Altenburger Land is a district in Thuringia, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the district of Greiz, the Burgenlandkreis (Saxony-Anhalt), and the districts Leipziger Land, Mittweida, Chemnitzer Land, Zwickauer Land in Saxony.

History

The region on the Pleiße River was part of a huge forest, which was settled by Slavic peoples. The castle of Altenburg already existed in the 10th century. In the following centuries German settlers occupied the region. It was part of the margravate of Meißen in the 14th century. At this time most of the forests were cleared.

The city of Altenburg and the surrounding lands were the tiny duchy of Saxe-Altenburg from 1826 to 1918; afterwards it was a state within the Weimar Republic for a short time, before it was dissolved in 1922 in order to join the state of Thuringia.

The district in its present borders was established in 1922 under the name “Altenburg”. In 1952 there was an administrative reform splitting the districts into two smaller units, called Altenburg and Schmölln. They were merged again in 1994, but now under the name “Altenburger Land”.

Information Source

This chapter was abstracted from Wikipedia: Altenburger Land.