title: Meissen (district)
text: # Meissen (district)
  
  Meissen (German: Meißen) is a district (Kreis) in Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the state of Brandenburg, the district of Bautzen, the urban district Dresden, the districts Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, Mittelsachsen and Nordsachsen.
  
  ## History
  
  The district dates back to the Amt Meißen, which was first mentioned in 1334. The district was ruled by the Wettin dynasty. The Margraves of what then became the Margravate of Meissen created the administrative division (Amt) in the 13th century. In 1835 the Amt was converted into an Amtshauptmannschaft, with the area of the current district covered by the Amtshauptmannschaften Meissen, Dresden and Großenhain. In 1939, these were renamed Landkreise (districts). In the administrative reform of 1952, several municipalities were transferred to the districts of Freiberg and Döbeln. In 1990, the old district borders were restored, and in 1996 parts of the district Dresden-Land were added. In August 2008 the district of Riesa-Großenhain was added to the district to give it its current size.
  
  ## Geography
  
  The main river of the district is the Elbe, which also flows through the town of Meissen.
  
  ## Towns and municipalities
  
  | Towns | Municipalities |
  | - | - |
  | Coswig Gröditz Großenhain Lommatzsch Meissen Nossen Radebeul Radeburg Riesa Strehla | Diera-Zehren Ebersbach Glaubitz Hirschstein Käbschütztal Klipphausen Lampertswalde Moritzburg Niederau | Nünchritz Priestewitz Röderaue Schönfeld Stauchitz Thiendorf Weinböhla Wülknitz Zeithain |
  
  ## Politics
  
  Meißen (electoral district)
  
  