Wilthen

Wilthen
Coat of arms
Wilthen
Location of Wilthen within Bautzen district
Coordinates: 51°6′N 14°24′E / 51.100°N 14.400°E / 51.100; 14.400Coordinates: 51°6′N 14°24′E / 51.100°N 14.400°E / 51.100; 14.400
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Bautzen
Government
• Mayor	Michael Herfort (CDU)
Area
• Total	17.06 km2 (6.59 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	5,091
• Density	300/km2 (770/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	02679–02681
Dialling codes	03592
Vehicle registration	BZ
Website	Official website

Wilthen (Upper Sorbian Wjelećin) is a town in the district of Bautzen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is near the border with Bohemia, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) south of Bautzen and 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Dresden.

Nearby communities are Obergurig, Großpostwitz, Kirschau, Schirgiswalde, Steinigtwolmsdorf. Wilthen today consists out of a central settlement and some smaller villages. The parts of the community are named Sora, Ingersdorf and Tautewalde. The place is well known in Germany because of his biggest employer, an alcohol-producing company.

Wilthen arose out of an old Sorbian village that was mentioned first in 1222. In 1669 the village received the status of a town and marketplace. But it still has been regarded as village because there were only a few markets a year. Three hundred years later, it became a town again. Since 1972 Wilthen is an official place of recovery (Erholungsort).

The town is situated in the "Lausitzer Bergland", a hillregion between Saxon Switzerland and the Zittauer Gebirge in the Lusatian Mountains. Wilthen offers many possibilities of touring like many look outs upon the hilltops and nearby restaurants. Another touring-route leads through the small pond-district. Some remains of the old rural culture and weaving tradition of the region can be found in a small camber of home "Heimatstube". With a group of more than ten people it is also possible to get into the "Wilthener Weinbrennerei". Few of the old houses of the town has been preserved like some old craftsmen-houses.

At the beginning of the 19th century the town started to become a well known place of textile industry, machine building, plastic production and alcohol production. Important enterprises today are: Wilthener Weinbrennerei/ Hardenberg Wilthen AG, KEW Kunststofferzeugnisse GmbH Wilthen, Lakowa GmbH Kunststoffbe- und verarbeitung, VTN Härterei Wilthen GmbH, SLM GmbH and Schumann Kies- und Hartsteinwerke.