WEISSENFELS

city, Saxony-Anhalt Land (state), eastern Germany. It lies on the right bank of the Saale River, south of Halle. A German town on the site of an old Slav settlement, it was chartered in 1185, when it belonged to the Saxon House of Wettin. It was the residence of the dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels from 1656 to 1746 and passed to Prussia in 1815. The Baroque castle (1660-93) is preserved, and the town museum has a notable historical collection of shoes. A rail junction and centre of the German shoemaking industry, Weissenfels also manufactures metal products and paper and has a brewery. Pop. (1989 est.) 38,881.