Werdau

Werdau is a town in Germany, part of the Landkreis Zwickau in the Free State of Saxony. It is situated on the river Pleiße, 8 km from Zwickau.

The town was mentioned as early as 1304, and in 1398 it was purchased by Frederick, then margrave of Meissen, who afterwards became Elector of Saxony.The textile industry was the dominant industry in Werdau since the 14th century. The industrial character of the town further increased in the 20th century with the large-scale truck production by the IFA conglomerate. Both industries were not competitive after the German reunification in 1990, leading to a sharp deindustrialisation. The character of the town changed dramatically over the last 20 years after almost all factories were demolished and the characteristic East-German residential Plattenbauten were scaled back.