Zeuchfeld is a village and a former municipality in the

Burgenlandkreis Burgenlandkreis () is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . History The district was established as Landkreis Burgenland by the merger of the former Burgenlandkreis and Landkreis Weißenfels as part of the reform of 2007. ...

district, 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 July 2009, it is part of the town Freyburg.

Geography

Zeuchfeld is located half-way between the cities of Halle and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, near the town of Freyburg of which it is an administrative part. It is situated between forests, vineyards and fields in a shallow valley. This leads to occasional flooding. The hill in the south of the village is called "Naumburger Berg" (Hill of

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

) by the local people. Here, there has been a limestone quarry and cherry plantation.

History

The

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History ...

or King's Highway, an ancient imperial road, ran through Zeuchfeld until a stone bridge was built in

Bad Kösen Bad Kösen () is a spa town on the Saale river in the small wine-growing region of Saale-Unstrut, Germany. It is a former municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt. Bad Kösen has a population of around 5,300. Since 1 Januar ...

(building 1368-1404). On 11 April 1945 the US 777th Tank Battalion part of 28th Infantry Division reached Zeuchfeld on their race eastward.

Education

There had been a school in the village until about 1950. The old half-timbered school building in the centre of the village is one of the largest buildings. Today students from Zeuchfeld commute to Freyburg for primary and secondary education and even further away for higher education.

Transport

The

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...

176 goes through the village. It leads eastward to

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle. His ...

where it joins up with the

A9 Autobahn is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Berlin and Munich via Leipzig and Nuremberg. It is the fifth longest autobahn spanning . Route The northern terminus of the A 9 is at the Potsdam interchange, where it merges into the A 10, ...

and westward to Freyburg. The village is approached by bus lines 630 and 634 operated by the public transport company PVG Burgenlandkreis mbH. They link it to the towns Freyburg and Laucha and most of the neighboring villages.

Civic life

There are two registered societies in the village the "Zeuchfelder Pfingsburschen e.V.", organising whitsun celebrations, and the "Heimat und Kulturverein Zeuchfeld e.V." organising socializing in the village.

Economy

Only a few people work in agriculture today. Two vineyards operate in the village, this is because it is part of the

Saale-Unstrut Saale-Unstrut is a region (''Anbaugebiet'') for quality wine in Germany,Wein.de (Germa ...

wine growing area. A few inhabitants work as farmers on the fields surrounding the village. Besides these traditional areas most people commute to the larger cities in the area for work. Although some small businesses operating from Zeuchfeld, most of them are self-employed: e.g. electrical engineering, floor tilting, GP's surgery, landscape conservancy.

Recreation

The public footpath "Göhleweg" (marked with a red cross) goes through the village. It begins in Freyburg at the Jahnplatz and runs through Schützenstraße - Schlifterberg - Burgholzweg - Sühnekreuz - Alte Göhle - Zeuchfeld - Branderoda - Ebersroda - Neue Göhle - Galgenberg until it reaches the memorial in the northwest of Freyburg.

Notable people

Johann Sperling Johann Sperling (12 July 1603–12 August 1658) was a German physician, zoologist and physicist, deacon and '' Rektor'' of the University of Wittenberg. He was among the first to practise zoology as a natural science, writing a first handbook about ...

physician, zoologist, physicist (born 1603 died 1658)

External links

website of Zeuchfeld (in German)

Notes

{{authority control Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Freyburg, Germany