Großdrebnitz, in Sorbian language Drjewnica, is part of the city ofBischofswerda in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. It stretches along 4 km from the river Wesenitz in the north to the foothills of Lausitzer Bergland in the south. Today's Großdrebnitz consists of the two parts Großdrebnitz and Kleindrebnitz, which were unified 1936 and became part of Bischofswerda in 1996. In both parts farmland dominates. Moreover, Kleindrebnitz has a centuries-long tradition in fish farming.
History
Gold and Silver
Old records tell about people from Venice washing gold in Großdrebnitz. In the year 1559, when Augustus, Elector of Saxony had secularized the Stolpen territory of the Bishop of Meißen, the Amtsschösser was directed to search for gold in Großdrebnitz. Records from that time finally tell about silver which was mined near the church.,
The Martinskirche Großdrebnitz
, introduced Protestant Reformation to the Stolpen region in 1559. On occasion of its 350th anniversary, the church was named after Martin Luther. The organ was already built in 1828 by. His descendants became famous violin makers in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Among the pastors of the church, Carl Julius Marloth was known for his writings which can be found e.g. in the British Library.
World leading Australian sheep breeding has one of its major roots in Saxony. From 1765 the Spanish Merino was crossed here with Saxon sheep to develop a very fine wool type for textile manufacturers. From 1778, the Saxon breeding center was operated in the vorwerkRennersdorf, nearby Großdrebnitz. It was administrated from 1796 by Johann Gottfried Nake, who developed scientific crossing methods to further improve Saxon Merino. About 1800, Saxon wool was considered to be the finest in the world. In 1811, highly decorated Nake, one of the key persons of Saxony's world famous sheep breeding at that time, established a private farm in the Vorwerk in Kleindrebnitz. After the Napoleonic wars Saxony urgently needed money to rebuild the country and thus decided to lift the export ban on living Merinos. The sheep export to Australia and Russia was successful to such an extent that Saxon sheep breeders themselves dramatically lost market shares. This development was faced by Nake in Kleindrebnitz too.
A Nearly Forgotten Treasure
The Vorwerk was built by Saxon court architect Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer. It is reported that later forestry professor Max Neumeister was born here and it is supposed that for some years it served as manufacture to build the Herbrig organs. However, this neo-classic building has not been well preserved over time and lost much of its original character. from the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace
Saxon court painter Ludwig Otto was married with a daughter of pastor Rüdiger from Großdrebnitz. He regularly visited the village to paint here. One of his oil paintings is preserved in the Martinskirche.
German graphic designer and painter, who was awarded 1980 with the Bundesverdienstkreuz for his artistic achievements and resistance against Nazi regime, visited Großdrebnitz in 1923 and drew Autumn Festival.
U.S. Sociologist Walter A. Terpenning visited "Klein Drebnitz" and wrote about it in Village and open-country neighborhoods .
Births
Robert Heller was a famous writer of historical novels. He belonged to the movement Young Germany in Leipzig and was reporter from the Frankfurt Parliament. As author, he was the first to make Florian Geyer popular, as publisher he was the first to print Friedrich Gerstäcker. Later he became a renowned critic in Hamburg.
