Wilthen

Infobox Ort in Deutschland
Art = Stadt
image_photo =
Wappen = Wilthen_wappen.gif
lat_deg = 51 |lat_min = 6
lon_deg = 14 |lon_min = 24
Lageplan =
Bundesland = Sachsen
Regierungsbezirk = Dresden
Landkreis = Bautzen
Höhe = 288
Fläche = 17.06
Einwohner = 5977
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 02679–02681
Vorwahl = 03592
Kfz = BZ
Gemeindeschlüssel = 14 2 72 390
Gliederung = 3
Adresse = Bahnhofstraße 5
02681 Wilthen
Website = [http://www.wilthen.de/ www.wilthen.de]
Bürgermeister = Michael Herfort
Partei = CDU

Wilthen (Sorbian Wjelećin) is a town in the district of Bautzen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is located near the border with the Czech Republic, nine km south of Bautzen and fifty km east of Dresden.

Nearby communities are Obergurig, Großpostwitz, Kirschau, Schirgiswalde, Steinigtwolmsdorf. Wilthen today consists out of a central settlement and some smaller villages. The parts of the community are named Sora, Ingersdorf and Tautewalde. The place is well known in Germany because of his biggest employer, an alcohol-producing company.

History

Wilthen arose out of an old Sorbian village that was mentioned first in 1222. In 1669 the village received the status of a town and marketplace. But it still has been regarded as village because there only a few markets a year. Three hundred years later, it became a town again. Since 1972 Wilthen is an official place of recovery (Erholungsort).

Culture, sights and tourism

The town is situated in the "Lausitzer Bergland", a hillregion between Saxon Switzerland and the Zittauer Gebirge in the Lusatian Mountains. Wilthen offers many possibilities of touring like many look outs upon the hilltops and nearby restaurants. Another touring-route leads through the small pond-district.Some remains of the old rural culture and weaving tradition of the region can be found in a small camber of home "Heimatstube". With a group of more than ten people it is also possible to get into the "Wilthener Weinbrennerei". Few of the old houses of the town has been preserved like some old craftsmen-houses.

Economy

At the beginning of the 19th century the town started to become a well known place of textile industry, machine building, plastic production and alcohol production. Important enterprises today are: Wilthener Weinbrennerei/ Hardenberg Wilthen AG, KEW Kunststofferzeugnisse GmbH Wilthen, Lakowa GmbH Kunststoffbe- und verarbeitung, VTN Härterei Wilthen GmbH, SLM GmbH and Schumann Kies- und Hartsteinwerke.