Zerbst () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until an administrative reform in 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the former Anhalt-Zerbst district. Geography Zerbst is situated in the Anhalt-Wittenberg region, with its town centre located on the river Nuthe about northeast of the Elbe, halfway between Magdeburg and Wittenberg. With the 1 January 2010 local government reform, the 21 formerly independent communities of the disbanded Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (municipal association) Elbe-Ehle-Nuthe were incorporated into the town. Zerbst today counts about 24,000 inhabitants and, at , is the fifth largest town in Germany by area. The current municipal area stretches from the Elbe in the southwest up to the Fläming Heath and the state border with Brandenburg in the northeast. Divisions The town Zerbst consists of Zerbst proper and the following 24 Ortschaften or municipal divisions: Bias Bornum Buhlendorf Deetz Dobritz Gehrden Gödnitz Grimme Güterglück Hohenlepte Jütrichau Leps Lindau Luso Moritz Nedlitz Nutha Polenzko Pulspforde Reuden Steutz Straguth Walternienburg Zernitz History In the 8th century the area east of the Elbe was settled by Polabian Slavs (Sorbs). Part of the border region with the adjacent Saxon region around Magdeburg in the west, it was incorporated into the Gau Ciervisti of the Saxon Eastern March (Marca Geronis) about 937 in the course of the German Ostsiedlung. It is not clear when Zerbst was founded; however, the name Ciervisti mentioned as early as 949 may already refer to a fortified Slavic settlement. The chronicles by Prince-Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg recorded the first mention of a town as Zirwisti urbs in 1018, giving an account of the occupation by the Polish duke Bolesław I Chrobry during the German–Polish War with King Henry II in 1007. In the early 12th century the Ascanian ruler Albert the Bear had the fortress rebuilt, and the adjacent settlement was first fortified with town walls about 1250. In 1307 Prince Albert I of Anhalt acquired the city of Zerbst from the Barby comital family, starting a centuries-long rule by the Ascanian princely House of Anhalt. His descendants continued to rule the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst until in 1396 it was divided between Prince Sigismund I and his brother Albert IV, and the residence was moved to Dessau. In 1375 Zerbster Bitterbier was first mentioned; by the Middle Ages the town had 600 breweries. Following the Reformation Zerbst became a Calvinist centre. From 1582 to 1798 the