Raguhn-Jeßnitz

Raguhn-Jeßnitz (German pronunciation: [ʁaˈɡuːn ˈjɛsnɪts]) is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the former municipalities Altjeßnitz, Jeßnitz, Marke, Raguhn, Retzau, Schierau, Thurland and Tornau vor der Heide.^[3] These 8 former municipalities are now Ortschaften or municipal divisions of the town Raguhn-Jeßnitz.^[4]

Raguhn-Jeßnitz
Town
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Raguhn-Jeßnitz within Anhalt-Bitterfeld district
Raguhn-Jeßnitz Show map of Germany Raguhn-Jeßnitz Show map of Saxony-Anhalt
Coordinates: 51°40′N 12°4′E
Country	Germany
State	Saxony-Anhalt
District	Anhalt-Bitterfeld
Government
• Mayor (2023–30)	Hannes Loth[1] (AfD)
Area
• Total	97.13 km2 (37.50 sq mi)
Elevation	76 m (249 ft)
Population  (2024-12-31)[2]
• Total	8,702
• Density	90/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	06779, 06800
Dialling codes	034906, 03494
Vehicle registration	ABI
Website	www.raguhn-jessnitz.de

History

During World War II, Raguhn was the location of a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp, in which some 500 women and girls were imprisoned and subjected to forced labour.^[5] The prisoners were almost exclusively Jewish, but there was also one non-Jewish American, Hungarian, Italian and Turkish woman each.^[5]

Politics

The first round of the mayoral elections for the town were held on 18 June 2023 with the candidate from the far-right AfD Hannes Loth party receiving 40.7% of the vote, more than any other candidate. His main rival was the independent Nils Naumann who managed to get 36.9% of the vote.^[6] Hannes Loth [de] won with 51.13% of the vote in a second run-off round on 2 July 2023 despite the fact that his party is under the surveillance of the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the State of Saxony-Anhalt.^[7][8][9]

He became the first AfD mayor in Germany.^[10][11][12]