Klöden

Klöden is a village and a former municipality in Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Jessen (Elster).GeographyKlöden lies on the Elbe about 12 km southwest of Jessen and in eastern Saxony-Anhalt.Klöden lies in the middle of the Elbaue, a kind of natural polder, and one of the biggest woodland and meadowland areas in the region. Much of it is still wild, harbouring a great many wild animals such as roe deer, wild boar, fallow deer, Elbe beavers, and many others. The plant life is also quite diverse.HistoryKlöden's history is the subject of very divergent points of view. This even goes for the origin of the community's name, as well as for just when Klöden had its first documentary mention. The most up-to-date research says that the name is of Slavic origin. In 1935, the name's spelling was changed from "Clöden" to "Klöden".The earliest document that is available was drawn up on 12 April 965, but it constitutes a clever forgery (ie it is authentically mediaeval, but its original purpose was fraudulent). It contains, among the 17 placenames that it mentions, one called "Clotna".What follows is a summary of what it says: