Lorenzkirch

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Lorenzkirch
Zeithain parish
Coordinates: 51 ° 21 ′ 18 "  N , 13 ° 14 ′ 34"  E
Height : 93  (92-96)  m
Area : 2.8 km²
Residents : 116  (December 31, 2014)
Population density : 41 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation : January 1, 1994
Postal code : 01619
Area code : 035264
View over Lorenzkirch to Strehla. From left to right you can see the Laurentiuskirche von Lorenzkirch, the Stadtkirche Zum Heiligen Leichnam von Strehla and the castle Strehla. This view welcomes the traveler on the county road K 8576 shortly before Lorenzkirch.
View from the landing stage of the pedestrian ferry in Strehla over the Elbe to Lorenzkirch

Lorenzkirch is a row village of the municipality Zeithain in the center of the district Meissen in Saxony near Riesa . On October 19, 2012, Lorenzkirch was named one of the most beautiful villages in Saxony after its certification . Since then it has belonged to the interest group of Saxony's most beautiful villages .

Lorenzkirch is the lowest village in Saxony and is located on the right bank of the Elbe on a flood-prone valley sand dune opposite Strehla . Lorenzkirch was affected by the floods in 2002 and 2013 . Lorenzkirch is known for its Laurentiuskirche and the annual Lorenzmarkt.

Population development

Population development of Lorenzkirch from 1551 to 2010
year Residents year Residents year Residents
1551 29 1890 284 1950 616
1764 40 1910 317 1964 551
1834 312 1925 344 1990 374
1867 335 1939 469 1996 173
1871 314 1946 636 2010 143

etymology

Historical evidence of place names: plebanus sancti Laurencii (1274), sancti Laurentii (1274), Sanctus Laurentius (1308), apud sanctum Laurentium (1343, 1350), Laurenz Church (1383), Lorencz Church (1406), Lorencz Church (1513), Sant Lorentz Churches (1544), Lorentzkirch (1716), Lorentzkirche (1752), Lohrenzkirch (1765), Lorenzkirch or Lorenzkirchen (1840–1875), later Lorenzkirch.

Location in the Elbe Valley

The flood island of Lorenzkirch

Map from 1839/40

Lorenzkirch is located in a former alluvial cone of the Elbe, which extends from Hirschstein Castle in the south to Kreinitz in the north. Up to four tributaries with transverse channels, islands and terraces ran side by side in the up to seven kilometers wide flood plain . Lorenzkirch and Cottewitz were surrounded by three Elbarmen on a valley sand dune. This made the place an island location, but enabled the formation of fords for a river crossing of the Hohe Straße . In the floodplain, the following locations were created on flood islands over time: Grödel , Moritz , Promnitz , Röderau , Bobersen , Forberge , Gohlis , Oppitzsch , Zschepa , Lorenzkirch, Cottewitz and Kreinitz. During the flooding, these places were either enclosed or completely flooded. The flood map from 2002 shows that despite the existing dykes, the flood completely filled the floodplain and flooded the islands on which the houses and churches stood. Sometimes dykes were washed away after they were flooded because they were too low, sometimes dykes broke because they were in a former branch of the Elbe and the water pressure was particularly strong at this point.

The line village Lorenzkirch

The Laurentius Church in Lorenzkirch. Postcard from the painter Pedro Schmiegelow from 1900 to 1911.

Lorenzkirch was originally a round piece with an adjoining single row. It developed into a line village. The Lorenzkirch pastor Carl Paul described the Zeilendorf Lorenzkirch in 1901 as follows: It is the lowest-lying Saxon Elbe village. Its houses form a long row that runs in the same direction as the current. The dangerous neighborhood of the temporarily unleashed element forced the residents to build in a line for mutual protection. Seen from above, the village looks like a long, slender vehicle, especially when the tide reaches the place during high tide. The church tower, which is almost in the middle, rises like a mast tree from the row of houses. Immediately below the homesteads, barely noticeable to the uninformed eye from a distance, is the strong flood dam. The wide foreland on the river side is covered with wonderful meadows. The flood dam is not on the Elbe side, but on the back of the building; it served to protect the fields during floods of the Elbe in order to secure the harvest. The buildings had front doors on the Elbe side facing the street and on the back facing the dike to secure the evacuation over the dike. For a long time, the dike was also used by schoolchildren during floods as a way to school in Lorenzkirch, which was next to the church and close to the dike.

The Laurentiuskirche

The Laurentiuskirch, from which the place name is derived, is essentially a Romanesque church. The apse still has a Romanesque arched frieze . The ship and tower have plastered stone masonry . Decorations made of brick with an ornamental surface are remarkable.

The church served as a refuge for people, pets and cattle during floods; all spent the flood on the gallery or on a layer of boards that were attached to the benches as a raised platform. Since the floor of the church is below the level of the cemetery, the high water in the church could not drain away, but only seep away if it was not drained or pumped out. The water level from the flood often reaches a height of one hundred and sixty centimeters in the church.

The Nixstein

The rest of the Nixstein is in Strehla on the side of the Elbweg Am Nixstein on a dead arm of the Elbe .

Below the Elbe, between Strehla and Cottewitz, at kilometer 116, lies a broad granite rock: the Nixstein . It used to jut out of the water to a width of over eight meters (sixteen cubits ) up to the middle of the river, endangered shipping, caused ice rushes with the resulting flooding and was the reason for an etiological story that gave the name Nixstein to the homes of mermaids in the Granite rock explained. Johannes Herrmann suspects that sand and rubble from the Rietzschebach , which flows into the Elbe next to the Nixstein, created a ford between the banks of the Elbe from Strehla and Lorenzkirch a thousand years ago.

Attempts to blow away the Nixstein in the Elbe in 1870, 1904, 1908, 1911 and 1929 were not very successful. Only large underwater explosions from 1936 to June 24, 1937 finally made safe shipping possible. These explosions created columns of water sixty to eighty meters high. The upper edge of the highest Nixstein reefs is now at level 121 of the Strehla gauge at a height of 87.68 meters above sea level. When the water is low and the water level is lower, the Nixsteine ​​emerge from the Elbe. This happened, for example, in September 1992 at level 116, in 1993 at level 112 and in 1994 at level 111. On the Lorenzkirch side of the Elbe there was a starvation stone at the small ferry whose surface was at a height of 87 at level 132 of the Strehla level. 80 meters above sea level. It was removed in 1932 when the dead Elbar was created. He is depicted on maps and engravings from the 19th century. On the banks of the Elbe from Strehla, on the side of the Elbe path Am Nixstein, there is a preserved granite block from the Nixstein on a dead arm of the Elbe . The baptismal angel, donated by Theodor Paul and designed by the sculptor Johannes Seiler , is located in the Sankt Laurentiuskirche in Lorenzkirch with a cast bronze baptismal bowl on a granite base. This granite base was broken in 1909 in a diving bell from the Nixstein in the Elbe .

Flood

Flood and ice

In addition to the flooding, a particular danger on the Elbe was also the ice that had already formed on the way from Bohemia on the Elbe and that was pushed towards the villages in thick layers during flooding. The residents of Lorenzkirch have protected themselves for centuries with curbstones on the house walls and on the street walls. Since the ice has not drifted in the last few decades and is no longer expected, almost all curbstones in Lorenzkirch were removed after the flood in 2002.

A report on the flood of March 3, 1855 shows the dimensions of the ice drift near Lorenzkirch:

Most of the large embankments in Promnitz and Moritz were breached, and the entire Bohemian ice went through these dam breaks behind Gohlis , where it remained on the fields of the communities of Zschepa , Lorenzkirch, Kottewitz and Kreinitz. The flood was higher behind the village of Lorenzkirch than in front of it. On the meadows of Lorenzkirch the ice was piled up 4 cubits (= 3.26 meters), and as a result all roads were completely impassable. Big sums had to be paid for chopping the ice and clearing the paths, because 100 men had to be very busy for 14 days. This work was supervised by a pioneer command; the municipalities of Lorenzkirch and Kreinitz received 200 thalers from the state treasury .

Flood in 2002

Alfred Borsdorf (1881–1950) painted the painting Der Jahrmarkt in Lorenzkirch in 1913.

The highest level of the Elbe in Riesa on August 17, 2002 at 9.47 meters led to dangerous flooding in Lorenzkirch. A dike breach on August 16, 2002 at Lorenzkircher Ufer was probably caused by a vortex caused by the Nixstein. Around thirty meters of the dike was washed away, and a crater was created in the ground with a diameter of thirty-five meters and a depth of twelve meters. The dike breaches in August 2002 near Lorenzkirch were caused by the overloading of the main barn. The dikes were flooded and washed out from behind.

The Elbe previously had a security system in the area of ​​Gohlis, Zschepa and Lorenzkirch. At a water level of 7.40 m in Riesa, part of the water overflowed a dike opening near Gohlis. This part of the water used to flow around the main arm of the Elbe via an old arm of the Elbe with a steep gradient. In the second half of the 1990s until 2001, State Road  88 was renewed and large parts of it were re-routed. The old Elbarm was crossed twice and thus cordoned off. The bulk of the 4350 m³ / s of water that the Elbe carried at the top during the August flood in 2002 had to pass the main arm. This led to an additional rise of about 1.25 m in the main arm. This caused the dykes to overflow. Lorenzkirch was evacuated because of the flooding of the place, the cemetery and the church were under high water. Inside the church the water was 1.60 m high. Extensive renovation work was necessary on the houses and the church. In 1890 the Elbe flooded the same extent as in 2002. Using old high water marks it could be proven that in 1890 there was still 50 cm freeboard on the dykes. In Lorenzkirch, the dykes are behind the flooded buildings; they were supposed to protect the fields with the harvest and prevent famine.

Flood 2013

The flood rose on June 3, 2013 in Riesa from 6.60 meters to 7.70 meters and reached its high of 9.40 meters at noon on June 6. Thereafter, the flood in Riesa fell continuously until it reached a level of 6.97 meters on June 12, 2013 at 10 p.m. The flood levels in Riesa in 2002 and 2013 are comparable. The highest level during the 2002 flood in Riesa was 9.47 meters on August 17, 2002 and 9.40 meters on June 6, 2013.

On the afternoon of June 3, 2013, the water levels of the Elbe in Riesa reached high water warning level 4 at 7.5 meters. On June 4, 2013, the properties of the houses in Lorenzkirch were covered by brown flood. Initially, numerous residents of Lorenzkirch refused to leave their homes. But the Zeithain community evacuated them because all road connections were flooded, the sewage treatment plant had failed and electricity and drinking water had to be turned off. The flood reached its peak on June 6, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. with a flood height of 9.40 meters at the Riesa gauge. In the church of Lorenzkirch, whose movable inventory had been brought to the galleries before the flood, the water of the Elbe was 1.10 meters high on June 6, 2013. Lorenzkirch could now only be reached by boat by the security forces and the armed forces and was in a restricted area to protect the property of the residents. A video from Riesa TV from June 7, 2013 at around 5 a.m. shows that Lorenzkirch was completely flooded at this time and that the buildings, along with the cemetery and church, were at least one meter in the water. On June 7, 2013, the Elbe in the Lorenzkirch area had an extension of around one kilometer. On that day, the Zeithain community looked like an island landscape in a sea of ​​Elbe water. On June 8, 2013, the flood was over 1.80 meters deep almost everywhere in the Zeithain community and around Strehla. The technical relief organization and the armed forces said: “Due to the persistently strong currents, we cannot transport any people, not even goods, as we are constantly on patrol.” The water level in Riesa fell on June 9, 2013 to 7:00 pm after a level of over nine Meters to a height of 8.32 meters. In the district of Meißen, to which Lorenzkirch belongs, a total of 1,500 members of the fire brigades and the police, 900 soldiers of the Bundeswehr, 500 members of the medical services and 700 employees of the technical relief organization were on duty around the clock.

On June 10, 2013, a resident of Lorenzkirch visited his apartment at a high water level of around 8 meters and found that the high water had been up to 134.5 centimeters in his ground floor apartment when the Elbe reached its highest level of 9.40 meters ; it reached to the window sills of the apartment.

On June 11, 2013 Lorenzkirch could not be reached on foot or by car, but only by boat, although the state road was reopened on June 11, 2013 along the right bank of the Elbe to Lorenzkirch. County road 8576 between Lorenzkirch and Zschepa was still closed. Lorenzkirch has been approached in a transport boat since June 11, 2013. The crossing point was junction S 88.

For the district of Meissen, the disaster alert was also on June 11, 2013. The head of the administrative staff Peter Jönsson justified the decision of the district administrator: “Warning level 3 applies throughout the Saxon section of the Elbe. The level in Riesa is 7.42 meters today (June 11th). There is no longer any immediate danger to life and property. But an infinite amount of rubbish, flotsam on the river or on the banks, completely sodden dykes and a still complicated traffic situation in the entire district are the reasons why the alarm is not lifted. "(Status: June 25, 2013)

Required flood protection

The establishment of flood protection for Lorenzkirch is in the middle priority status. A 1,520 meter long flood protection wall is required on the Elbe side and the existing landside dykes must be raised to a uniform level. For the land-side dike section 14-2 Zschepa Lorenzkirch, Dipl.-Ing. F. Köhler carried out a project planning. He writes:

“ In the area of ​​the dyke section between Zschepa and Lorenzkirch (dyke km 0 + 000 to 2 + 030) there is an urgent need for renovation due to the dyke condition determined as part of the dike condition analysis (DZA). The dyke section to be planned has considerable stability problems both on the inside and on the bank on the Elbe side, which can lead to failure of the dyke section in the event of a renewed flood event. Due to the special location and function (double-sided damming) of the dike section 14-2 Zschepa-Lorenzkirch, the repair by the installation of statically effective inner seals was favored. As a result of the local constraints in the Lorenzkirch location, it is also necessary to re-route the dike to a length of 350 m. In addition, in the Lorenzkirch locality, the gap to the downstream dike section is to be closed over a length of approx. 200 m. For this purpose, the existing cemetery wall will be integrated into the protective line. "

The total costs for achieving the protection goal HQ (T) in 2005 were calculated at € 2,593 million. The flood protection concept for Lorenzkirch and the municipality of Zeithain that was prepared on December 31, 2006 has not yet been implemented (as of June 25, 2013).

Local history

Foundation of the town of Lorenzkirch, the Sankt Laurentiuskirche and the Laurentiusmarkt

Part of the Lorenzkirch horse market around 1900

At the end of the 10th century the Ekkehardins built the Laurentiuskirche as a wooden church on a valley sand dune and founded the associated Laurentiusmarkt. The valley sand dune was then on an island in the middle of three Elbe arms , over whose fords the Hohe Straße from Frankfurt am Main to Silesia crossed, which were monitored by the Burgward Strehla as a customs post on the left bank of the Elbe. Johannes Herrmann proves that Lorenzkirch was probably built in the second half of the 10th or 11th century in connection with the expansion of the Strehla Castle on the west bank of the Elbe. He assumes that the main arm of the Elbe ran east of Lorenzkirch in the Elbe delta, so that Lorenzkirch, like the Görziger Wallburg, was located on the west bank of the Elbe.

Since the valley sand dune of Lorenzkirch was too small for a city to be founded, the city of Strehla later emerged above the Elbaue on the high bank. From the 13th century to the Reformation , the church of St. Lawrence remained of Lorenzkirch a sanctuary , and the Lawrence market was beginning on the 10th of August the Laurentiustag Death of said Lawrence of Rome , held. The place Lorenzkirch, which arose on the valley sand dune next to the Laurentius Church, had great economic importance as a market town with its market rights newly confirmed in 1834 because of the Lorenzmarkt , which attracted horse breeders, cattle breeders, traders and craftsmen from a wide area. At present, the Lorenzmarkt is celebrated as a folk festival lasting several days with a one-day sales market. In 2009 and 2011, almost all of the sellers in the market were of Indian or Pakistani origin.

The farmers of Lorenzkirch

Postcard from the Lorenzmarkt in Lorenzkirch in 1900

From the end of the 10th century to the middle of the 11th century , the Ekkehardinern from East Thuringia was given the ownership of the Burgrave of Strehla . According to the certificate from Emperor Heinrich IV for Bishop Eberhard von Naumburg from 1065, this Naumburg bishop then received the Burgward Strehla as his own property.

Their domain was the Burgward Strehla with seat in the Görziger Wallburg (the fortified ring wall near Strehla am Nixstein) and later with seat in the castle of Strehla. They were feudal lords of the castle men .

The first four farmers from Lorenzkirch were free nobles and castle men from Burgward Strehla. They cleared on the west side of the Gorischheide a section of the former forestry Lecene and laid west of the church their fields for their farms as Lehnhufe on. They made their living cultivating their fields, and they stockpiled the castle in case of a defense. Her tasks included gathering in the castle for briefings, military exercises, church services and feasts and defending the castle in the event of attacks by the Polish dukes. The Cottewitz Vorwerk was later laid out on their fief hooves.

In the settlement period after 1150, the village of Lorenzkirch was expanded by the settlement of farmers who cleared their own fields east of the Burgmannen fields in the Lecene forest and managed their farms as interest hooves. The church and the monastery courtyard , which served as the kitchen goods of the Mühlberg monastery , lay between the courtyards of the castle men and the farmers .

In the years 1551 and 1764 there were 10 farmers in Lorenzkirch who were described as possessed men and who ran their farm, which produced a good yield due to the fertile alluvial soil . They led the village community, had a say in the community and were allowed to use the common land . As full farmers and owners of a farm with arable land, they were at the top of the village social hierarchy . As a sideline they worked as fishermen, and during the annual Lorenz market their farms and houses were overcrowded with guests who entertained them with carp and drinks. In 1839 a total of thirteen quintals of carp were eaten during the Lorenzmarkt .

Up until the 19th century, the farmhouses contained the so-called hell in the living room . The farmer's bed stood over the walled-in square oven in the living room as a safe place in case the house was flooded.

Ship mills on the Elbe near Lorenzkirch and Strehla around 1840. The miller from Lorenzkirch leaves his ship mill in a boat with two sacks of flour.

The altar group carved from linden wood in the Sankt Laurentiuskirche shows a peasant woman with an ear of wheat and a boatman with a paddle, both kneeling under the crucified Jesus. This crucifixion group by Professor August Schreitmüller was created in 1906 and reminds us that the families of farmers and boatmen shaped life in Lorenzkirch at that time.

The ship miller from Lorenzkirch

The last ship mill in Lorenzkirch, which belonged to the miller Rabenalt, burned down on February 9, 1871 in the evening between 7 and 8 p.m. on the banks of the Elbe in Lorenzkirch. It was rebuilt in 1854 after the previous ship's mill burned down in 1853. In 1871, the ship mills on the Elbe were considered a major obstacle to shipping. Therefore, the state bought the mill from Müller Rabenalt for 1,600 thalers .

The fishermen from Lorenzkirch

Fischer von Lorenzkirch in 1850 with their fish traps . The city of Strehla is on the other side of the Elbe .

The Elbe once had a large fish population. The Meißnische Land und Berg-Chronica by Petrus Albinus from the year 1589 names the following fish species that were found in the Elbe at that time: barbel , trout , pike , carp , salmon , lampreys , tench , wolffish , stickleback , sturgeon (up to 2 hundredweight ) and catfish . In 1938 there were 125 master fishermen along the Saxon Elbe route who found the following fish in the Elbe: eels , barbels, pike, carp, lampreys, roach , tench, and occasional salmon, catfish and pikeperch .

Up until the beginning of the 20th century there were fishermen in Lorenzkirch who were full-time fishermen or who fished as a part-time job. According to the legal situation of 1679, every fisherman had to pay the heir of Pflugk fifteen lampreys or the equivalent in fish or cash each year and also offer him the fish at a reduced price before they were sold.

The Lorenzkircher fishermen did not belong to the guilds in Strehla and Meißen . But the members of these guilds claimed the right, confirmed to them by Duke Georg in 1524, to fish alone from the Dresden Bridge down to over Strehla. They claimed not only fishing in the Elbe itself, but also in the oxbow lakes and in the holes and pools torn from the banks of the Elbe.

The fishermen of the Elbe villages felt this privilege to be unjust and used weapons to defend themselves against the fishermen of the guilds. In 1544 the Meißner fishermen complained that each time they had to give half of the fish caught to the farmers in the Winkel near Sant Lorentz Kirchen and that they were threatened with hitting, shooting, pledging or capturing .

The bombers from Lorenzkirch

The bombers on the Treidelsteg

Until 1871 the Lorenzkirch Bomätscher had work, then they were displaced by steam-powered chain ships. The task of the bombers was to pull the Elbe barges upstream against the river. Pastor Georg Heinrich Sappuhn wrote about them in 1716: Lorentzkirch had twenty small houses, ..., and live off days of work, and as helpers pull ships that lead to Dreßden Getreyde, Holtz, Saltz and Torgauisch Bier.

On the edge of the Elbe there were paved bomber paths on which the bombers went about their work. They gathered at meeting points, for example on the Nixstein, there hung their belts on the fence and came to pull in the order in which they were hung. The heaviest Elbe barges were pulled by two different lengths of pulling lines by about forty bombs who trudged along the bombing path with wide apron-like straps that ran down the armpit to their hips and chained to their ship's line with their cane on which they supported themselves. In addition to pulling, the furthest bomber had the task of lifting the pulling line with a wooden fork over the stone blocks, willows, ship mills and other obstacles.

The previous king set the tone for their rhythmic singing while they were working. The Bomätscherlied rang out in drawn out tones Heio hobe, up to an'n Knobe that you can see how he pulls or in a longer version: Hey hebei, hebei heia! Little ship sail gently and protect us from a wet, cool bath! Hey hey, hey hey! Little ship swim, our voice shall be the marching trumpet! The bombing song indicates that pulling the ship was life-threatening. Often strong currents drove the ship backwards or sideways towards the middle of the river. The ship then dragged the bombers with it into the Elbe.

The helmsmen of Lorenzkirch

View around 1920 from the pier in Strehla to the paddle steamer and to Lorenzkirch on the opposite bank. The helmsman is about to moor the ship in Strehla.

In the cemetery of Lorenzkirch there was the gravestone of a captain and shipowner from the 18th century, on which the stonemason had depicted his fully rigged sailing ships . This captain and shipowner had succeeded - for all to see - what the school children from Lorenzkirch longed for. They wanted to become a helmsman , break out of the narrowness of the village, sail the Elbe, gain wealth and return to Lorenzkirch as a captain or shipowner. The daily view of the sailing ships that glided along the Elbe reinforced this goal in life.

After school, they worked for a farmer for two to three years to feed themselves , then spent the summer as boatswain in Hamburg, Lübeck or Stettin and attended the seafaring school in Riesa in winter . After obtaining the Elbe boat license, they usually married one of the maids they had met while working on the farm. The maids from the Brandenburg village of Kosilenzien , who were considered efficient and hard-working, were particularly popular .

After the wedding, the helmsman took his wife on the Elbe barge on their honeymoon in Hamburg. In later years the woman regularly waited on the Lorenzkircher Ufer for the tugboat steered by her husband and drove with him as far as Riesa to discuss the open questions. As soon as the helmsman received leave due to low water , ice drift or ice rush , he returned to his family and was able to carry out repairs on his house.

April 1945 in Lorenzkirch

The destroyed pontoon bridge with Lorenzkirch in the background of the picture.

200 to 400 refugees and locals died in and near Lorenzkirch, especially on April 22 and 23, 1945 in the village, on the Elbe meadows, in the Elbe, on Lorenzkirch fields and streets and at the sand pit in the forest when she tried had to get to safety from the approaching front across the Elbe. On the evening of April 22, 1945, however, they got right between the fronts and died under shell and rifle fire. Many of the victims could not be identified and had to be buried without a name.

There was a pontoon bridge between Lorenzkirch and Strehla , which was used by many refugees to cross the Elbe, especially in the days before April 23, 1945. This bridge was blown up by German troops, although people were still trying to reach the western bank on the bridge. There were many dead.

With the demolition, the German army wanted to prevent the approaching Red Army from using the bridge for their rapid advance. As a result, however, many refugees were encircled on the Elbe meadows on the eastern bank near Lorenzkirch, and the Red Army had fired artillery on the bank and the remains of the bridge.

The dead on the Elbe meadows were later covered with white cloths by the Red Army and buried together with dead horses by the Lorenzkirch residents in splinter trenches on the Elbe meadows. Civilians also lost their lives in Lorenzkirch and the surrounding area in April 1945; they were mostly buried at the sites where they were found.

April 25, 1945 in Lorenzkirch
Part of the corpse field near Lorenzkirch on April 25, 1945
Albert Kotzebue boarded the boat to Lorenzkirch with American soldiers in Strehla
Albert Kotzebue with American soldiers

Elbe Day on April 25, 1945 in Lorenzkirch

The Elbe Day on April 25 is a day of remembrance of the Second World War . The first meeting of US and Soviet troops on German soil took place on April 25, 1945 at 12.00-13.00 on the Elbe meadows in Lorenzkirch.

The first lieutenant of a US infantry battalion Albert Kotzebue crossed the Elbe from Strehla with three men from his five-man reconnaissance troop, among them soldier Joseph Polowsky (Joe Polowsky). This American Kotzebue patrol from the 273rd Infantry Regiment, 69th Infantry Division, V Corps , 1st Army , met the Russian Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Gordejew, commander of the advance detachment of the Soviet 175th Guards Rifle Regiment, amid hundreds of corpses of German civilians .

Since the corpse field did not seem suitable for heroic photos and was not suitable for a historical encounter, the Commissioner Karpowitsch broke from the 58th Div. the meeting and sent the Americans back to the west bank of the Elbe to the opposite city Strehla. In order to avoid being assigned blame because of the many civilians killed, the meeting in Lorenzkirch was not recorded and not published.

Memorial sites in Lorenzkirch

Memorial stone in front of the Lorenzkirch cemetery.

The memorial stone on the Alte Salzstrasse on the edge of the Lorenzkirch cemetery with the inscription April 1945 was made by the Kulturverein Lorenzkirch e. V. donated, inscribed by the master stonemason Rudolf from Riesa and inaugurated on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the terrible warlike events in Lorenzkirch on April 22, 1995 in a commemoration ceremony. The mayor Hannes Berger from Zeithain gave the memorial address . The memorial stone commemorates the terrible events in the last days of the Second World War in Lorenzkirch and the first meeting of US and Soviet troops on German soil on the Elbe meadows of Lorenzkirch.

In the cemetery, a bench under an old linden tree invites you to linger. Next to it stands a simple sandstone column at the grave site of 51 war victims. The community of Lorenzkirch placed a stele inscribed by the master stonemason Rudolf from Riesa on this grave , which was inaugurated on November 17, 1992 in a memorial service. The stele bears the following inscriptions on its sides:

  • Linger and remember the fallen and missing from Lorenzkirch, Zschepa and Cottewitz between 1939 and 1945
  • The dead of various peoples in April 1945 in Lorenzkirch
  • The lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23: 1.

Future perspective

Member of the interest group "Saxony's Most Beautiful Villages"

On October 19, 2012, Lorenzkirch was named one of the most beautiful villages in Saxony after its certification . Since then it has belonged to the interest group of Saxony's most beautiful villages .

The interest group of Saxony's most beautiful villages is an independent subdivision of the Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz e. V. and emerged from the working group of the same name of the rural tourism initiative Saxony's adventure villages. Extraordinary villages in Saxony should be presented and marketed as individual features, but also as representatives of their municipality or region. Lorenzkirch has the following advantages for membership in the interest group of Saxony's Most Beautiful Villages : The location on the Elbe and the natural integration of Lorenzkirch is brilliant, from an urban planning point of view, the ensemble in the wider area around the church is impressive, Lorenzkirch has an extraordinary history of supraregional interest, and the tourist potential is very good because of the Elbe Cycle Path that runs through Lorenzkirch .

The interest group of Saxony's most beautiful villages rated Lorenzkirch on March 23, 2011 as follows:

Lorenzkirch, with its village structure as a line village on the Elbe, is a specialty (albeit typical for the region). The historical testimonies from the former pilgrimage church to the tomb of the verifiably first “Coffee Saxon” to the birthplace of the physics Nobel laureate Wolfgang Paul are unique . The village is literally an insider tip, which some travelers on the Elbe Cycle Path or pilgrim path might not even notice if the first information boxes, sightseeing and accommodation offers did not invite you to stop. All in all an extraordinary village with many special features and tourist potential, with committed residents and a supporting community, but also a lot of development needs.

Open Monument Day 2014: One year after the flood - Lorenzkirch is back

On September 14, 2014, the Open Monument Day took place in Lorenzkirch. The interest group “Saxony's most beautiful villages” in Lorenzkirch and the Zeithain community presented the status of the reconstruction and development of their village.

Sons and daughters of the place

Other personalities of the place

literature

Further references can be found under the references.

  • Georg Heinrich Sappuhn : Historical news from the Lorentzkirch parish in the Inspection Hayn Anno 1716. (PDF; 2.6 MB) Visit report of the parish office. Lorenzkirch 1716 (copy in the Grossenhain archive of the superintendent and its copy in the church archive of Lorenzkirch).
  • Christian Gotthelf Heyme: The Lorenzkirch Parish. In: The Grossenhain, Radeberg and Bischofswerda inspections as the eighth division of Saxony's church gallery. 7th volume. Hermann Schmidt Verlag, Dresden approx. 1842. Page 181ff , Page 199ff and illustration of the church .
  • Albert Reinhold: The fair in Lorenzkirchen. Folk painting. Verlag von Gebrüder Thost, Zwickau 1854. The texts relating to the Lorenzmarkt in this novel are summarized in the following brochure: Carl Grunewald (Ed.): From the heyday of the Lorenzmarkt. Reissued after the folk painting by Albert Reinhold. (PDF; 141 kB) Georg Luck Verlag, Strehla 1909.
  • Carl Paul : The Lorenzkirch Parish. in: D. Georg Buchwald: New Saxon Church Gallery. Ephorie Oschatz. Column 425-438 . Arwed Strauch publishing house, Leipzig 1901.
  • Cornelius Gurlitt : Lorenzkirch. In:  Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. 27. Booklet: Oschatz Official Authority (Part I) . CC Meinhold, Dresden 1905, p. 170.
  • Julius Kleber: Chronicle of the city Strehla and surroundings . Commissioned by Robert Noske, Borna and Leipzig in 1909.
  • Lorenzkirch - its market and its local museum. (Responsibility: -z). In: The black magpie. Our home in words and pictures. Free addition to the Liebenwerdaer Kreisblatt. No. 207 of October 9, 1913.
  • Otto Eduard Schmidt : Forays in Saxony . Third volume: From the old Mark Meißen. Pp. 152-176. Verlag der Buchdruckerei der Wilhelm und Bertha v. Baensch Foundation, Third Edition, Dresden 1924.
  • Otto Eduard Schmidt : Gravestone of Georg Heinrich Sappuhn. In: Archives for Saxon History , 28th vol .; 1907 (pp. 135-137)
  • Carl Paul : A pilgrimage church on the Elbe. In: Mülsener Kirchenblatt. Monthly news for the parishes of the Mülsengrund: Mülsen St. Jacob, Mülsen St. Niclas, Mülsen St. Micheln, Thurm, Schlunzig, Wernsdorf and Heinrichsort. 3rd year, No. 11 from November 1927.
  • Karl Trebst: From the Lorenzmarkt. In: Sächsischer Bauernkalender , 1932. No. 11/1932, pp. 46–47.
  • Heinrich Gotthelf Ruppel (Ed. G. Luck): From Strehla's past days: A piece of local history. Volume 2. Strehla 1938.
  • Heinz Schöne: The year 1945 in Lorenzkirch and the surrounding area: German contemporary witnesses report. ( Memento of January 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.3 MB) Polypring Riesa GmbH., Riesa o. J.
  • Bruno Herrmann: The rule of the Naumburg bishopric on the middle Elbe . Series: Central German Research Volume 59.Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 1970.
  • Heinz Schöne: The Lorenzkirch community. In: Around the Collm. Weekly newspaper of the local editorial office Oschatz. Leipziger Verlags- u. Druckereigesellschaft, Leipzig 1992, 2, p. 6, 3, p. 7, 4, p. 4, 5, p. 7, 6, p. 3, 7, p. 6.
  • Heinz Schöne: A village on the Elbe: Lorenzkirch. In: Der Heimatbote: Excursions into culture and history between the Elbe and Mulde. Vol. 3. Verlag Werbe- und Phila-Service Schmidt. Oschatz 1998. 2, pp. 28-29. ISSN  1431-6064 .
  • Church Council d. Evangelical Lutheran parish Lorenzkirch, editorship Hubert Kalix: Festschrift for the rededication of the Jehmlich organ. Lorenzkirch 1999.
  • Ingmar Balfanz: The prehistoric and early historical settlement of the Riesa-Großenhain district (Reg.-Bez. Dresden) Diss. Halle-Wittenberg from July 4, 2003. pp. 188–193 (No. 40–41), pp. 405– 408 (No. 91) et al
  • Gottfried Müller: Lorenzkirch as a bridgehead on the right bank of the Elbe on Hohe Strasse. Topographical and ecclesiastical considerations. In: Messages ... of the Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz e. V .: Conservation of nature, local history, preservation of monuments and folklore. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2002, 1, pp. 19–33. ISSN  0941-1151
  • A child at war - Lorenzkirch memories. In: Der Heimatbote - excursions into culture and history between the Elbe and Mulde. Booklet 18. Publishing, Advertising and Phila Service Robert Schmidt. Oschatz ( table of contents ).
  • Claudia Trümmer: Early brick building in Saxony and southern Brandenburg (= culture and forms of life in the Middle Ages and modern times ; Vol. 4), scripvaz, Berlin 2011. pp. 327–330. ISBN 978-3-931278-57-1 .

Web links

Commons : Lorenzkirch  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Elbe Day  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Archives

swell

  1. ↑ Hagen Henke, Helmut Neumann: The flood of the century in Riesa: Röderau-Süd, Boritz, Gohlis, Lorenzkirch, Kreinitz, Strehla. Elbsand-Verlag, Lorenzkirch 2002. Heinz Schöne: The flood in Lorenzkirch. Elbsand-Verlag, Lorenzkirch 2003. Jeanette Oleak: Immediate flood protection program: St. Laurentius in Lorenzkirch (Zeithain) : Final report. Start of project December 91, 2002, end of project June 1, 2004. Oleak architects' office, Dresden 2004.
  2. ↑ Source: Karlheinz Blaschke : Historical local directory of Saxony , Part II, Leipzig 1957. Information from 1867, 1996 and 2009 has been added.
  3. ↑ Source: Heinz Schöne: The flood in Lorenzkirch. Elbsand-Verlag, Lorenzkirch 2003. Page 6, 55-58, 83-84.
  4. ↑ Source: Carl Paul: Die Parochie Lorenzkirch. in: D. Georg Buchwald: New Saxon Church Gallery. Ephorie Oschatz. Column 425-438 . Arwed Strauch publishing house, Leipzig 1901.
  5. ↑ Saxony's most beautiful villages - Lorenzkirch Gallery
  6. ↑ Source: Heinrich Gotthelf Ruppel (Ed. G. Luck): From Strehla's past days: A piece of local history. Volume 2, Strehla 1938, pp. 264-266
  7. ^ Johannes Herrmann: Lorenzkirch, Markt des Burgwards Strehla in the Daleminzergau of the Mark Meißen. In: Herbergen der Christenheit: Yearbook for German Church History. Vol. 1993/94 (1994), p. 20. Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt Leipzig 1994. ISSN  0437-3014
  8. ↑ Example: Wilhelm Ernst August von Schlieben: Map of the Elbe and the flood areas in Saxony, 1: 4 800, colored hand drawing, 1820-1833 (Deutsche Fotothek, photo: dd_hstad-mf_0005320 with this permalink ).
  9. ↑ Julius Kleber: Chronicle of the city of Strehla and surroundings. Commissioned by Robert Noske, Borna and Leipzig 1909, page 151.
  10. ↑ Source: Heinz Schöne: The flood in Lorenzkirch. Elbsand-Verlag, Lorenzkirch 2003. Pages 11, 15-16, 57-58.
  11. ↑ German Federal Foundation for Environmental Protection: Immediate flood protection program: St. Laurentius in Lorenzkirch (Zeithain) , restoration of the entrance area to the rectory 2006 .
  12. ↑ Photo of the church interior after the flood in 2013 ( Memento from June 28, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  13. ↑ Police ordinance on a ban on entering the flood-affected areas in the Meißen district (as of June 7, 2013).
  14. ↑ Aerial photo from June 7, 2013 at around 5 a.m. ( Memento from June 19, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  15. ↑ Press release of the district of Meißen from June 7, 2013.
  16. ↑ Video on youtube from June 10, 2013.
  17. ↑ Press release of the district of Meißen from June 11, 2013.
  18. ↑ BPM INGENIEURE: Elbe, right, dike section 14-2 Zschepa Lorenzkirch. ( Memento of May 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 436 kB)
  19. ↑ See results of the state-wide prioritization of flood protection measures from November 30, 2005: HWSK measures list, Lorenzkirch on page 25 below.
  20. ↑ Flood protection concept No. 1 / Elbe: danger map of the municipality of Zeithain (December 31, 2006). (PDF; 178 kB)
  21. ^ Johannes Herrmann: Lorenzkirch, Markt des Burgwards Strehla in the Daleminzergau of the Mark Meißen. In: Herbergen der Christenheit: Yearbook for German Church History. 1993/94 (1994), pp. 17-27. Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt Leipzig 1994. ISSN  0437-3014
  22. ^ Johannes Herrmann: Lorenzkirch, Markt des Burgwards Strehla in the Daleminzergau of the Mark Meißen. In: Herbergen der Christenheit: Yearbook for German Church History. 1993/94 (1994), pp. 26-27.
  23. ^ Birgit Franke, Medieval pilgrimage in Saxony - a work report. (PDF; 123 kB) This short version has been expanded in the following publication: Birgit Franke: Medieval pilgrimage in Saxony - a work report. Work and research reports on Saxon soil monument maintenance, Volume 44, Dresden 2002, pp. 299–398; there: 367f.
  24. ↑ Thomas Riemer: Lorenzmarkt is not a fair of sensations. ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Published in the Sächsische Zeitung , local edition Riesa, on August 22, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / thomas-riemer.npage.de
  25. ↑ The paddle disappeared in the turmoil of the last days of the war in 1945.
  26. ↑ Julius Kleber: Chronicle of the city of Strehla and surroundings . Commissioned by Robert Noske, Borna and Leipzig 1909, page 153.
  27. ↑ Source: Heinrich Gotthelf Ruppel (Ed. G. Luck): From Strehla's past days: A piece of local history. Volume 2. Strehla 1938. pp. 253-255.
  28. ↑ Sources Meißner Ratsarchiv Aa 152, Bl. 1b, 10a and Otto Eduard Schmidt: Kursächsische Streifzüge . Third volume: From the old Mark Meißen , third edition, Dresden 1924, pp. 155–157.
  29. ↑ Source: Historical message from the Lorentzkirch parish in the Inspection Hayn Anno 1716. (PDF; 2.6 MB), page 21b (Lorenzkirch parish archive). This text version differs from the original that Otto Eduard Schmidt found shortly after 1900 in Lorenzkirch. The original was lost in Lorenzkirch and was replaced by a copy of the duplicate in the Grossenhain superintendent .
  30. ↑ Source: Otto Eduard Schmidt : Kursächsische Streifzüge . Third volume: From the old Mark Meißen , Third Edition, Dresden 1924, pp. 165–167.
  31. ↑ The contemporary witness Heinz Schöne wrote on August 14, 1945: It is estimated that around 200 dead were buried. Certainly there are still unknown burial places. How many drowned in the Elbe will remain unknown. Source: Heinz Schöne: The year 1945 in Lorenzkirch and the surrounding area: German contemporary witnesses report. ( Memento of January 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Page 50 (pdf; 2.3 MB)
  32. ^ Thomas Schade: Boat trip to the corpse field. In: Saxon newspaper. April 25, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2018 .
  33. ↑ Image file: Kotzebue and 3 members patrol.jpg (tap image information).
  34. ↑ Image file: Kotzebue Boot.jpg (tap image information).
  35. ↑ History of 273rd Infantry Regiment at 69th-infantry-division.com (Engl.)
  36. ^ Sources: April 1945 in Lorenzkirch - 1st meeting between Russians and Americans. In: Der Heimatbote - excursions into culture and history between the Elbe and Mulde. Booklet 14. Publishing, Advertising and Phila Service Robert Schmidt. Oschatz. - Uwe Niedersen (ed.): Soldiers on the Elbe. US Army, Wehrmacht, Red Army and civilians at the end of the Second World War. Saxon State Center for Political Education. Dresden / Torgau 2008. Pages 103, 170-173, 183-195. - Yanks meet reds - encounter on the Elbe , military publishing house Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-327-00986-4 . Reports from American and Soviet soldiers who attended the meeting. The year 1945 in Lorenzkirch and the surrounding area: German contemporary witnesses report. ( Memento from January 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Compiled by Heinz Schöne. (pdf; 2.3 MB) See also: The crossing over the Elbe near Strehla at the end of the Second World War.
  37. ↑ Two sources give different information: 1) Information about 14 people buried: Stiftung Sächsische Gedenkstätten, Documentation Center Dresden: "Friedhof Alte Salzstrasse in Lorenzkirch". , 2) List with the enumeration of 51 buried: Heinz Schöne: The year 1945 in Lorenzkirch and the surrounding area: German contemporary witnesses report. ( Memento of January 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) pp. 46–52. (pdf; 2.3 MB)
  38. ↑ Information can be found at http://www.sachsens-schoenste-doerfer.de/
  39. ↑ 5th working group meeting on March 23, 2011 in Lorenzkirch - evaluation. ( Memento from January 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 74 kB)
  40. ↑ Carl Paul
  41. ↑ CV
  42. ↑ Gottfried Müller: Of Wolfgang Paul's connection with the village of Lorenzkirch on the Elbe. In: Gottfried Müller (Ed.): Festschrift Wolfgang Paul. Markkleeberg 2008. pp. 24-30.
  43. ↑ Terms of use of the digitized text, see the owner of the digitized book: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek .