Mansfeld (), sometimes also unofficially Mansfeld-Lutherstadt, is a town in the district of

Mansfeld-Südharz Mansfeld-Südharz is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . History The district was established by merging the former districts of Sangerhausen and Mansfelder Land as part of the reform of 2007. In the German parliament, the Bu ...

, 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 ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

reformator

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 ...

grew up in Mansfeld, and in 1993 the town became one of sixteen places in Germany to be designated a ''

Lutherstadt A ''Lutherstadt'' ( German for "Luther city", plural ''Lutherstädte'') is a city German protestant reformer Martin Luther visited or played an important role in. Two cities, Lutherstadt Eisleben and Lutherstadt Wittenberg, have "Lutherstadt" in t ...

'' for this reason.

Geography

It is situated east of the

Harz The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' der ...

mountain range on the river Wipper, a left tributary of the

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian Saale (), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the M ...

, about northwest of Halle. Together with neighbouring

Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century ...

, it is part of the historic

Mansfeld Land Mansfeld Land () is a region in the southwestern corner of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The region derives its name from the counts of Mansfeld, who ruled this region for about 1,000 years. Geography In the west and northwest, Mansfeld La ...

region, roughly corresponding to the former district of Mansfelder Land which in 2007 merged into present Mansfeld-Südharz district. Mansfeld station is a stop on the Mansfeldbahn railway line (''Wipperliese''), a

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

of the

Berlin-Blankenheim railway The Berlin-Blankenheim railway or Wetzlarer Bahn ("Wetzlar Railway") is a railway line in the German states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a section of the Kanonenbahn (''Cannons Railway'') between Berlin and Metz, built betwee ...

, running from Klostermansfeld to Wippra.

Town districts

The township currently comprises 15 districts (''Ortschaften''):Hauptsatzung der Stadt Mansfeld
July 2019. The former municipalities Annarode, Biesenrode, Gorenzen, Großörner, Möllendorf, Piskaborn, Siebigerode and Vatterode were merged into Mansfeld in 2005, Abberode, Braunschwende, Friesdorf, Hermerode, Molmerswende and Ritzgerode in 2009.

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 ...

History

The

House of Mansfeld The House of Mansfeld was a German Prince, German princely house, which took its name from the town of Mansfeld in the present-day state of Saxony-Anhalt. Mansfelds were archbishops, generals, supporters as well as opponents of Martin Luther, and ...

, whose members belonged to the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

nobility and served as counts in the

Hassegau

The Hassegau was a medieval shire (''Gau (territory), Gau'') ...

, was first documented in a 973 deed. The counts built

Mansfeld Castle Mansfeld Castle () is a castle in the region of Mansfeld Land in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The castle, which is surrounded by forest, stands on top of a large rock overlooking the town of Mansfeld. The Late Gothic church of the castle, as well as th ...

, whose foundations date back to the late 11th century, when one Hoyer of Mansfeld served as field marshal to Emperor

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

. The first reference of the fortress coincides with the extinction of the elder line in 1229. The estates were inherited by the Lords of

Querfurt Querfurt () is a town in the Saalekreis district, or ''Kreis'', in southern Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is located in a fertile area on the Querne, west from Merseburg. In 2020, the town had a population of 10,454. The town Querfurt consists of Q ...

, who also adopted the comital title, calling themselves Counts of Mansfeld from that time on. Mansfeld-1650-Merian

The settlement of Mansfeld received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1400, and grew through the development of

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

mining, an activity in which Hans Luder from Möhra, father to

and Mansfeld citizen from 1484, was employed as a master smelter. Luther's family had arrived into a modest prosperity, he himself attended the local school between 1488 and 1496. The building known as "Luther's School" had to be torn down and rebuilt in 2000 due to structural problems. His parents' house is preserved and today a museum. Luther also acted as an

altar server An altar server is a laity, lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringi ...

at the St George parish church. The Counts of Mansfeld had already lost

Imperial immediacy In the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy ( or ) was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' () to Emperor and Empire () and not to any other intermediate authorities, while one that did not possess that stat ...

in 1580. When the comital line finally became extinct in 1780, the estates around Mansfeld were incorporated into the Prussian

Duchy of Magdeburg The Duchy of Magdeburg () was a province of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the German Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secularization by Brandenburg, gi ...

. The town retained the status of an independent city (''Immediatstadt''), it was temporarily part of the Napoleonic

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a client state of First French Empire, France in present-day Germany that existed from 1807 to 1813. While formally independent, it was ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, ...

and after the 1815

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 ...

belonged to the Prussian

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

Politics

Seats in the town's assembly (''Stadtrat'') as of 2014 local elections: *

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 ...

(CDU): 5 *

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD): 4 * The Left: 2 *

Free Voters Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...

: 8 *

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

: 1

Notable people

Religious revolutionary, leader of Protestant revolution, philosopher *

Johann Wigand Johann Wigand (Latin: Jo(h)annes Wigandus; c. 1523 – 21 October 1587) was a German Lutheran cleric, Protestant reformer and theologian. He served as Bishop of Pomesania. Johann Wigand was born at Mansfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. He was ...

(–1587), Lutheran cleric *

Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel (October 3, 1784 – June 25, 1863) was a German agronomist and explorer of the Kamchatka Peninsula. He died in Odessa in 1863. Biography Kegel was born in Rammelburg (now part of the town Mansfeld) and studied in Cope ...

(1784–1863), agronomist and explorer of the Kamchatka Peninsula *

Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn Friedrich Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn was a German-born Dutch botanist and geologist. His father, Friedrich Junghuhn was a barber and a surgeon. His mother was Christine Marie Schiele. Junghuhn studied medicine in Halle and in Berlin from 1827 to 18 ...

(1809–1864), botanist and geologist *

Arthur Gaebelein Otto Arthur Alfred Gaebelein (29 March 1891 – 28 August 1964) was a Germans, German international Association football, footballer. In 1912 he played for the Germany national football team. In his club career he was initially a striker and late ...

(1891–1964), footballer * Wolfgang Zeller (1893–1967), composer

References

{{Authority control Martin Luther Towns in the Harz Mansfeld Mansfeld-Südharz