Weißensee (Thuringia)

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coat of arms Germany map
Coat of arms of the city of Weißensee
Weißensee (Thuringia)
Map of Germany, position of the city of Weißensee highlighted

Coordinates: 51 ° 12 '  N , 11 ° 4'  E

Basic data
State : Thuringia
County : Sömmerda
Height : 143 m above sea level NHN
Area : 46.71 km 2
Residents: 3699 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 79 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code : 99631
Area code : 036374
License plate : SÖM
Community key : 16 0 68 058
City structure: 7 districts

City administration address : 		Marktplatz 26
99631 Weißensee
Website : www.weissensee.de
Mayor : Matthias Schrot
Location of the city of Weißensee in the Sömmerda district
Alperstedt Andisleben Büchel Buttstädt Eckstedt Elxleben Gangloffsömmern Gebesee Griefstedt Großmölsen Großneuhausen Großrudestedt Günstedt Haßleben Kindelbrück Kleinmölsen Kleinneuhausen Kölleda Markvippach Nöda Ollendorf Ostramondra Rastenberg Riethgen Riethnordhausen (bei Erfurt) Ringleben (bei Gebesee) Schloßvippach Schwerstedt Sömmerda Sprötau Straußfurt Udestedt Vogelsberg Walschleben Weißensee Werningshausen Witterda Wundersleben Thüringenmap
About this picture

Weißensee is a town in the district of Sömmerda in the German Free State of Thuringia .

geography

Geographical location

Weißensee is located in the northern Thuringian Basin , 35 km from Erfurt, and is surrounded by fertile farmland.

Neighboring communities

The following communities border on Weissensee (starting from the north, listed clockwise): Kindelbrück , Favoredt , Riethgen , Griefstedt , Sömmerda , Wundersleben , Straussfurt , Gangloffsommern and Greußen .

City structure

The town of Weißensee includes the incorporated villages of Herrnschwende , Nausiß , Ottenhausen , Scherndorf , Waltersdorf and Schönstedt .

history

Weissensee around 1650
Runneburg zu Weißensee - Palas, residential tower and Marstall from the south
Former Prussian District Office Weißensee on the Runneburg

The development of Weißensee from the Middle Ages to 1933

The establishment of a landgrave's castle on the western edge of today's city can be seen as the nucleus of urban development. There are no archaeological finds or historical sources that prove any previous settlement at this location. Today's Runneburg was the main castle and today's old town Weißensee can be described as the outer bailey. The latter received its own urban rights only after the Landgraves of Thuringia died out, while the main castle remained in sovereign possession. From 1168, the Countess Jutta Claricia of Thuringia , a half-sister of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa , had the castle in Weißensee expanded into a residence for the Landgraves of Thuringia. The place and the castle were mentioned for the first time as "Wyssense" in 1174 in a document from Landgrave Ludwig III., The pious of Thuringia . Weißensee came into the focus of German history in 1180, when Heinrich the Lion defeated the Thuringian Landgrave Ludwig III in the Battle of Weißensee . and defeated his knights. Weissensee also owned a mint during this period. After the Hessian-Thuringian War of Succession , the Thuringian parts of the country and thus Weissensee fell to Margrave Heinrich III. from Meissen. Market rights were granted in 1198 and city rights in 1265. The Wettin margraves stayed frequently and regularly at the castle and in the city. In 1382 Weißensee came back into the possession of the Thuringians. In May 1440, the last Landgrave of Thuringia, Friedrich IV., The peacemaker, died at the Weißensee Castle, which then came into the possession of the Dukes of Saxony. When Leipzig was divided in 1485, the city, the castle and the Weißensee office came under the Albertine line of the Wettins. During the Peasants' War in 1525, the rebellious peasants were refused entry into the town and the castle. From 1656 to 1746, Weißensee with the castle and the office of the same name belonged to the Duchy of Saxony-Weißenfels . During this time, when the actual landgrave story of the castle and town was forgotten, the confused name "Runneburg" (round castle) was used for the first time in files.

After the Congress of Vienna , the city and castle came under the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815 . The city became the administrative seat of the Prussian district of Weißensee in the administrative district of Erfurt in the province of Saxony .

The lakes that used to exist in the area (Upper and Lower Lake) played a major role for the nobility and the town. In both the Nieder- and Obersee lakes, ducks were caught every 14 days in autumn together with the citizens. When duck fishing was no longer profitable, the Duke drained the Obersee in 1709. From 1788 to 1796 the Lower Lake was also converted into arable land. Due to the good fertility of the land obtained in this way, good agricultural yields could be achieved.

In 1434 a statuta thaberna (inn law) was drawn up in the then landgrave town . Their twelfth article stipulated, among other things, that only hops, malt and water should be used for brewing . In the event of a violation, a fine of two marks and a four-week ban on entering the city are threatened. Due to its similarity to the later Bavarian purity law , this document is also known as the Weißenseer purity law. It was found in 1998 during preparations for the 800th anniversary of the Weißensee market rights in the historical part of the city archive.

Weißensee in the time of National Socialism

Resistance and Nazi Terror

After the National Socialist German Workers' Party came to power in 1933, a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and a member of the Communist Party of Germany were also represented in the Weissensee city council. In the spring of 1933, however, the social democrat Hartnick and the communist Müller were forced to resign from their seats.

In April 1935, the Kassel Higher Regional Court sentenced Otto Ackermann and Erich Krause to prison terms of 21 and 18 months, respectively, for "pursuing the same goals as the KPD, violently supporting the overthrow of the constitution and the establishment of the proletariat."

Concentration camps and forced labor

From October 1939 the restaurant "Salon", today owned by the Catholic Church, served as night accommodation for prisoners of war from Stalag XI A Altengrabow. The work detachment consisted of 40 Poles, roughly the same number of French prisoners of war in 1941/42 and 80 Croatian and Serbian prisoners from 1942, who had to work in arms production at the Sömmerda plant of Rheinmetall-Borsig AG, contrary to the Geneva Conventions .

In November 1941 the city council decided to set up a camp for Russian prisoners of war in the old stonehouse. In the summer of 1942 an apartment was set up for the guards of the prisoner of war camp at Fischerstrasse 9.

In 1941 the city administration set up a "community camp" in the "Schützenhaus", which was occupied by 345 foreign forced laborers from eight countries. In 1942/43 there was a camp for 40 forced laborers from the Netherlands in the guest town of "Recreation" and three more camps were built on the site of the old Michelshöhe customs station. In agriculture, the Stadtgut Lutherborn and Gut Weißenburg were jobs for foreign workers. It is known that three Polish women in the Lutherborn estate were forced to abort. The Polish forced laborer Leokadia Wezalowska (born 1925) was sentenced in 1944 to eight weeks in "educational custody". After serving, she returned to Gut Weißenburg.

"Poland accommodation" were among others in: Halbestraße 4; Landgräfin Jutta Strasse 10, 38, 49 and 68; Seestrasse 1 and 21; Old market; Nikolaiplatz 9 and 11; Burgstrasse 13, 14, 15, 18 and 26; Schreberplatz 6; Mühlbergstrasse 7; Bergstrasse 3 and Johannesstrasse 13.

There were also forced laborers in Scherndorf, Waltersdorf and Ottenhausen.

Racist persecution and euthanasia

In Weissensee, Jenny Viol, born on February 6, 1906, was transported from her apartment on January 31, 1945 and taken to the Theresienstadt concentration camp on Transport XVI / 5, which left Leipzig on February 2, 1945 brought. She survived and returned to Weissensee.

According to the health authorities and their reports from 1937 to 1944, it is known that 181 people (77 men and 104 women) around the former Weißensee district were brought to the hospital in Erfurt for forced sterilization. In Weißensee and the districts of Waltersdorf and Scherndorf, six people were victims of forced sterilization.

Jewish pogrom

In March 1303 a boy from Weißensee between the ages of 14 and 16 named Conrad was found in a vineyard, hanged on his belt. As a result, the rumor spread of a ritual murder which only Jews could be considered as perpetrators. In the weeks that followed, 145 Jewish men, women and children from Weißensee and surrounding towns were rounded up on the Runneburg and finally burned on orders from the highest order. Conrad got a grave in the town church, which eventually became a place of pilgrimage. 711 years later, in April 2014, representatives of the state, the Protestant Church and the Jewish State Congregation commemorated the dead.

Incorporations

In 1993 Scherndorf and Waltersdorf , Ottenhausen on March 8, 1994, and Herrnschwende on January 1, 2019 were incorporated.

Population development

  • 1994-4056
  • 1995-4012
  • 1996-4016
  • 1997 - 4008
  • 1998-4030
  • 1999-3946
  • 2000-3884
  • 2001 - 3846
  • 2002 - 3819
  • 2003 - 3770
  • 2004 - 3716
  • 2005 - 3674
  • 2006 - 3614
  • 2007 - 3601
  • 2008 - 3540
  • 2009 - 3509
  • 2010 - 3471
  • 2011 - 3429
  • 2012 - 3397
  • 2013 - 3417
  • 2014 - 3414
  • 2015 - 3386
  • 2016 - 3462
  • 2017 - 3443
  • 2018 - 3452

Data source: Thuringian State Office for Statistics

politics

City council

Local elections 2019
Turnout: 60.8%
 %
60
50
40
30th
20th
10
0
53.0%
26.3%
8.2%
7.5%
5.0%
BFW
Weißensee - Town Hall

The council has 16 seats and ex officio one vote of the mayor. Since the local elections on May 26, 2019, it has been composed as follows:

Party / list Seats + / - *
CDU 9 - 1
BFW 4th
SPD 1 - 2nd
The left 1 ± 0
NPD 1

* : Difference from the 2014 election

mayor

  • since 2015: Matthias Schrot

coat of arms

Blazon : "In blue two upright, mutually curved silver fish, between them a seven-pointed golden star floating."

Weissensee has had the coat of arms in its current form since the 19th century, but the earliest seals since the 13th century show a fish alongside other figures. The two fish (pike) symbolize the Upper and Lower Lakes; the gold star symbolizes castle and city.

Town twinning

  • Before 1990 a partnership was established with the French city of Dechy .
  • Since 2006 there has been a sponsorship with Kirchberg an der Jagst .

Culture and sights

Water art under the market
Slingshot ( Blide , also Trébuchet) on the Runneburg

Buildings

  • Runneburg (Weissensee Castle)
  • The historical water art was created from 1378 to 1385 at the instigation of Landgrave Balthasar to supply the city of Weißensee and the local Runneburg with water. The Saxon Helbe was led from the weir at Westgreußen to the city, over a 250-meter-long and 16-meter high dam from the north to an underground canal system with scooping points under the upper town to the Runneburg, in order to continue operating the mills.
  • Historic town hall
  • City Church of St. Peter & Paul
  • St. Nikolai Church
  • city ​​wall
  • Dutch windmill
  • Saxon post milestone (quarter milestone no. 49 from 1780, original location on the former Obersee) from the Leipzig - Kassel post office route established in 1700 in front of the former Saxon post station, between the castle entrance and the market square, in the upper town

Public facilities

  • Municipal swimming pool
  • Weißensee youth club
Chinese garden with stairs to the water pavilion

Parks

  • Chinese garden
  • Jordan
  • Open-air stage at the gondola pond
  • "Promenade"; Chestnut avenue that runs around the entire city wall

Sports

  • Ulmenallee sports complex
  • Sports field at the Fischertor
  • Three-field hall

Localities

  • Ratsbrauerei Weißensee, brewery with an attached restaurant in the historic town hall

music

Numerous young people from the city are involved in the music development association.

Events

In the summer there are irregular festivals on the historic market square. 2012 marks the 800th anniversary of the first mention as a civitas by Emperor Otto IV . aligned.

A national event is the annual Whitsun beer festival, which takes place in honor of the 'Statuta Taberna', the Weißensee beer purity law . The “Cross of German Unity ” fun run takes place on October 3rd . The traditional Christmas market takes place every year on the 3rd weekend in Advent, which is organized and hosted by the local craft association. In mid-January, the “Day of the Brave” is traditionally held in honor of Wilhelm III. celebrated, which put the first state order into force by the Thuringian state parliament on January 9, 1446 in Weißensee.

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

In addition to many medium-sized and small companies, there are some larger companies in the industrial park:

  • B. Muhr and Bender ( Mubea )
  • BBW Abwassertechnik Weißensee
  • RC environmental technology (GRP parts supplier)
  • Phoenix metal construction
  • Glass of Wiedemann
  • TOTAL tank farm Weißensee (closure at the end of 2018)
  • Agricultural cooperative Weissensee with HISTA petrol stations, vehicle and agricultural technology GmbH
  • Möbelwerk Weißensee GmbH (solid wood furniture manufacturer)

traffic

Weißensee is on the federal highway 86 between Straussfurt and Artern / Unstrut . The distance to the federal highway 71 is eleven kilometers.

The Weissensee (door) station is located on the southern outskirts of the railway line Straußfurt- Sömmerda - Großheringen , called Pfefferminzbahn , operate on the western section, however, since 9 December 2007, no more passenger trains. In freight transport, however, the railway line continues to play an important role for local companies.

media

The Weißenseer Stadtanzeiger, the official gazette for the municipality, is published regularly.

education

In Weißensee there is both the state regular school “Geschwister Scholl” and the newly built elementary school “ Traumzauberbaum ”. The public city library is also located in the historic town hall.

Personalities

Monument to Walther von der Vogelweide on the market square

sons and daughters of the town

Personalities who have worked on site

literature

  • Jörg Sauerbier: A tour through the city of Weissensee . ISBN 3-86189-028-3 .
  • Michael Kirchschlager among others: The history of the city of Weissensee from the beginning to the present . Hartmann, Günter, 2001, ISBN 3-932875-18-4 .

Web links

Commons : Weißensee  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Weißensee (Thuringia)  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Population of the municipalities from the Thuringian State Office for Statistics  ( help on this ).
  2. ^ W. Mägdefrau Thuringian cities and city federations in Mittelalter Verlag Rockstuhl Bad Langensalza 2002 p. 93 ISBN 3-936030-34-0
  3. ^ H. Laß: Hunting and pleasure palaces of the 17th and 18th centuries in Thuringia . Michael Imhof Verlag, 2006, p. 396, ISBN 3-86568-092-5
  4. ↑ a b c Thuringian Association of the Persecuted of the Nazi Regime - Association of Antifascists and Study Group of German Resistance 1933–1945 (Ed.): Heimatgeschichtlicher Wegweiser to sites of resistance and persecution 1933–1945, series: Heimatgeschichtliche Wegweiser, Volume 8 Thüringen, Erfurt 2003 , Pp. 279 f., ISBN 3-88864-343-0
  5. ↑ https://soemmerda.thueringer-allgemeine.de/web/soemmerda/startseite/detail/-/specific/Weissensee-gedenken-Pogrome-gegen-Juden-522996363
  6. ↑ Bill of June 19, 2018 , accessed on December 16, 2018
  7. ↑ City council election 2019 in Thuringia. Thuringian State Office for Statistics, accessed on July 7, 2019 .
  8. ↑ http://www.weissensee.de/fileadmin/weissensee-de/amtsblatt/2009-12.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.weissensee.de  
  9. ↑ Data from Kirchberg / Jagst ( Memento from April 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ^ Sächsische Helbe in Weißensee , accessed on October 17, 2019
  11. ↑ W. Sieler: Contemporary witnesses - the Weißenseer post mile column. In: Stadtanzeiger, 7/2012, p. 7  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.5 MB)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.weissensee.de  
  12. ↑ Chinese Garden ( Memento from July 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ http://www.stadtkirchen-weissensee.de/lang_de/de_peterpaul/peterpaul_zeittafel.php
  14. ↑ Michael Kirchschlager among others: The history of the city of Weissensee from the beginning to the present . Hartmann, Günter, 2001.
  15. ^ Free State of Thuringia
  16. ↑ pressreader , accessed October 17, 2019