Wittenberg is located on the Elbe River in the eastern part of Saxony-Anhalt. Wittenberg is the county seat of the district bearing the same name. To the north of the city lies the Flaeming, a heavily forested ridge formed during the Ice Age; and to the south one finds the broad Middle Elbe with its blind branches and the Duebener Heath.

Wittenberg was the starting point of the Lutheran reform movement and was one of the historic intellectual, spiritual and cultural centers in Europe.

Though the city possesses many significant historico-cultural structures, it does not live from its past alone. Its convenient location as a center for both train and ship traffic was the basis for the emergence of a flourishing economy.