Meißen (district)

Meißen
—  District  —
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
Adm. region	Dresden
Capital	Meißen
Area
– Total	1,453 km2 (561 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)[1]
– Total	253,069
– Density	174.2/km2 (451.1/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration	MEI
Website	http://www.kreis-meissen.de

Meißen is a district (Kreis) in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the state of Brandenburg, the district of Bautzen, the urban district Dresden, the districts Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, Mittelsachsen and Nordsachsen.

History

The district dates back to the Amt Meißen, which was first mentioned in 1334. The district was ruled by the Wettin dynasty. The Margraves of Meißen created the administrative division (Amt) in the 13th century. In 1835 the Amt was converted into an Amtshauptmannschaft, with the area of the current district covered by the Amtshauptmannschaften Meißen, Dresden and Großenhain. In 1939, these were renamed Landkreise (districts). In the administrative reform of 1952, several municipalities were transferred to the districts of Freiberg and Döbeln. In 1990, the old district borders were restored, and in 1996 parts of the district Dresden-Land were added. In August 2008 the district of Riesa-Großenhain was added to the district to give it its current size.

Geography

The main river of the district is the Elbe, which also flows through the city of Meißen.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms show a lion, the symbol of the counts of Meißen. The coat of arms were granted on November 16, 1992, and again after the enlargement of 1996 on February 20, 1997. It is identical to that of Flanders.

Towns and municipalities

Towns	Municipalities
Coswig Gröditz Großenhain Lommatzsch Meißen Nossen Radebeul Radeburg Riesa Strehla	Diera-Zehren Ebersbach Glaubitz Hirschstein Käbschütztal Ketzerbachtal Klipphausen Lampertswalde Leuben-Schleinitz Moritzburg Nauwalde Niederau	Nünchritz Priestewitz Röderaue Schönfeld Stauchitz Tauscha Thiendorf Triebischtal Weinböhla Weißig am Raschütz Wülknitz Zeithain

References

1. ^ "Bevölkerung des Freistaates Sachsen jeweils am Monatsende ausgewählter Berichtsmonate nach Gemeinden" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen. 31 December 2010. http://www.statistik.sachsen.de/download/010_GB-Bev/Bev_Gemeinde.pdf. 

External links

Media related to Landkreis Meißen at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (German)
• Inofficial website (German)

Coordinates: 51°13′N 13°31′E / 51.217°N 13.517°E / 51.217; 13.517