Köthen (Anhalt)

History

Owing to the fertile soil of the region, the area of Köthen is unusually rich in archaeological discoveries. The earliest signs of human habitation date from the early Stone Age about 250,000 years ago, and evidence of every succeeding historical period may be found in the collections of the local Prehistorical Museum.

The first documentary mention of "Cothene" dates to 1115; by 1194 it was already known as a market town, becoming a seat of the princes of Anhalt. Köthen was chartered in 1200. For over two centuries (1603–1847) it was the capital of the independent principality (from 1806, duchy) of Anhalt-Köthen.

The town has long been known to classical music enthusiasts as the place of origin of Johann Sebastian Bach's best-known secular works, including the Brandenburg concertos and the Well-Tempered Clavier. Bach worked in Köthen from 1717 to 1723 as Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Köthen. It is also the birthplace of the composer Carl Friedrich Abel who, together with Johann Christian Bach, founded the popular "Bach-Abel Concerts" in London, the first subscription concerts in England.

Köthen's castle has been fully restored except for a small side wing bombed in 1944. Its Hall of Mirrors where Bach's music is now often performed is a popular attraction. It can be seen on DVD in the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra's recording of the Brandenburg concertos. Since 1967 a bi-annual Bach Festival has been held at Köthen, in the various halls of the castle as well as the local churches. Another concert hall was opened in 2008 in the castle complex.

Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, practised in Köthen from 1821 to 1834, and during this period he published many of his best-known works. In 1855 his disciple Arthur Lutze opened a palatial homeopathic clinic. Hahnemann's home is now open to tourists, and includes an actual working homeopathic practice. The city has become the national center of homeopathy, location of congresses, and the seat of the new European Homeopathic Library. In 2013, the international homeopathic medical society, Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis, relocated its main operations to Köthen, so the city now is kind of a "world's capital of homeopathy".

The pioneering ornithologue Johann Friedrich Naumann was born near Köthen and was employed at the ducal court for more than two decades (c. 1810-1835). His well-renowned collection of almost 1300 specimen and drawings of European birds is now the main part of an ornithological museum that is also situated in the castle.

Location

Köthen located to the south from Magdeburg, north from Halle (Saale), west from Dessau and east from Bernburg (Saale). On the north of Anhalt-Bitterfeld district begins the Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve. Ziethe flows in the north part of the town.

Subdivisions

Administrative subdivisions (dt.: Ortsteile) of the municipality are:

the town of Köthen with its subdivisions Porst and Elsdorf (since 1961) and Merzien, Zehringen, and Hohsdorf (since 1994)

With the administrative restructuring in 2004, the following villages were incorporated:

Baasdorf with its subdivisions Arensdorf and Gahrendorf

Dohndorf

Löbnitz an der Linde

Wülknitz

Main sights

St. Jakob Church (~1400), with baptismal font designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen; crypt with sarcophagi of the reigning princes; organ by Friedrich Ladegast (1872); the towers were added in the late 19th century; site where the funerary services were held for prince Leopold on 23 and 24 March 1729 at which Johann Sebastian Bach performed his Cantata Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller Welt, BWV 244a.

St. Agnus Church (~1699), where Johann Sebastian Bach worshipped. "Last Supper" by Lucas Cranach the Younger (1565); donor portrait by Antoine Pesne (1713); organ by Wilhelm Rühlmann

Catholic St. Mary Church (~1830), build by Gottfried Bandhauer, it is one of the most prominent sacral buildings of the 19th century in northern Germany; organ by Anton Feith (1872–1929); crypt with the sarcophagus of the last reigning duke of Anhalt-Köthen

Palace of the reigning princes (the main structure was built 1597-1660, with additions in the 18th century), now a museum — features a Versailles-style Hall of Mirrors (1722), the music school and the former ducal chapel as well as the actual rooms where much of J. S. Bach's secular music was first performed.

Naumann Museum of ornithology and Prehistorical Museum, both are also situated in different wings of the palace.

Zoo (Tierpark Köthen) and city parks

Historical Museum for city and district.

City hall, the main part of which was built in the early 20th century

remants of the medieval city wall with two prominent towers at the former gates to Halle and Magdeburg, respectively.

Bach House, now a senior residence

Homes of Eichendorff and Hahnemann

Monuments to prince Ludwig I, J.S. Bach, Hahnemann, Naumann, Angelika Hartmann, Fritz Weineck, and Yuri Gagarin.

Notable personalities born in Köthen

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787), composer

Hans Hermann Behr (1818–1904), physician and entomologist

Hans-Ulrich Brand (born 1930), former member of the Bundestag

Roland Brückner (born 1955), gymnast

Wilhelm Albert von Brunn (1911–1988), archaeologist

Hans Elwenspoek (1910–1989), actor

Carl Christoph Wilhelm Fleischer (1727–1787), architect

Nicolaus Gallus (1516–1570), Protestant reformer

Gisela Agnes (1669–1740), princess consort of Anhalt-Köthen, regent in lieu of her son Leopold, 1704-1715

Robert Friedrich Goetze (1881–1940), architect

Werner Haase (1900–1950), Hitler's personal physician

Angelika Hartmann (1829–1917), reformist educationist of the late 19th and early 20th century

August Klughardt (1847–1902), composer and conductor

Georg Krause (1849–1927), founder of the influential journal of chemical science, „Chemiker-Zeitung“

Leopold (1694–1728), prince of Anhalt-Köthen, employer of J.S. Bach

Ludwig I (1579–1650), prince of Anhalt-Köthen, co-founder of the Fruitbearing Society

Julius Naue (1835–1907), painter and archeologist

Michael Naumann (born 1941), journalist, German federal Secretary of culture (1998–2001)

Christian Prokop (born 1978), handball player and coach, Heinz Prokop's son

Heinz Prokop (born 1952), handball player and coach

Walter Rauff (1906–1984), NSDAP-politician and participant of the Nazi eugenics crimes

Eduard von Rindfleisch (1836–1908), pathologist

Johann Friedrich Schweitzer (1625–1709), physician, grandfather of Claude Adrien Helvétius

Gerhard Thielcke (1931–2007), ornithologist

Leberecht Uhlich (1799–1872), theologian

Manfred Wekwerth (1929–2014), theater and film director

Wolfgang (1492–1566), prince of Anhalt-Köthen, Protestant reformer of the principalities of Anhalt

Sister cities

Köthen is twinned with two cities:

Siemianowice, Upper Silesia, Poland (since 1993) and Wattrelos, Picardie, France (since 1990)

Köthen also has partnerships (Städtefreundschaften) with two fellow German cities:

Langenfeld, North-Rhine-Westphalia (since 1990) and Lüneburg, Lower Saxony (since 1990)