Delitzsch (German pronunciation: [ˈdeːlɪtʃ], Slavic: delč or delčz for hill) is a town in the Free State of Saxony in Germany. With more than 26,000 inhabitants, it is the largest town in the district of Nordsachsen.
Archaeological evidence outside the town limits points to a settlement dating from the Neolithic Age. The first documented mention of Delitzsch dates from 1166 and it later became the elector's residence in the 17th and 18th centuries. The old town is well preserved, with several plazas, citizens' and patrician houses, towers, a baroque castle and the town's fortifications.
Delitzsch and its surrounding area contain water areas, hiking and cycling networks and nature reserves.
Delitzsch is located in the northwestern part of Nordsachsen in Saxony, at an altitude of 94 meters above sea level. Due to its location on the border with Saxony-Anhalt, Delitzsch is the northernmost town in Saxony. It is situated on the north heath and recreation area Goitzsche which extends across the Saxony-Saxony-Anhalt border to Bitterfeld-Wolfen. To the east is the spa town of Bad Düben, which is the starting point for the Düben Heath.
Delitzsch (German pronunciation: [ˈdeːlɪtʃ]) is a former district in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It was bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the districts of Torgau-Oschatz and Muldentalkreis, the city of Leipzig, the district of Leipziger Land and the state of Saxony-Anhalt (districts Saalekreis, Anhalt-Bitterfeld and Wittenberg).
After the 1815 Congress of Vienna Saxony had to cede large amounts of its territory to Prussia. The Prussian government established districts in the newly acquired lands, among them the district of Delitzsch.
The state of Prussia was dissolved after the end of the Nazi era, and the new state of Saxony-Anhalt was established, with Delitzsch being a part of it. In 1953 the East German government dissolved the states. They were reestablished after the German reunification in 1990, but Delitzsch and Eilenburg (two districts made up of the former Delitzsch district) were initially given to Saxony instead of Saxony-Anhalt. The two districts again merged in 1994 and formed the present borders.