Urban research / chapter 01
Lutherstadt Wittenberg
Three historic figures trace changes in the city’s population.
Residents with a main residence according to the municipal register, recorded on 31 December of each year. Source: Lutherstadt Wittenberg Statistical Yearbook 2019, p. 19 (2012, 2016 and 2019) and p. 12 (city area: 24,178.26 ha, rounded here) (German). This register series is not directly comparable with the state population estimate. Current whole-city series.
Architecture and urban change in Wittenberg
This research asks how Wittenberg can develop in response to present-day needs. We consider the city's layout, routes, public spaces and changing population together. A model of the city brings spatial relationships into view and helps us explore possible futures.
Written records of Wittenberg date back to the twelfth century. The municipal timeline records the granting of town rights in 1293 and the official addition of “Lutherstadt” to the city's name in 1938. These milestones tell only part of the story. Wittenberg is also shaped by its neighbourhoods and by the people who use them every day.
We are interested in how the city works and how it feels: its connections, uses and places. The research brings historical evidence and spatial analysis together to ask how future decisions could improve life in the city.
The differences between districts are one starting point. The 2019 municipal statistical yearbook, p. 16, records no residents with a main residence in Elbtor and 7,747 in Friedrichstadt. These figures describe the statistical districts on 31 December 2019; they do not measure the value of either place.