Schkopau

Schkopau
Schkopau
Location of Schkopau within Saalekreis district
Coordinates: 51°23′N 11°58′E / 51.383°N 11.967°E / 51.383; 11.967Coordinates: 51°23′N 11°58′E / 51.383°N 11.967°E / 51.383; 11.967
Country	Germany
State	Saxony-Anhalt
District	Saalekreis
Government
• Mayor	Andrej Haufe (CDU)
Area
• Total	90.66 km2 (35.00 sq mi)
Elevation	98 m (322 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	10,935
• Density	120/km2 (310/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	06258
Dialling codes	03461
Vehicle registration	SK
Website	www.gemeinde-schkopau.de

Schkopau is a municipality in the Saalekreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

It is situated at the confluence of the Saale River with its Weisse Elster and Luppe tributaries, approx. 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of Merseburg, and 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Halle.

Schkopau station is a stop on the Thuringian Railway line from Halle to Eisenach. Another connection is provided by an interurban tramway line from Halle to Bad Dürrenberg. Beside the resident chemical industry, the municipality is the site of the Schkopau Power Station, a brown coal power plant run by the E.ON electric utility.

The municipal area comprises the localities of Burgliebenau, Döllnitz, Ermlitz, Hohenweiden, Knapendorf, Korbetha, Lochau, Luppenau, Raßnitz, Röglitz, Schkopau, and Wallendorf.

A Scapowe Castle was first mentioned in an 1177 deed. Already in the ninth century, a Carolingian fortress had been erected on the Saale River, then the eastern border of East Francia with the lands of the Polabian Slavs.

In 1215, King Frederick II endowed it to the Archbishop of Magdeburg, who already held the nearby town of Halle. Enfeoffed to the Bishop of Merseburg in 1444 and held by the Trotha noble family from 1477 onwards, the castle was rebuilt several times, recently in 1876 in a Renaissance Revival style. Today it is used as a hotel.