly midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It is now an List of national parks ...

, Israel * Leduc, Canada * Rüdesheim, Germany *

Weingarten Weingarten may refer to: Places * Weingarten, Württemberg, Germany, a town ** Weingarten Abbey * Weingarten (Baden), Germany, a municipality * Weingarten, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, a municipality * Weingarten, Thuringia, Germany, a village an ...

, Germany

Notable people

Albert III, Duke of Saxony Albert III () (27 January 144312 September 1500) was a Duke of Saxony. He was nicknamed Albert the Bold or Albert the Courageous and founded the ''Albertine line'' of the House of Wettin. Biography Albert was born in Grimma as the third and y ...

(1443–1500) *

Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria Catherine of Saxony (German: ''Katharina von Sachsen''; 24 July 1468 – 10 February 1524), a member of the House of Wettin, was the second wife of Sigismund, Archduke of Austria and Regent of Tyrol. Life Born in Grimma, Catherine was the eld ...

(1468–1524) *

Ernst Otto Schlick Ernst Otto Schlick (16 June 1840, Grimma – 10 April 1913, Hamburg) was a German naval engineer. He tried to solve the problem of rolling of ships at sea by installing large gyroscopes. The gyroscopic "stabilizers" gave disappointing or danger ...

(1840–1913), engineer *

Georg Elias Müller Georg Elias Müller (20 July 185023 December 1934) was a significant early German experimental psychologist who is credited with the theory of retroactive interference. Biography Early life Georg Elias Müller was born in Grimma, Saxony on 20 ...

(1850–1934), psychologist *

Erich Waschneck Erich John Waschneck (29 April 1887, in Grimma, Kingdom of Saxony – 22 September 1970, in Berlin) was a German cameraman, director, screenwriter, and film producer. Early life Erich was the son of Karl Hermann Waschneck, a blacksmith, and his ...

(1887–1970), playwright *

Diethard Hellmann Diethard Hellmann (28 December 1928 – 14 October 1999) was a German Kantor, composer and academic teacher, first in Leipzig at the Friedenskirche and the Musikhochschule, then from 1955 in Mainz at the Christuskirche and the Peter Cornelius ...

(1928–1999), musician * Verena Reichel (born 1945), translator *

Ulrich Mühe Friedrich Hans Ulrich Mühe (; 20 June 1953 – 22 July 2007) was a German film, television and theatre actor. He played the role of Hauptmann (Captain) Gerd Wiesler in the Academy Awards, Oscar-winning film ''Das Leben der Anderen'' (''The Live ...

(1953–2007), actor *

Carmen Nebel Carmen Nebel (born 24 July 1956 in Grimma, then East Germany) is a German television presenter. Nebel majored in German studies, English studies and pedagogy at Humboldt University of Berlin. After completing her degree she began appearing on GDR ...

(born 1956), TV moderator *

Olaf Beyer Olaf Beyer (born 4 August 1957 in Grimma) is a former East German 800 metres runner. Biography He won the gold medal at the 1978 European Championships in Prague. In that race he beat the future world-record holder Sebastian Coe and the future ...

(born 1957), athlete * Matthias Lindner (born 1965), footballer * Torsten Kracht (born 1967), footballer *

Jochen Kupfer Jochen Kupfer (born 1969 in Grimma) is a German operatic baritone. Early life and education Kupfer received regular singing lessons from the age of 10, and studied singing with Helga Forner at the Musikhochschule Leipzig. He attended master clas ...

(born 1969), operatic baritone * Marina Schuck (born 1981), sprint canoer * Ronny Garbuschewski (born 1986), footballer

Gallery

Gymnasium Grimma 2006.jpg, The High School St. Augustine of Grimma Frauenkirche_Grimma.jpg, Frauenkirche Schiffmühle Höfgen.jpg, Sawmill Höfgen Muldeufer Grimma.jpg, Old town as seen from the Mulde river Grimma Muldeufer.jpg, The bank of the Mulde Grimma Alte Muldebrücke 02.jpg, Armorial bearings on a bridge over Mulde in Grimma Grimma Alte Muldebrücke 03.jpg, Destroyed bridge over Mulde in Grimma Grimma Hochwasserdenkmal 01.jpg, Memorial to the flood disaster 2002 in Grimma

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Towns in Saxony Leipzig (district) 1170 establishments in Europe 1170s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire