Wittenberg is a district () in the east of

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 ...

. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise)

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 ...

, the district-free city of

Dessau-Roßlau Dessau-Roßlau () is a '' kreisfreie Stadt'' (urban district) in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Elbe and Mulde. The town was formed by merging the towns of Dessau and Roßlau as part of the 20 ...

, the districts of

Potsdam-Mittelmark Potsdam-Mittelmark is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the western part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring administrative units are (clockwise from the north) the district of Havelland (district), Havelland, the free cities of Brandenburg (town), ...

Teltow-Fläming Teltow-Fläming () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southwestern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the east clockwise) Dahme-Spreewald, Elbe-Elster, the districts Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt, the district Potsdam-Mittelm ...

and

Elbe-Elster Elbe-Elster is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Teltow-Fläming, Dahme-Spreewald, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Meißen, Nordsachsen and Wittenberg. The district has a partnership with the ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, and the district of

Nordsachsen Nordsachsen (, ) is a district (''Districts of Germany, Kreis'') in Saxony, Germany. History The district was established by merging the former districts of Delitzsch (district), Delitzsch and Torgau-Oschatz as part of the district reform of Au ...

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 ...

. The capital and largest city is

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

, famous for its association with the influential religious reformer

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

and containing a UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

History

In 1994, the district was merged with the district of Jessen and a small part of the district of Gräfenhainichen. In 2007, 27 municipalities from the former district

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 ...

were added to the district of Wittenberg.

Geography

The area of the district is . The main rivers in the district are 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 ...

and its tributary, the Schwarze Elster.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows two swords, which is the symbol of a field marshal in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. This title was bestowed upon the counts of Saxony, who therefore added the symbol to their coat of arms. The center of the principality of Saxony was located in the area now covered by the district.

Towns and municipalities

The district of Wittenberg consists of the following towns: *

Annaburg Annaburg () is a town in Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was the seat of the former ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' Annaburg-Prettin. Constituent communities The town Annaburg consists of the following ''Ortschaften'' or municipa ...

Bad Schmiedeberg Bad Schmiedeberg () is a small town in the Wittenberg (district), district of Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It lies within the Düben Heath Nature Park. History The town was first mentioned in 1206 as ''Smedeberg''. In 1350, it was grant ...

* Coswig *

Gräfenhainichen Gräfenhainichen () is a town in Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography The town was the seat of the offices of the administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'') of Tor zur Dübener Heide until it was disbanded in Jan ...

Jessen (Elster) Jessen () is a municipality on the Black Elster river and lies in the eastern part of Saxony-Anhalt in the Wittenberg (district), district of Wittenberg. Geography Jessen is an amalgamated municipality, and has the following 44 subdivisions (''Or ...

Kemberg Kemberg () is a town in Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The town lies on the north edge of the Düben Heath Nature Park. Subdivisions The town Kemberg consists of the following ''Ortschaften'' or municipal districts:

Oranienbaum-Wörlitz Oranienbaum-Wörlitz () is a town in the Wittenberg (district), district of Wittenberg, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2011 by the merger of the former towns Oranienbaum, Germany, Oranienbaum and Wörlitz and the former muni ...

Zahna-Elster Zahna-Elster () is a town in the Wittenberg (district), district of Wittenberg, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2011 by the merger of the former municipalities Zahna, Dietrichsdorf, Elster (Elbe), Gadegast, Leetza, Listerfehrd ...

After the resolution of 6 October 2005, as part of municipal reform, the (then) 27 towns and municipalities of the former Verwaltungsgemeinschaften of Coswig and

Wörlitzer Winkel Wörlitzer Winkel was a ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' ("collective municipality") in the Wittenberg district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was situated on the left bank of the Elbe, east of Dessau. The seat of the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' was in O ...

, formerly in the

district, were assigned to Wittenberg district on 1 July 2007.

Sights

Stadtkirche Marktplatz Schlosskirche Wittenberg Luftbild 2024 Toni Klemm.jpg, Wittenberg old town in 2024 File:Wittenberg - Stadtbach in der Schlossstrasse (Town Stream in the Schlossstrasse) - geo.hlipp.de - 28216.jpg, Wittenberg old town with

All Saints' Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania * All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia * All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Brisbane, Queensland *All ...

File:Jessen church.jpg, Jessen market square File:Coswig(Anhalt),Elbe,Schloss.jpg, Coswig view river Elbe File:Ferropolis Mainstage 360deg airpano.jpg,

Ferropolis Ferropolis, "the city of iron", is an open-air museum of huge mid-20th century industrial machines in Gräfenhainichen, a city between Wittenberg and Dessau, Germany. These can measure up to 30 meters high and 120 meters long, and weigh up to 1, ...

in Gräfenhainichen File:Luftbild Oranienbaum.jpg, Oranienbaum aerial view File:Wörlitzer See mit St. Petri.jpg, The

Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm The Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm, (German: ''Dessau-Wörlitzer Gartenreich'') is a cultural landscape and World Heritage Site in Germany, located between the city of Dessau and the town of Wörlitz in Central Germany. One of the first and large ...

File:Bergwitz, Bergwitzsee - Sonnenuntergang im September 2019.jpg, Bergwitz lake

External links

References

{{Authority control Districts of Saxony-Anhalt Former states and territories of Saxony-Anhalt