French and Prussian troops occupied Weissenfels during the Seven Years´ War in 1756 until 1763.
In the year 1787 the family “von Hardenberg“ settled down in Weißenfels. One of their sons became famous under the name of “Novalis“ and is now considered one of the most important writers of the early German Romanticism.

The population of Weißenfels was in big need during the Napoleonic Wars. Weissenfels was connected to the Prussian state after the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

In the middle of the 19th century Weissenfels developed into an industrial town. On June 6, 1846 the Prussian King Wilhelm IV opened the Thuringian railway (Halle - Erfurt) in Weissenfels, which was very important for industrialization.

In the year 1916 the chemical plant “Leuna-Werke“ was opened. The chemical industry brought a lot of economical change to the whole region.

Schusterjunge

All bridges in Weissenfels were destroyed, but Weissenfels was considerably spared with bomb attacks.
After the German reunification
the whole shoe-industry went bankrupt.
And so did most of the other industrial branches in and near Weissenfels.

A sign of the shoe-
industry in Weißenfels:
the "Schuhmuseum"