History of the town of Geithain

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The history of the city of Geithain , located roughly halfway between the Saxon cities of Leipzig and Chemnitz , was determined in particular by the work of the Saxon margraves, dukes, electors and kings from the Wettin family .

Prehistoric and early historical settlement

About 6,900 years ago, on the level ridge on the southern part of today's Geithains district, a 300 to 400 year old cultural settlement with stitched ceramics was built . During the archaeological excavations in connection with the construction of the motorway, the remains of longhouses up to 20 m in size were documented and, in addition to typical ceramics and stone axes , grinding and grating stones made from Rochlitz porphyry tufa were recovered. Among them were several semi-finished pieces, which suggests local production. Settlement remains or burial grounds from the Bronze and Iron Ages are not yet known. Apparently the comparatively high area surrounding Geithain was uninhabited from the late Neolithic to the high Middle Ages.

Land development and town development in the 12th and early 13th centuries

In the middle of the 12th century, Margrave Dedo III began. , called the Feiste, in the territory between Pleiße and Zwickauer Mulde, inherited from his father, Margrave Konrad the Great, with the expansion of the state . This was accompanied by the emergence of a merchant settlement below the Nikolaikirche , an early urban development phase , such as that also existed in Rochlitz and other Saxon cities. Geithain lay on the way between Dedo's most important castles, the Wiprechtsburg Groitzsch and Rochlitz , and a trade route leading from Altenburg via Colditz to Leisnig . Centuries later, the area later called Altdorf was to differ significantly from the rest of the city in the land register files with the tax burdens.

Geithain comes into the light of the written tradition in a deed in 1186, which recorded the donation of the income from the Marienkirche in today's Wickershain district by Dedo to the Merseburg bishop , to whose district it belonged. Their location is described as "in villa superior Chiten" , which can be translated either as "in the village of Obergeithain" or "in the village above Geithain". The Old Sorbian name for Geithain refers to the place of a person named * Chyt (Chit) . The parish church of St. Marien for the villages of Wickershain and Narsdorf was probably built as a separate church by Countess Bertha von Morungen , daughter of Count Wiprecht von Groitzsch , before 1144 . In 1205 Pope Innocent III confirmed . the monastery of Zschillen (today Wechselburg ) the rights that Count Dedo von Groitzsch had given him in 1186 because of the Marienkirche in front of Geithain. Since then, the name of the city has been initially spelled with G: Giten, Gyten, later Gitan.

The merchant settlement was not part of the Marienkirche. The St. Nikolai Church of the Merchants, a Romanesque basilica of astonishing size, stands in a dominant position on the spur-like foothills of a ridge. Around the turn of the 13th century, east of the Nikolaikirche, now also used as the parish church, the town of Geithain was built around the elongated street market, which in turn has a parallel in the nearby town of Rochlitz, which is about the same old. In 1209 the town and Nikolaikirche were named again in a document when Dedo's son, Margrave Konrad II von Landsberg, ordered the creation of a hospital and a Jakobus chapel, both located in front of the town. The feudal income for their maintenance came from Altdorf and Wickershain.

The city flourished in the 14th century

Lower gate

On April 13, 1348, a Friedrich von Schönburg , Herr zu Hassenstein in Bohemia , is enfeoffed with "Gythain". In 1357 a Friedrich von Schönburg left Geithain (and Kohren) to the Lords of Reuss .

In the middle and second half of the 14th century, the city and the surrounding area flourished under Margrave Wilhelm I the One-Eyed . Geithain was administered in the Middle Ages by a bailiff , who had his seat in the Freihof, first mentioned in 1349. The Geithainer Pulverturm, today one of the city's sights, was part of the Freihof and, together with it, was integrated into the city fortifications.

The powder tower

Around 1349/50 there is talk of a "curia et castrum", a courtyard and a castle, in connection with the city.

Before 1377, a supraregional jury chair was set up in Geithain , which also passed judgments for neighboring cities. This right was confirmed to the Geithain jury in 1432 by the sovereign. In 1392 Geithain acquired lower jurisdiction .

In 1376 a wooden water pipe was laid from the upper reaches of the Eula for kilometers into the city and was put into operation with the help of (later a total of eight) cisterns . It was retained until the waterworks went into operation in 1904. In 1384 water mills and windmills around Geithain were first mentioned.

Trade, Industry and Religion in the 15th and 16th Centuries

Geithain's oldest town seal dates from 1416 and in 1904 became the basis for the town's coat of arms, which is still in use today. In 1467 the city was also able to acquire upper jurisdiction .

The oldest written evidence of the Geithainer Leineweber comes from a document issued in 1449. The bleaching works in Chemnitz had complained to the sovereign because others were driving “namely from Gitan” to Rochlitzer Bleiche . The Rochlitzers replied that the linen had been "bleached here for many long years before and during the reign of Margrave Wilhelm the One-Eyed [died 1407]". It can therefore be assumed that the line weaving mill in Geithain was already in operation around 1400. The oldest surviving guild rules for linen weavers dates back to 1575.

In 1456 the Geithain linen weaving guild was first documented. In 1462 lime pits and lime kilns were in operation in the vicinity of the city (first mentioned as early as 1400). From 1499 three annual fairs were held. In 1508 the statutes of the city were first written down by the sovereign, in which, among other things, the norms for inheritance law and urban criminal law are contained. The statues, which were renewed in 1553 and increased by numerous implementation provisions to 27 commandments, are of supraregional importance. In the same context, the shoemaker's guild was first mentioned in 1508. In 1522 the tailors' guild received their privilege. After a brewery was built in 1529, Elector Moritz granted the city the right to brew brew in 1553 .

Under Duke Heinrich the Pious , Albertine Saxony turned to Luther's teachings in 1539 and 1540 . The Reformation was therefore also introduced in Geithain on the 1st of Advent 1539. In the year 1551 a "Geistige Vorsteherei" is attested for the city, to which nine parishes belonged.

In 1575 a sovereign examination of the Latin school took place, from which it emerges that the younger pupils had to learn the fables of Aesop by heart and the pupils of the two upper classes had to practice the ethics of Erasmus of Rotterdam . Classes were in Latin, knowledge of which was a prerequisite for studying at the university.

War effects and garrison town in the 17th and 18th centuries

The Thirty Years War (1618–1648) also affected Geithain. The city was looted a total of seventeen times during this war. In 1641 the city council's police regulations were introduced as the norm of the city's criminal law with 48 do's and don'ts.

After Elector Johann Georg III. When a standing army was introduced in the Electorate of Saxony in 1683 , the city was designated a garrison site. When the Carlowitzer Company was to be quartered, the city council raised objections to the state government. Therefore, the garrison did not begin until 1689 as a permanent location for a company grenadiers.

In the course of the survey of the Electorate of Saxony under Augustus the Strong , two post mile columns were set up in Geithain in 1727 .

The town hall on the market

Upswing of the bourgeoisie and industrialization in the 19th century

In 1833 a civil town order was introduced in Geithain. The electoral roll for the election of the city council contained the names of 349 citizens and 61 day laborers, women were not eligible to vote. However, under the new suffrage, voters could only elect 30 electors , who in turn elected city councilors. At that time the city had 2975 inhabitants, including 64 linen weavers, 26 tailors, 146 day laborers and artisans.

In 1853 the municipal savings bank was founded . In 1855 the first public street lighting was installed in the city. Initially powered by petroleum, it was converted to gas in 1904 and finally replaced by an electric one in 1911. In 1861, freedom of trade was issued in the Kingdom of Saxony. As a result, the old guilds of linen weavers, tanners, rope makers, furriers and cooperatives dissolved in Geithain. In the same year the first edition of the newspaper "Geithainer Wochenblatt" appeared, which was published until 1943. Until 1856, Geithain was in the Electoral Saxon or Royal Saxon Office of Rochlitz . From 1856 the place belonged to the Geithain court office and from 1875 to the Borna district administration .

The war memorial

After the construction of the station building began in 1869, it was connected to the Saxon-Bavarian railway network on April 8, 1872 with the opening of the Neukieritzsch – Chemnitz railway line. Finally, in 1887, the Leipzig – Geithain – Chemnitz line was opened. With the withdrawal of the 2nd Royal Saxon Uhlan Regiment No. 18 to Leipzig on April 1, 1897, the city's 200-year garrison period ended. In the former riding hall of the Geithainer Garrison, the Geithainer enamel factory, which still exists today, was built in 1898.

The Paul Guenther School
Former district office

20th century

The Paul Guenther School was inaugurated on October 29, 1925. With its 36 m high tower it is one of the most striking points in the silhouette of this city today. The school was built at the suggestion of the school director Louis Petermann (honorary citizen of the city, * August 13, 1870, † March 22, 1964), who, in view of the poor spatial and structural conditions in the old school building, turned to Paul Guenther with the request for a school to be founded turned.

In the Second World War 1939–1945, the city had 219 deaths. On April 13, 1945, 13 people were killed in the only air raid on the city. The target of the low-flying aircraft in this attack was the train station. On April 14, 1945, the Second World War ended for Geithain with the arrival of American troops.

In the course of the administrative reform in the GDR , Geithain became a district town in 1952. In 1969, after a two-year construction period, the municipal outdoor pool was opened. In the same year the polyclinic was inaugurated. In 1986 the citizens of Geithain celebrated the city's 800th anniversary. The political change began in Geithain with the Reformation service on October 31, 1989 and the demonstration that followed.

In 1994 Syhra and Niedergräfenhain were incorporated . In the same year, on August 1, 1994, Geithain lost its status as a district town with the creation of the Leipziger Land district. In 1995 the place Nauenhain was incorporated. On January 1, 2002, the Narsdorf community merged with Geithain to form an administrative community. On July 1, 2017 Narsdorf was incorporated into Geithain and the administrative community was dissolved.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoph Steinmann: A flat ceramic settlement landscape. Sites along the A72 motorway . In: Archaeo 4, 2007 ISSN  1614-8142 , p. 14 f.
  2. ↑ Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae IA 2, p. 358 No. 518 Z. 25. Online edition: http://codex.isgv.de/codex.php?band=cds1a2&f=&a=b&s=358
  3. ↑ Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae IA 3, p. 69, No. 86, lines 29-30. Online edition: http://codex.isgv.de/codex.php?band=cds1a3&f=&a=b&s=069
  4. ↑ Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae IA 3, p. 110 f. No. 141. Online edition: http://codex.isgv.de/codex.php?band=cds1a3&f=&a=b&s=110
  5. ↑ Reiner Groß: "Schönburgische Geschichte, Eine Zeittafel", editors: Britta Günther, Michael Wetzel, Tommy Schmucker, Chemnitz 2005, p. 8
  6. ↑ Reiner Groß: "Schönburgische Geschichte, Eine Zeittafel", editors: Britta Günther, Michael Wetzel, Tommy Schmucker, Chemnitz 2005, p. 8
  7. ^ Journal of the Savigny Foundation for Legal History . German Department. 75, 1958 ISSN  0323-4045 , p. 328.
  8. ↑ Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae II 6, p. 113 f. No. 143. Online edition: http://codex.isgv.de/codex.php?band=cds2_06&f=&a=b&s=113
  9. ↑ Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae II 6, p. 114 f. No. 144. Online edition: http://codex.isgv.de/codex.php?band=cds2_06&f=&a=b&s=114
  10. ↑ See also Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae II 6, p. 229 f. No. 264. Online edition: http://codex.isgv.de/codex.php?band=cds2_06&f=&a=b&s=229
  11. ↑ Geithain City Archives No. 2122
  12. ^ Sächsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig, Amt Rochlitz, No. 1768
  13. ↑ Saxon Main State Archive Dresden Loc. 1990/3
  14. ↑ Geithain City Archives No. 1, p. 23 a f.
  15. ↑ Saxon Main State Archives Dresden , Geh. War Coll., Div. No.
  16. ↑ Geithain City Archives No. 382
  17. ^ Karlheinz Blaschke , Uwe Ulrich Jäschke : Kursächsischer Ämteratlas. Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-937386-14-0 ; P. 58 f.
  18. ^ The Borna District Administration in the municipal directory 1900

literature

  • Karlheinz Blaschke : St. Nicholas patronage and early urban history. In: Peter Johanek (Hrsg.): Urban plan and urban development. Research into the development of central European cities. Selected essays by Karlheinz Blaschke. (Urban research series A, representations vol. 44). 2nd Edition. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2001, ISBN 3-412-02601-8 , p. 3 ff.
  • Karlheinz Blaschke: Studies on the early history of the urban system in Saxony. In: ibid. P. 83ff.
  • Peter Findeisen: Geithains churches. St. Marien and St. Nikolai. A church leader. Geithain 2006.
  • Klaus Höller: Edge pillars and edge rods in the east of Saxony. References and development in the second half of the 12th century. In: Castles and palaces in Saxony-Anhalt. Communications from the Saxony-Anhalt regional group of the German Castle Association. 9, 2000, ISSN  0944-4157 , p. 84 ff.
  • Klaus Höller: Structural influences between the Saale and Zwickauer Mulde in the second half of the 12th century. In: Lutz Heydick (Ed.): On the history of churches and settlements in the Leipzig area. (Leipziger Land. Volume 2). Sax, Beucha 2001, ISBN 3-934544-22-3 , p. 47 ff.
  • Wolfgang Reuter: On the town history of Geithain in the high Middle Ages. In: Lutz Heydick (Ed.): On the history of churches and settlements in the Leipzig area. (Leipziger Land. Volume 2). Sax, Beucha 2001, ISBN 3-934544-22-3 , p. 125 f.
  • Wolfgang Reuter: Chronicle of the city of Geithain. Part 1: From the beginning until 1634. Dedo, Geithain 2001, ISBN 3-00-008522-X . Part 2: From 1635 to 1923 inflation. Dedo, Geithain 2003, ISBN 3-00-008522-X .
  • Gottfried Senf: Geithain Journal. Contributions to the city and school history Part I, II, III ISBN 978-3-8334-2554-7
  • Gottfried Senf: Chronicle of the city of Geithain. Part III, 1924 to 2000