Delitzsch

For Franz Delitzsch, German theologian and Hebraist, see Franz Delitzsch.

Delitzsch
Town
From top: View over old town, Delitzsch Castle in winter, Breite Straße in the old town, Breiter Turm at Wallgraben
Coat of arms
Location of Delitzsch within Nordsachsen district
Delitzsch Delitzsch
Coordinates: 51°31′35″N 12°20′33″E
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Nordsachsen
Subdivisions	15 town-quarters
Government
• Mayor (2022–29)	Manfred Wilde (Ind.)
Area
• Total	83.57 km2 (32.27 sq mi)
Elevation	94 m (308 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	25,244
• Density	300/km2 (780/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC 01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC 02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	04509
Dialling codes	034202
Vehicle registration	TDO, DZ, EB, OZ, TG, TO
Website	www.delitzsch.de

Delitzsch (German pronunciation: [ˈdeːlɪt͡ʃ] ; Slavic: delč or delcz for hill) is a town in Saxony in Germany, 20 km north of Leipzig and 30 km east of Halle (Saale). With 24,850 inhabitants at the end of 2015, it is the largest town in the district of Nordsachsen.

Archaeological evidence outside the town limits points to a settlement dating from the Neolithic Age. The first documented mention of Delitzsch dates from 1166 and it later became the Elector of Saxony's residence in the 17th and 18th centuries. The old town is well preserved, with several plazas, citizens' and patrician houses, towers, a baroque castle and the town's fortifications.

Delitzsch and its surrounding area contain water areas, hiking and cycling networks and nature reserves.

Geography

Location

Delitzsch is located in the northwestern part of Nordsachsen in Saxony, at an altitude of 94 meters above sea level. Due to its location on the border with Saxony-Anhalt, Delitzsch is the northernmost town in Saxony. It is situated on the north heath and recreation area Goitzsche which extends across the Saxony-Saxony-Anhalt border to Bitterfeld-Wolfen. To the east is the spa town of Bad Düben, which is the starting point for the Düben Heath.

The total size of the urban area is 83.57 square kilometres (32.27 square miles). The north–south extension is 10 kilometres (6 miles) and the east–west extension 8.3 kilometres (5.2 miles). The adjacent communities are Löbnitz, Schönwölkau, Rackwitz and Neukyhna clockwise called from the north of town.

Districts

Name of the District	Area in km2	Population at September 2011 (Main domicile)	Density inhabitants/km2
Delitzsch with Gertitz, Kertitz and Werben	38.04	20,974	551
Beerendorf	2.38	585	246
Benndorf	3.62	382	106
Brodau	3.16	314	99
Döbernitz	1.17	833	712
Laue	5.22	203	39
Poßdorf	7.78	66	8
Rödgen	4.12	224	54
Schenkenberg	2.43	832	342
Selben	3.33	664	199
Spröda	6,42	287	45
Storkwitz	3.59	150	42
Zschepen	2.31	407	176
Overall	83.57	25,921	310

History

Delitzsch was founded as a town around 1200 AD (according to chronicles) and became recognized as a city in 1300 AD. Both before and after its founding, the city fought off many invaders: first the Slavic tribes who had lived there before the city was founded and then, later, in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), the Swedes. A legend arose from this final encounter with the Swedes, saying that when the Swedes reached the river Lober, the tower warden's daughter spied them and blew a trumpet, allowing the citizens of the town to get to safety and prepare, and as a result the invaders were defeated. Every year there is a historical medieval style fair to celebrate this victory over the Swedes and, during the fair, shops are open on Sundays.

As a result of the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15, Delitzsch was granted to Prussia from the Kingdom of Saxony. A district of Delitzsch was established for administrative purposes. From 1815 to 1944, Delitzsch was part of the Prussian Province of Saxony, from 1944 to 1945 of the Province of Halle-Merseburg, from 1945 to 1952 of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, from 1952 to 1990 of the Bezirk Leipzig of East Germany and since 1990 of Saxony.

In World War II (1939–1945), only one building, the station, was burned, minimal damage in comparison with many other German urban centers.

According to a 1996 census, Delitzsch had more than 27,000 inhabitants.

Historical population

1747–1999

(using town boundaries as at the time)

Date Population 1747 390 houses, 70 ½ Oxgangs 1789 2,500 1818 2,953 31 December 1837 ¹ 4,332 31 December 1841 ¹ 4,533 31 December 1871 ¹ 8,111 31 December 1880 ¹ 8,225 31 December 1890 ¹ 8,949 31 December 1895 ¹ 9,560 31 December 1910 ¹ 13,031 31 December 1925 ¹ 14,892

Date Population 31 December 1933 ¹ 16,476 31 December 1938 17,931 31 December 1939 ¹ 18,016 29 October 1946 25,148 31 August 1950 ² 24,195 31 December 1960 22,892 31 December 1964 23,336 31 December 1970 24,435 31 December 1980 25,248 31 December 1984 27,953 31 December 1988 28,384

Date Population 31 December 1990 27,051 31 December 1991 26,534 31 December 1992 26,249 31 December 1993 25,828 31 December 1994 ² 26,045 31. December 1995 25,762 31 December 1996 ² 25,579 31 December 1997 27,235 31 December 1998 26,963 31 December 1999 26,704

¹ Census
² Merging districts

Source: Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen

2000–present

(using town boundaries as at the time)

Date Population Moving in Moving out Births Deaths Change 31 December 2000 26,331 933 1251 203 258 -373 31 December 2001 25,774 891 1366 197 279 -557 31 December 2002 25,573 1202 1322 195 276 -201 31 December 2003 25,287 998 1150 170 306 -286 31 December 2004 ¹ 28,001 990 1070 209 328 -197 31 December 2005 27,780 925 1026 203 324 -221 31 December 2006 27,521 885 982 179 341 -259 31 December 2007 27,181 875 1107 232 341 -340 31 December 2008 26,958 961 1069 202 316 -223 31 December 2009 26,532 801 1078 198 348 -426 31 December 2010 26,344 853 899 212 355 -188

Census 2011 (new basis of calculation) Date Population Moving in Moving out Births Deaths Change 9 May 2011 25,361 - - - - - 31 December 2011 25,162 852 1023 216 357 -312 31 December 2012 25,148 1116 962 183 349 -12 31 December 2013 25,005 954 992 204 317 -151 31 December 2014 24.911 1063 1005 192 348 −98 31 December 2015 24.850 1223 1122 195 366 −70

¹ Merging districts

Source: Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen

Politics

Town council

The town council consists of the lord mayor and 30 town councillors. Every five years, the town council is chosen anew. The inaugural meeting of newly elected council always takes place in the conference hall of the city hall. The current council has been in place since the last local election (held on 26 May 2019), and is constituted as follows:

Party		% of vote 2019	Seats 2019	% of vote 2014	Seats 2014	% of vote 2009	Seats 2009
CDU	CDU	25,9 %	8	34,4 %	11	34,9 %	11
FWG	FWG	23,3 %	7	18,5 %	6	14,6 %	4
AfD	Alternative for Germany	16,0 %	5	–	–	–	–
SPD	SPD	14,3 %	4	20,5 %	6	20,5 %	7
LINKE	The Left	10,0 %	3	15,6 %	5	08,9 %	6
BI	Bürgerinitiative Menschenskinder e.V.	03,9 %	1	–	–	–	–
HV	Heimatverein Döbernitz e.V.	03,5 %	1	03,3 %	1	02,7 %	0
GRÜNE	Alliance 90/The Greens	03,1 %	1	02,4 %	0	–	–
NPD	NPD	–	–	04,4 %	1	03,8 %	1
FDP	FDP	–	–	01,0 %	0	04,6 %	1
Total		100%	30	100%	30	100%	30
% of Vote		53,7 %		42,4 %		39,5 %

The next council elections are scheduled for 2024.

Mayor

• Arno Erhardt: 1945
• Richard Hampe: 1945-1950
• Paul Heinze: 1951-1952
• Walter Lange: 1952-1956
• Rudolf Kunath: 1956-1959
• Otto Paul: 1960-1973
• Hans-Joachim Kumrow: 1973-1977
• Wolfgang Neubert: 1977-1979
• Karl Lubienski: 1979-1990
• Heinz Bieniek: 1990-2008

Historian Manfred Wilde (born 1962) won the mayoral election in 2008 with 60.2 percent of the votes cast.

Coat of Arms

The emblem of the town Delitzsch combines two different arms, the house of Wettin or tribal emblem and the County of the Mark Meissen. It shows two upright poles blue (Landsberger piles) that are in a golden box, and this split in three parts. In the middle of the main shield of the emblem can be seen in an inclined position as a means to shield Meissen black lion on a golden shield. The middle blade is tilted forward, and so the lion appears as upright as possible, or borders. He has two tail tuft, with their division begins in the middle of the tail, which should point to the Mark Meissen County. As an accessory, the coat of arms (1526 introduced) a fluttering ribbon bearing the inscription: "Secretum civium in delitzsch" (loosely translated: Privy Seal of Delitzsch).

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Delitzsch is twinned with:

• Friedrichshafen, Germany (1990)
• Monheim am Rhein, Germany (1990)
• Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland (2000)

Traffic

Road

To the west of the town the national roads B183a and B184 intersect.

Rail transport

Delitzsch has an "upper station" with two platforms and a "lower station" with three tracks. Both stations are in the tariff zone 165 of the regional public transport network (Mitteldeutscher Verkehrsverbund). Since December 2008 the two stations have been served Mitteldeutsche Regionalbahn ("Central German regional railway" (MRB)) in addition to Deutsche Bahn (DB), services to and from Delitzsch oberer Bahnhof have been taken over by Abellio in 2015. The upper station is served by regional trains hourly on weekdays, two-hourly on weekends. The lower station is served by S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland and by regional trains between Leipzig and Magdeburg. Long-distance services can be reached by changing in Leipzig or Halle.

• The trains of the MRB take the following route:
  • Eilenburg - Delitzsch oberer Bahnhof - Halle (Saale) Hauptbahnhof (MRB118)
• The DB trains run on the following lines:
  • Eilenburg - Delitzsch oberer Bahnhof - Halle (Saale) Hauptbahnhof (RB118)
  • Leipzig Hauptbahnhof - Delitzsch unterer Bahnhof - Bitterfeld - Dessau - Magdeburg (RE13)
  • Leipzig Hauptbahnhof - Delitzsch unterer Bahnhof - Bitterfeld - Dessau (RB54)
  • Leipzig Hauptbahnhof - Delitzsch unterer Bahnhof - Bitterfeld - Wittenberg (RB57)
• The trains of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland take the route:
  • Gaschwitz - Leipzig-Connewitz - Leipzig City Tunnel - Delitzsch unterer Bahnhof - Bitterfeld (S2)

Air traffic

Leipzig/Halle Airport is located 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Delitzsch.

Local businesses

The most important industries in Delitzsch included the sugar and confectionery industry. Currently, the Delitzscher Chocolate Factory (acquired on 1 October 2008 by the Halloren Chocolate Factory AG), the EuroMaint Rail GmbH (former rail car plant SFW Delitzsch GmbH), URSA Insulation and the Smurfit Kappa Corrugated board plant are the major industrial employers. Most of these big companies are located in the industrial area on the south-west side.

Due to the EU production quotas for sugar, the sugar factory (Südzucker) was shut down in 2001.

Lignite mining was discontinued in the early 1990s, the remaining mines are planned to be a system of lakes and heathland in an arc from the southwest to the north.

Sights

Breiter Turm in the Delitzscher old town

• Baroque castle with Lustgarten (pleasure gardens), formerly temporary residence and administrative centre, later dower of the Dukes of Saxe-Merseburg, built on the foundations of a medieval moated castle
• kennel gardens, terraced green space created between the city wall and moat (re-opened to visitors in 2010)
• fortifications dating back to the 14th and 15th century with two towers, defensive wall, and water-filled moat
• rose garden
• city church of St. Peter & Paul, brick church of the 15th century with significant high altar
• memorial to Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch
• executioner's house (resident executioner first documented in 1619)
• Stadtschreiberhaus, former home and workplace of the town clerk, now a gallery
• city park with water basin
• zoological gardens

Sports

Among the many sports clubs in North Saxony district town, among other things, the annual sporting events like the LVZ Bicycle Ride, Delitzsch moves or the old town race. More than 13 sports clubs are based in the region of Delitzsch. Some of the clubs:

• 1. SV Concordia Delitzsch
• NHV Concordia Delitzsch 2010 e.V. (second handball club)
• GSVE Delitzsch 1995 e.V. (volleyball club)
• Delitzscher Sportfüchse 1995 e.V. (judo club)
• 1.FC Delitzsch 2010 e.V. (football club)
• RV Germania Delitzsch 1891 e.V. (bicycle club)
• Korean Tigers 1989 e.V. (Taekwondoverein)
• Delitzscher tennis club 1921 e.V.
• Badminton club Delitzsch
• Dive club Delitzsch 1958 e.v.

Education

Christian-Gottfried-Ehrenberg-Grammar School

The first school was built around 1426 as a boys school and was expanded in the 16th century to cater for girls. Today more than 3,500 students learn in ten public and three private schools. These include three primary schools, two Mittelschulen (secondary schools), one grammar school, two colleges and two special schools. The School of Music, the Adult high school and the acting school are private schools.

• Primary schools
  • Primary school Diesterweg
  • Primary school on Rosenweg
  • Primary school Delitzsch-East
• Middle schools
  • Artur Becker- Middle School
  • Middle School Delitzsch-North
• Grammar school
  • Christian-Gottfried-Ehrenberg-Grammar School
• Technical and vocational schools
  • School of Social Sciences
  • Vocational School Dr. Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch
• Special schools
  • Special Educationscool Rödgen - school for mentally disabled
  • Pestalozzischool – school to promote learning
• Other schools
  • Delitzsch Music School
  • Theatre Academy Saxony (Acting School)
  • Adult high school

Notable people

Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch, 1863

• Lucas Brandis (c. 1450–1500) and his brothers, Moritz, Mark, and Matthew Brandis (died after 1512), book printers
• Max Bruning (1887–1968), painter, born in the house market 20
• Norbert Denef (born 1949), campaigner about sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church.
• Carl August Ehrenberg (1801–1849), botanist and plant collector.
• Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (1795–1876), bioscientist, co-discovered the use of bacteria in medicine
• Bernhard Förster (1843–1889), high school teacher, cultural critic and husband of Elizabeth (Forester) Nietzsche
• Paul Fürbringer (1849–1930), physician
• Clementine Helm (1825–1896), children's and youth book author
• Eberhard Ruhmer (1917–1996), art historian and curator, son of the city minister Wilhelm Ruhmer
• Erasmus Schmidt (1570–1637), mathematician and philologist
• Helmut Schreyer (1912–1984), German telecommunications specialist, inventor and professor in Rio de Janeiro
• Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch (1808–1883), founder of the German cooperative system and politician, born in the house market 11 (plaque).
• Walter Tiemann (1876–1951), book artist and graphic designer

Sport

• Joachim Fritsche (born 1951), footballer in the East German league, played for the GDR, 1973–1977
• Lutz Mack (born 1952), gymnast
• Siegfried Mehnert (born 1963), boxer

External links

Media related to Delitzsch at Wikimedia Commons

• Website of Delitzsch - in German
• Website of GSVE Delitzsch - in German