Eisleben (German pronunciation:[ˈaɪsleːbn̩]ⓘ) is a town inSaxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologianMartin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name isLutherstadt Eisleben.
First mentioned in the late 10th century, Eisleben is divided into the old town of Altstadt, and new town of Neustadt. Neustadt was created for Eisleben's miners in the 14th century. As of 2020, Eisleben had a population of 22,668. It lies on theHalle–Kassel railway.
Eisleben was first mentioned in 997 as a market called Islebia, and in 1180 as a town. Thecounts of Mansfeld governed the area until the 18th century. During theProtestant Reformation, Count Hoyer VI of Mansfeld-Vorderort (1477–1540) remained loyal to hisCatholic faith, but the family's Mittelort and Hinterort branches sided withMartin Luther.
TheGerman Peasants' War devastated the area, about a century before theThirty Years War. Count Albert VII of Mansfeld-Hinterort (1480–1560) signed the ProtestantAugsburg Confession in 1530 and joined theSchmalkaldic League, a defensive confederation of Protestant princes which ultimately lost theSchmalkaldic War over Saxony to the forces ofEmperor Charles V but gained Lutheranism's recognition as an official religion within the Holy Roman Empire, letting princes determine the official religion within their lands.
After thePeace of Augsburg in 1555, the Countess of Mansfield,Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben, aProtestant canoness at the Abbey ofGerresheim to the east, converted Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, theArchbishop-Elector of Cologne toCalvinism. Their marriage and his declaration of religious parity throughout his lands caused another round of religious war, theCologne War. The couple fled numerous times through various German states before Gerhard relinquished his claims in 1588. He was unable to convert his electorate into a dynasty. He died and was buried inStrasbourg in 1601. His lady, who could not return to the convent, was afforded protection by theDukes of Württemberg. She died in 1601, terminating the family's Mittelort branch.
In 1574, the surviving Mansfeld counts Hans Hoyer, Hans Georg, Hans Albrecht and Bruno concluded an agreement with theElector of Saxony to repay the family's extensive debts, but some properties were forfeited by 1579 anyway. The Hinterort branches died out in 1666, but the Mansfeld-Vorderort line lasted until 1780, when it too became extinct and Eisleben came directly under theElectorate of Saxony. After theNapoleonic Wars ended, theVienna Congress assigned Eisleben to theKingdom of Prussia, which had long been allied withHouse of Welf which held theDuchy of Magdeburg, and after secularization in 1680 was administered by theElector of Brandenburg.
On 6 June 1927, American aviatorClarence D. Chamberlin landed in a wheat field outside Eisleben, completing the first transatlantic passenger flight (Charles Albert Levine was the passenger), and breakingCharles Lindbergh's distance record that set only two weeks earlier inParis.
The population has been declining since the mid-1960s due to declining birth rates and outward migration,[8] although the municipal area has been enlarged several times by merging with neighboring districts.[9]
Year
1964
1971
1981
1989
1995
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Inhabitants*
44,773
41,682
37,330
35,374
31,882
29,526
28,848
28,040
27,037
26,190
Year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Inhabitants*
25,489
25,380
24,384
24,284
24,346
24,198
*population as of 31 December, except for 1964–1981: census
TheCounts of Mansfeld in 1229 endowed a nunnery on the grounds of their castle, then built another monastery at Helfta near Eisleben, which was founded in 1258. Governed under eitherBenedictines orCistercians, Helfta became known for its powerful and mystical abbesses, most of allGertrude of Hackeborn,Gertrude the Great andMechtild of Magdeburg. However, Duke Albrecht ofBrunswick destroyed the nunnery in 1342. Rebuilt the following year, it was sometimes called the "crown of German convents". It closed in 1524, during the religious wars sometimes associated with Martin Luther, but reopened on a smaller scale until 1542, after which it became secularized, and controlled by local farmers. In 1712 it became a farm run by the Prussian state, and the buildings were reused accordingly. In 1950, theGerman Democratic Republic turned it into a fruit farm. In 1994, after Germany's reunification, the CatholicDiocese of Magdeburg bought the property using donations from all over the world and soon began restoration. Cistercian nuns fromSeligenthal inBavaria moved into the cloister starting circa 1999,[11] Since 2006 Helfta has been on the southern portion of a major European cultural route, theRomanesque Road.
TheProtestant reformerMartin Luther was born in Eisleben on 10 November 1483. His father,Hans Luther, was a miner like many in Eisleben. Luther's family moved toMansfeld when he was only a year old and he lived inWittenberg most of his life. Seemingly by chance Luther preached his last sermon and died in Eisleben in 1546.
Eisleben took steps to preserve its Luther memorials as far back as 1689, and pioneered "heritage tourism." Danish poetHans Christian Andersen came to Eisleben while researching Lutheran links as well as touring through Saxony and the Harz Mountains in 1831.[12]
In 1997, Martin Luther's "Birth House" and "Death House" were designated aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site, together with the Luther sites inWittenberg, because of their testimony to the lasting worldwide effects of Luther's religious and political reforms.[13] Also, Luther was baptised in Eisleben's St. Peter and Paul Church (the original font survives) and preached his last sermons at St. Andreas Church, both of which continue in use.
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