Maasdorf (Bad Liebenwerda)

Maasdorf is a district of the town of Bad Liebenwerda in the Elbe-Elster district of Brandenburg, Germany, located three kilometres northeast of the town on the Kleine Elster river within the Niederlausitzer Heidelandschaft Nature Park.[1]

Maasdorf was part of the Bad Liebenwerda district until its incorporation in 1993 and currently has 464 inhabitants.[2]

Maasdorf
District
Location of Maasdorf in Bad Liebenwerda
Elevation
90 m (300 ft)
Population
 • Total
404
Area code035341

History

Maasdorf was first documented in 1376 as Mostorph. The origin of the name, likely German, is undocumented, but various spellings have appeared over time: 1376 Mostorph, 1378 Mostorf, 1391 Mannstorf, 1402 Mansdorff, 1442 Mastorff, 1457 Monstorff, 1529 Maßdorff, 1550 Masdorff, and 1752 Maasdorff.[3]

The village was originally owned by the Ileburger noble family, part of the Upper Saxon nobility, who controlled Liebenwerda Castle. Residents of Maasdorf were subject to the Dingstuhl court in Dobra, which also governed Dobra, Liebenwerda’s suburbs (Stadtwinkel and Freiwinkel), Zeischa, and Zobersdorf. Frequent flooding from the Kleine Elster (formerly Dober), a tributary of the Schwarze Elster, prompted the construction of a 122.5-ell-long dam in 1789 to protect the village.[4]

Maasdorf suffered multiple devastating fires. In 1457, a fire destroyed the entire village, with reconstruction aided by the Wahrenbrück parish, to which Maasdorf belonged. Lacking a local church, residents attended services in Wahrenbrück and buried their dead there, along a path still called ‘Leichenweg’ (corpse path). After the first church visitation in 1529, Maasdorf was reassigned to the Liebenwerda parish. Additional fires in February 1609 destroyed 17 houses, and in January 1856, six farmsteads were lost. A volunteer fire brigade was established in 1874, with its fire engines first inspected at 3:30 p.m. on 23 July 1875, according to the Liebenwerdaer Kreisblatt.[4]

From 1875, the Knissen colony was part of Maasdorf but was incorporated into Thalberg in 1936, becoming an independent municipality with its farmland.[2]

On 22 April 1945, shortly before World War II ended, the Red Army entered Maasdorf, confiscating horses and burning a plot with an abandoned military vehicle. On 11 May 1945, Russian soldiers shot the village schoolteacher, Karl Drechsler, in the school garden in front of his wife.[2]

The land reform in the Bad Liebenwerda district began in the autumn of 1945, expropriating estates over 100 hectares, including buildings, livestock, and equipment. In Maasdorf, 157 hectares, including the estate of Paul Weiland, were redistributed. The Mittelhausen Pond estate, owned by the von Kuczkowski noble family, was also affected.[3]

In the German Democratic Republic, established in 1949, Maasdorf was initially part of Saxony-Anhalt until its dissolution in 1952. It then belonged to the Cottbus district until reunification in 1990. In 1993, during Brandenburg’s district reform, Maasdorf was incorporated into Bad Liebenwerda, alongside Dobra, Kosilenzien, Kröbeln, Lausitz, Möglenz, Neuburxdorf, Oschätzchen, Prieschka, Thalberg, Theisa, Zeischa, and Zobersdorf.[4]

Population development

In 1835, Maasdorf had 43 houses, 211 inhabitants, 44 horses, 196 cattle, 425 sheep, 13 goats, and 98 pigs.[5]

Population development of Maasdorf since 1875[5]
Year Residents Year Residents Year Residents
1875 500 1946 623 1989 522
1890 600 1950 641 1990 510
1910 700 1964 556 1991 491
1925 837 1971 546 1992 494
1933 922 1981 535 2005 477
1939 982 1985 525 2010 444

Culture and places of interest

The Maasdorf manor, known as the ‘Parkschlösschen’ (little park castle), is a notable landmark on the Mühlgraben. Documented around 1701, it was owned by the von Seydewitz noble family before 1692, when Damm Friedrich and Christian Friedrich von Seydewitz sought enfeoffment of the estate. By the mid-19th century, the von Rohrscheidt family owned it, and in 1898, Paul Weiland, owner of the Liebenwerda cement factory, purchased it. His South Tyrolean wife added Italian-style turrets, giving it a castle-like appearance. The manor remained with the Weiland family until the 1945 land reform. The Teichgut Mittelhausen estate (87 hectares) was owned by Wilhelm von Borries-Dalldorf in the 1920s, then by the von Kuczkowski family. In 1984, the manor became the Restaurant Parkschlösschen, now including a hotel.[6]

The Maasdorf Elster-Natoureum, opened in 2005, showcases the Elbe-Elster region in miniature with the motto “See nature, experience nature, learn from nature.” It includes a 320-meter-long LGB garden railway with a 45 mm track gauge.[7]

The Maasdorfer Teiche ponds, built-in 1543 for fish farming near the former Knissen district, are a popular destination for visitors.[6]

The Maasdorf cemetery features a war memorial stele honouring 34 residents who died in World War I and 40 in World War II.[7]

Personalities

  • Friedrich von Rohrscheidt (1815–1880), Royal Prussian District Administrator of Liebenwerda (1843–1851), lord of the Maasdorf manor, and later Privy Councillor. His descendants owned the Garzau estate.[8]
  • Axel Peschel (born 1942 in Maasdorf), a cyclist who won the 1968 International Peace Race in Warsaw.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Gemeinde- und Ortsteilverzeichnis des Landes Brandenburg" [Directory of municipalities and districts in the state of Brandenburg]. Geobroker (in German). Landesvermessung und Geobasisinformation Brandenburg (LGB). Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  2. ^ a b c Bestek, C. (2007). "Chronik der Stadt Liebenwerda". In Verein für Stadtmarketing und Wirtschaft Bad Liebenwerda e. V. (ed.). Ortsteil Maasdorf [Maasdorf district] (in German). Bad Liebenwerda: Winklerdruck Gräfenhainichen. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-3-7245-1420-6.
  3. ^ a b Bartha, H. (2007). "Chronik der Stadt Liebenwerda". In Verein für Stadtmarketing und Wirtschaft Bad Liebenwerda e. V. (ed.). Ortsteil Dobra [Dobra district] (in German). Bad Liebenwerda: Winklerdruck Gräfenhainichen. pp. 248–249. ISBN 978-3-7245-1420-6.
  4. ^ a b c Schmidt, W. (2007). "Chronik der Stadt Liebenwerda". In Verein für Stadtmarketing und Wirtschaft Bad Liebenwerda e. V. (ed.). Ortsteil Thalberg [Thalberg district] (in German). Bad Liebenwerda: Winklerdruck Gräfenhainichen. pp. 268–269. ISBN 978-3-7245-1420-6.
  5. ^ a b "Kleines Dorf ganz groß!" [A small village with a big heart!]. badliebenwerda.de (in German). Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Parkschlösschen Maasdorf" [Maasdorf Park Castle] (in German). Archived from the original on 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  7. ^ a b "Das Elster-Natoureum auf der Maasdorfer" [The Elster Nature Centre on the Maasdorf website] (in German). Retrieved 2011-04-12.
  8. ^ a b Gothaisches Genealigisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen Häuser 1909 [Gotha Genealogical Pocket Book of the Noble Houses 1909] (in German). Gotha: Justus Perthes. 1908. pp. 641–642.
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