Dessau is a district of the independent city ofDessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the riversMulde andElbe, in theBundesland (Federal State) ofSaxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent city. The population of Dessau is 67,747 (Dec. 2020).[1]
Dessau is situated on a floodplain where theMulde flows into theElbe. This causes yearly floods. The worst flood took place in the year 2002, when the Waldersee district was nearly completely flooded. The south of Dessau touches a well-wooded area called Mosigkauer Heide. The highest elevation is a 110 m high former rubbish dump called Scherbelberg in the southwest of Dessau. Dessau is surrounded by numerous parks and palaces that make it one of the greenest towns in Germany.
Dessau was first mentioned in 1213. It became an important centre in 1570, when thePrincipality of Anhalt was founded. Dessau became the capital of this state within theHoly Roman Empire. In 1603, the state was split into four – later five – Anhalts, Dessau becoming the capital of the mini-state ofAnhalt-Dessau. In 1863 two of the noble lines died out, and the Duchy of Anhalt became reunited. From 1918 to 1945, Dessau was the capital of theFree State of Anhalt.
Dessau is famous as the second site of theBauhaus school. It moved here in 1925 after it had been forced to close inWeimar. Many famous artists were lecturers in Dessau in the following years, among themWalter Gropius,Paul Klee andWassily Kandinsky. TheNazis’ control of Dessau city council forced the closure of the Dessau Bauhaus in 1932. The school moved toBernau bei Berlin and closed its doors for the last time in 1933.
The town was almost completely destroyed by Allied air raids inWorld War II on 7 March 1945, six weeks before American troops occupied the town. Afterwards, it was rebuilt with typicalGDR concrete slab architecture (Plattenbau) and became a major industrial centre ofEast Germany. SinceGerman reunification in 1990, many historic buildings have been restored.
In January 2005, Dessau gained notoriety for the mysterious death of a Sierra Leonean asylum seeker,Oury Jalloh. Jalloh died in police custody, however, the official version of events released by the police was found to have many inconsistencies.[2]
There are several examples ofBauhaus architecture in Dessau, some of which are part of theBauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau World Heritage Site. This includes the Bauhaus Dessau school building, designed byWalter Gropius, which is one of the iconic modernist buildings of the 20th century.[4]
In addition to the buildings that are part of the World Heritage Site, other notable Bauhaus architecture in Dessau includes:
Dessau-Törten Estate, designed by Walter Gropius in 1926–1928.[5]
Stahlhaus (Steel House), designed byGeorg Muche and Richard Paulick in 1926–1927.[6]
TheKornhaus, a restaurant overlooking the river Elbe designed by Carl Fieger in 1929–1930.[8]
Arbeitsamt (Employment office), designed by Walter Gropius in 1928–1929. It is now the Dessau-RoßlauAmt für Ordnung und Verkehr (Authority of Public Security and Regulations).[9]
TheDessau tramway network has three lines and is supplemented by numerous bus lines. Dessau's public transport is operated byDessauer Verkehrsgesellschaft [de] (DVG), which transports around 6 million people each year.
Dessau Hauptbahnhof (main station) has connections toMagdeburg, Berlin,Leipzig,Halle,Bitterfeld and LutherstadtWittenberg. Theline from Berlin was opened on 1 September 1840. TheDessau-Bitterfeld line (opened on 17 August 1857) was electrified in 1911, the first fully electrified long-distance railway in Germany. Dessau was part of theInterCity long-distance network until the year 2002. Regional trains also stop at the stations Dessau-Süd, Dessau-Alten, Dessau-Mosigkau and Rodleben. TheDessau-Wörlitzer-Eisenbahn (railway) connects Dessau toWörlitz, a town situated 15 km to the east, and theWörlitzer Park. The starting point of this railway is the main station. This train also stops at the stations Dessau-Waldersee and Dessau-Adria.
Bridge of the A9 near Dessau crossing the river Elbe
In 1938 theautobahnA9 (Munich-Berlin) was built southeast of the town area. The two exits to Dessau on the A9 are called Dessau-Ost and Dessau-Süd. Dessau is also crossed by theBundesstrassen (federal roads) B 184 and B 185.
Theairfield of Dessau (ICAO: EDAD) is situated northwest of the town between the districts Kleinkühnau, Alten, and Siedlung. A destination with a charter airplane is possible. The runway has a length of 1000 m. TheHugo Junkers Technical Museum is situated in the neighbourhood directly east of the airfield, with the eastern end of the modern runway almost directly abutting the historical World War II Junkers factory airstrip's western end.
Today the Leopoldshafen (harbour) is used for annual international motorboat racing events. The "Wallwitzhafen" is used as a private pleasure boat harbour and the Elbehafen near the Grain House is used for cruisers. The next harbour for goods is situated inRosslau.
Dessau is located in the flat landscape of theSaxon Lowland. The local bike paths have a length of about 146 km and connect all major parks and sights.
Sports like soccer, cycling, handball, volleyball, gymnastics, table tennis and tennis have a long tradition and are very popular in Dessau. The former soccer teamSG Waggonbau Dessau won theGDR soccer cup in 1949. The handball team played in theGDR Oberliga and since 1990 they are playing in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga. Currently, Dessau has around 80 sport clubs with over 13,500 members. Next to the traditional sports, Dessau has active sport clubs in the following disciplines: aikido, badminton, basketball, canoeing, chess, climbing, cycling, dancing, fishing, horse riding, karate, judo, jiu-jitsu, motorboat, rowing, speedskating, sailing, skittles, skydiving, squash, swimming, table tennis, water polo, wrestling and others.
The borough of Dessau was first mentioned in 1372. The head of the town of Schultheiss was appointed by the count. Together with a few assessors, the Schultheiss formed the town council. As of 1372, the town council was divided into two agencies, as of 1600 into three agencies, and as of 1785 again into two agencies. The Schultheiss of Dessau changed nearly every year until the town council constitution was cancelled in 1832. Afterwards Dessau became a Town Council and a Town Delegation Constitution. Since 1852 the town leader has the title of mayor. Duringthe National Socialist period the mayor was appointed by the party (NSDAP). AfterWorld War II, theSoviets formed an executive council with a mayor. The town council constitution was elected by the people. SinceGerman reunification this committee has been freely elected. Since 1994 it has been called the Stadtrat. Since 1994, the mayor is directly elected by the people.
In 2007, Dessau became part of the municipality of Dessau-Roßlau.
Peter Kuras (born 1958) was elected mayor of Dessau-Roßlau in June 2014 with 75.82% of the votes for a term of seven years. He is the successor ofKlemens Koschig (born 1957, independent), who was elected in 2007 with 56.8% of the votes.
Dessau is part of the EU-URBAN programme. This programme is based on the integrated approach that is used for tackling the environmental, economical and social problems, affecting the deprived urban areas. There are several projects in Dessau sponsored via this subsidy.[citation needed]
^"Dessau-Rosslau". Archived fromthe original on 27 August 2007. Retrieved18 June 2007., Twin Towns from www.dessau.de
^"Archived copy". Archived fromthe original on 15 June 2007. Retrieved18 June 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Anhalt University Website
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