Rackwitz is about 10 km north of Leipzig and 13 km south of Delitzsch.
The surrounding landscape belongs to the Leipzig Bay and is drained by the river Lober, a tributary of the Mulde. The lakes Schladitzer See and Werbeliner See, which were created from disused open-cast mines, are situated nearby.
Also within the municipality's area are the footprints of the now demolished villages Schladitz with Kömmlitz, Kattersnaundorf and Werbelin, on the sites of which are now lakes, formerly open-cast lignite mines.
History
The Rackwitz area was settled by Slavs in prehistoric times. The name Rak means shrimp, and can be seen in the coat of arms. The town Rackwitz came to be after the merger of Rackwitz and Güntheritz. The oldest part of the present day municipality is Podelwitz, which was documented in 1250. Since 1349/50 Zschortau and Rackwitz were mentioned in documents. Brodenaundorf was mentioned in 1547.
At the start of the 15th Century, plague and famine decimated Rackwitz. The municipality was also plundered during the Thirty Years War. In 1692 trials for witchcraft took place in Rackwitz in which two witches were tried.[3]
On 21 June 1871 a train crash killed 19 and injured 56 in the vicinity of Rackwitz.[4]
Mergers and Annexations
Former municipality
Date
Comment
Biesen
1 July 1950
Merged into Zschortau
Brodenaundorf
1 July 1950
Merged into Zschortau
Güntheritz
between 1925 und 1939
Annexed by Rackwitz
Kattersnaundorf
1981
Demolished in 1981 to make way for the open-cast lignite mine Delitzsch-Southwest and thereby merged into Zschortau
Kömmlitz
1 April 1936
Merged into Schladitz, then demolished in 1986-89 for lignite mine
Kreuma
1 May 1974
Merged into Zschortau
Lemsel
1 March 1994
Merged into Zschortau
Podelwitz
1999
Merged into Rackwitz
Schladitz
1989
demolished in 1986-89 for lignite mine and thereby annexed by Rackwitz. Gives its name to the lake on the site of the lignite mine, known as Schladitzer Bucht.
Werbelin
1 January 1957
Merged with Kattersnaundorf, when Kattersnaudorf was demolished in 1981, Werbelin was merged into Zschortau, and was itself demolished in 1992 for the mine, giving its name to Werbeliner Lake, the lake on the site of the mine.
Zschortau
1 March 2004
Annexed by Rackwitz
Historical Population
Note that the population figures in the table below include the figures for other districts that were merged with Rackwitz at various points in time (see table above, thereby accounting for significant increases.
