Jessen (Elster)

Jessen
Town
Coat of arms
Location of Jessen (Elster) within Wittenberg district
Jessen Jessen
Coordinates: 51°47′30″N 12°57′20″E
Country	Germany
State	Saxony-Anhalt
District	Wittenberg
Government
• Mayor (2021–28)	Michael Jahn
Area
• Total	351.94 km2 (135.88 sq mi)
Elevation	72 m (236 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	14,158
• Density	40/km2 (100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	06917, 06918, 06926, 06928
Dialling codes	03537, 035387, 035389
Vehicle registration	WB, GHC, JE
Website	www.jessen.de

Jessen (German pronunciation: [ˈjɛsn̩] ) is a municipality on the Black Elster river and lies in the eastern part of Saxony-Anhalt in the district of Wittenberg.

Geography

Jessen is an amalgamated municipality, and has the following 44 subdivisions (Ortsteile):

• Arnsdorf
• Battin
• Buschkuhnsdorf
• Dixförda
• Düßnitz
• Gentha
• Gerbisbach
• Glücksburg
• Gorsdorf
• Grabo
• Großkorga
• Hemsendorf
• Holzdorf
• Jessen (Elster)
• Kleindröben
• Kleinkorga
• Klöden
• Klossa
• Kremitz
• Leipa
• Linda
• Lindwerder
• Lüttchenseyda
• Mark Friedersdorf
• Mark Zwuschen
• Mauken
• Mellnitz
• Mönchenhöfe
• Morxdorf
• Mügeln
• Naundorf
• Neuerstadt
• Rade
• Rehain
• Reicho
• Rettig
• Ruhlsdorf
• Schadewalde
• Schöneicho
• Schützberg
• Schweinitz
• Seyda
• Steinsdorf
• Zwuschen

History

The first documentary evidence of Jessen's existence dates to 1217. On the night of 20 to 21 September 1729, much of the town was destroyed in a fire. After belonging to Saxony for centuries, Jessen became Prussian in 1816.

In 1945, it became part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt. In 1952, owing to East German administrative reforms, Jessen became a district capital in the Cottbus region (Cottbus is nowadays in Brandenburg). In 1990, Jessen once again became part of the newly-refounded state of Saxony-Anhalt. In 1992 came the amalgamation of the communities of Grabo, Gorsdorf-Hemsendorf, Lindwerder and Großkorga, and in 1993, Schweinitz, Gerbisbach, Klossa, Schöneicho, Steinsdorf and Dixförda. With the district reform in 1994, Jessen became part of Wittenberg district, as well as having a further three communities melded with it, namely Battin, Düßnitz and Kleindröben-Mauken. In 1999 came further amalgamations: Arnsdorf, Leipa and Ruhlsdorf mit Rehain. On 1 March 2004 came a further 12, among them Seyda, Holzdorf and Linda (Elster). Some of these formerly independent communities themselves each consisted of more than one centre, and so Jessen now has a total of 47 Stadtteile (constituent communities).

Economy and infrastructure

Established businesses are mostly small and mid-sized concerns in metalworking, building, dairy processing and drink production. There are also, however, bigger enterprises in agriculture.

Culture and Sightseeing

Church

• Historic marketplace in Jessen
• Parish church of St. Nicolai in Jessen
• Schloss Jessen (stately home), since 1999 town council seat
• Parish church of St. Marien in Schweinitz
• Amtshaus in Schweinitz
• Gorsdorf village church
• Kleindröben village church
• Pretzsch-Mauken reaction ferry

Personalities

• Karl Lamprecht (25 February 1856 – 10 May 1915 in Leipzig), was Professor of History at the University of Leipzig, who is known today mainly for his rôle in the Methodenstreit.
• Herbert Kaiser (16 March 1916 – 5 December 2003) a pilot in the Luftwaffe during World War II

Sundry

The town is Germany's twelfth-largest municipality by land area, and is thereby about 3 km² bigger than Munich.

External links

• Jessen