Gödnitz is a village and a former municipality in the district of

Anhalt-Bitterfeld Anhalt-Bitterfeld is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its capital is Köthen (Anhalt). Its area is . History This district was established by merging the former districts of Bitterfeld, Köthen and a large part of Anhalt-Zerbst as part ...

, in

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

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 ...

. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Zerbst/Anhalt.

Geography

The villages Gödnitz and Flötz are between the towns

Zerbst Zerbst () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until an administrative reform in 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the former Anhalt-Zerbst district. Geography Zerbst is sit ...

and Barby. Next to the villages there is the Gödnitz Lake which is an oxbow of the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

. Both villages are on the eastern side of the Elbe at the end of the moraine. The western part of Gödnitz/Flötz is a part of the Mittelelbe Biosphere. In the North West of Gödnitz the Nuthe flows into the Elbe.

History

1929 there were excavations in Flötz where some vessels were found which are assigned to the Walternienburg-Bernburg Culture. This proves that there was colonisation in Flötz already in the

Neolithic age The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

. The relatively elevated position protects the village from flood which was the reason for a very early colonisation. Already in the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

there were

Germanic people The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

living at this place long time before the

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

colonised this area in the 5th and 6th century. The history of Gödnitz and Flötz was connected to the East Elbe outposts of the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

. From the first repossession attempts of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

in the 8th century to the final victory of the

in the 11th century Gödnitz and Flötz must have changed their sovereign very often. While the Christianisation of the former Slavic territory the church in Flötz was built as a solid stone building which could resist attacks from the Slavic people. The area's Christianisation took about 300 years. In 974 the villages were given to the

Quedlinburg Abbey Quedlinburg Abbey ( or ) is a former abbey of secular canonesses ''( Frauenstift)'' in Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 936 on the initiative of Saint Matilda, the widow of the East Frankish King Henry the Fowler, as h ...

who gave them to the dukes of

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 ...

who gave them to the earl of Barby. When the noble family of Barby got extinct in 1659 Flötz and Gödnitz were taken by the

Anhalt-Zerbst Anhalt-Zerbst was a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts Potsdam-Mittelmark (Brandenburg) and Wittenberg, the city of Dessau and the districts of Köthen, Schönebeck and Jerichower Lan ...

family. When the Anhalt-Zerbst family got extinct in 1793 with no heir the villages were given to Anhalt-Dessau where Leopold III was the Duke. After Napoleon's rule and the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

all the villages in the area except Gödnitz and Dornburg were given to the new Province Saxony in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

while Gödnitz remained an enclave of Anhalt. Because of the different state membership both villages could never grow together. In the 19th century there was a school, a mayor and a parish each village. Even today you can see massive landmarks at the former border of Anhalt and Prussia. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the territory of the free State of Anhalt and the Province of Saxony were combined to the Province of Saxony-Anhalt and later on in 1947 Land

. Flötz and Gödnitz were now part of the county Zerbst. 1952 the Land Saxony-Anhalt was disbanded and the territory was integrated into the new

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Bezirk Magdeburg The Bezirk Magdeburg was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Magdeburg. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 Octo ...

. During the GDR rule the villages Gödnitz and Flötz were made one community named Gödnitz while Flötz became a district of it. After the

German Reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

the county membership did not change, Gödnitz remained part of Anhalt-Zerbst. 2007 Anhalt-Zerbst was united with the counties Köthen and Bitterfeld to a new one called

. 2010 the villages around Zerbst were added to the town which is called Zerbst/Anhalt since then. The villages are now districts of Zerbst/Anhalt. Until December 31, 2009, Gödnitz was an independent municipality with the associated district of Flötz. On a municipal area of 11.8 km² lived 241 inhabitants (December 31, 2008).StBA: Gebietsänderungen vom 01. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2010
/ref> The last mayor of Gödnitz was Volker Leps.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godnitz Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Zerbst