Zwenkau

Geschichte

Zwenkau is a town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. Situated between the White Elster and Pleiße rivers, it nestles in the Leipzig Bay and includes parts of the conservation area Elsteraue and Central Germany's Street of Lignite.GeographyThe town lies about 15 km south of Leipzig and 3 km northwest of the industrial site Böhlen / Lippendorf with its landmark, Lippendorf Power Station. A former open-cast mine extending from the northeast of Zwenkau to its northwest was set on September 30, 1999 and is currently being rehabilitated and converted to Lake Zwenkau. Several smaller towns and hamlets belong to Zwenkau, being the suburbs Kötzschbar, Imnitz and Löbschütz the rural towns Großdalzig, Mausitz, Kleindalzig, Tellschütz, and Zitzschen (since October 1, 1993) the town Rüssen-Kleinstorkwitz and its hamlet Döhlen (since October 1, 1996) The rural areas of the historic town Eythra and parts of Bösdorf, both abandoned in favor of lignite deposits in the 1980s, are also administered by the town of Zwenkau and bordered in the west.HistoryPre-industrial periodPrehistoric colonization in the area of Zwenkau was affirmed by archaeological finds dated around 6000 BC.Zwenkau is one of the oldest cities in what is now Saxony. As a Slavic settlement, the earliest documentary mention known is in 974 where it is described as Civitas in Gau Chutizi.