Office of Zahna

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ev. Church of St. Marien in Zahna, a cross-shaped pillar basilica, eastern parts in field stone, western parts in brick from around 1200

The Zahna office was an administrative unit in the Electoral Saxony, which was formed in 1436 from the Zahna dominion , a small aristocratic lordship based at Zahna Castle . Between 1486 and 1490 the Zahna office was combined with the Wittenberg office . The territory of the Zahna rulership or the Zahna office is now divided between the two federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt in three districts ( Lkr. Wittenberg , Potsdam-Mittelmark district and Teltow-Fläming district ).

history

The Burgward Zahna was first mentioned in 1187. The lords of Zahna seem to have acquired the small rule independently of the other territorial lords. They were noble and appear in the few documents not as vassals, but as equals. The Zahna dominion was settled by Flemish-Low German newcomers, as the place names show. The Lords of Zahna died out around 1200. The rule must then have come under the Saxon-Wittenberg fiefdom. The next owner of the Zahna estate was the von Wederden family, who named themselves after the village of Werderthau (Gem. Petersberg near Halle). They were Wettin feudal people there. The wittenberg fiefdom is first documented in 1269. It is not clear whether the Saxon-Wittenberg dukes already gained fiefdom over the Lords of Zahna, or only over the v. Neitherden. According to the family legend, the last daughter of a Zahnaer Ingeburg is said to have been married to a Wederden. The family v. Neither was able to acquire the ducal-Saxon castle district of Gommern from the Magdeburg burgraviate in the 14th century .

In 1366 the v. Neither the male line of Zahna, and the fiefdom fell as a completed fiefdom to the Saxon-Wittenberg elector Rudolf II . In 1371 his successor and brother Wenzel I transferred the Zahna castle and rule to his wife Siliola (Cäcilia von Carrara) as a widow's residence. Siliola was widowed in 1388 and lived at Zahna Castle until 1430. In 1436, Elector Frederick the Meek changed Zahna into an independent office , the official seat was in Zahna. Between 1486 and 1490, the Zahna office was merged with the Wittenberg office , and the official seat was moved to Wittenberg. However, it was settled separately by the bailiff in Wittenberg for a few decades (e.g. 1513) before it finally became part of the Wittenberg district and the name also disappeared. The term Amt Zahna was also used in the Saxon church and school visits from 1524 ff .

Associated places

In 1513 six mills belonged to the Zahna office:

  • New mill (near Rahnsdorf)
  • Dornbuschmühle (near Zahna)
  • Heiligegeistmühle (near Zahna)
  • Buckendorf's mill
  • Hainmühle
  • Mill zu Bülzig

supporting documents

literature

  • Friedrich Dorno: The Fläming and the rule Wiesenburg. Agricultural-historical studies from the northern offices of the Saxon spa district. 112 p., Munich & Leipzig, published by Duncker & Humblot, 1914
  • Otto Alexander Oppermann: The Saxon office of Wittenberg in the beginning of the 16th century: depicted on the basis of an inheritance book from 1513. (=  Leipzig studies from the field of history , 4th volume, 2nd issue) 120 p., Duncker & Humblot, 1897 ( digitized version ).
  • Beck, Lorenz Friedrich: The forgotten electorate. The ducal Ascanians and their territory between Fläming, lower Mulde and Schwarzer Elster. In: Contributions to the regional and state culture of Saxony-Anhalt, 28: pp. 72–89, Halle 2003.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl August H. Burkhardt: History of the Saxon church and school visits from 1524 to 1545. Grunow, 1879 (p. 149)