Meissen

*Meißen*
Meißen
Town
	Coat of arms
	Location of Meissen within Meißen district
	Coordinates: 51°10′N 13°29′E / 51.167°N 13.483°ECoordinates: 51°10′N 13°29′E / 51.167°N 13.483°E
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Meißen
Subdivisions	12 Stadtteile/Stadtbezirke
Government
• Mayor	Olaf Raschke
Area
• Total	30.90 km2 (11.93 sq mi)
Elevation	106 m (348 ft)
Population (2005-09-30)
• Total	28,544
• Density	923.75/km2 (2,392.5/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	01654–01662
Vehicle registration	MEI
Website	www.stadt-meissen.de

Meißen (Sorbian: Mišno, Latin: Misnia, Misena) is a town of about 30,000 near Dresden on both banks of the Elbe in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meißen is the home of Meißen porcelain. Meißen is the capital city of Meißen Rural District

During World War II, a subcamp of Flossenburg concentration camp was in Meißen.^[1]

Porcelain

Porcelain bells in Meißen

Meißen is famous for the manufacture of porcelain. This is because there are big local deposits of china clay (kaolin) and potter's clay (potter's earth). Meißen porcelain was the first high quality porcelain to be produced outside of China.

The first European porcelain was made in Meißen in 1710, when the Royal Porcelain Factory was opened in the Albrechtsburg. In 1861, it was moved to the Triebisch valley of Meißen, where the Meißen porcelain factory can still be found today.