Bad Salzelmen

Bad Salzelmen has been a district of Schönebeck since 1932 and is a state-approved spa in the Salzlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 1894 when the towns of Groß Salze and Elmen merged to form the town of Groß Salze. The town of Groß Salze was renamed Bad Salzelmen in 1926.

Bad Salzelmen can look back on more than 800 years of salt production history. In Elmen brine was already mined in the 12th century. With the "white gold" the Pfänner, or later also called Salzgrafen, gained great influence on the town. As a Pfännerschaft, they were not only a commercial association, but also spoke the law as authorities. Parts of the town wall from the 14th century, the former town hall from the 15th century and the Johanniskirche from the middle of the 15th century still bear witness to the wealth and power of the Pfänners. Today the Salzlandmuseum is located in the town hall. In 1680 the town of Groß Salze went to the Brandenburg-Prussian Duchy of Magdeburg. Groß Salze as a so-called Immediatstadt was directly subordinated to the government of the duchy and lay in the wood circle. Between 1756 and 1765, the graduation house was built with a total length of 1837 metres, making it the largest ever built. The "Königlich Preußische Saline" was the largest state enterprise in Prussia at that time. In 1776 the 32 meter high brine tower was built near the graduation house. It served the brine production by means of a Dutch "wind art". The saltworks were connected to the port of Schönebeck by a company railway.

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