Early development as a village The place name is of Slavic origin: Łuč'e is derived from łuka, which means 'meadow' in
Old Sorbian. The settlement has probably existed since the Old
Sorbian conquest of the land in the 8th century. The original village center was located on today's
Am Tanzplan street. In the 11th century, German farmers also settled there. The village was first mentioned in documents under the name Luszh in 1285, when Margrave
Frederick Tuta von Landsberg sold it to the Bishop of
Merseburg. Ten years later, he enfeoffed the knight Heinricus de Lvitz (Heinrich von Leutzsch) with the Leutzscher Sattelhof. A chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary was elevated to the village church of St. Laurentius in 1397. From 1539, the council of the city of Leipzig held the manorial lordship in Leutzsch. From 1562, however, it was administratively subordinate to the Amt Schkeuditz in the Bishopric of Merseburg. This in turn had been under the sovereignty of the
Electorate of Saxony since 1561 and belonged to the
secundogeniture principality of
Saxe-Merseburg between 1656/57 and 1738. The population in 1562 was given as 23
hufners. During the
Thirty Years' War, Swedish troops burned down the village. In place of the old estate, a manor house was built around 1700, which was surrounded by a moat and therefore bore the popular name "Wasserschloss" (demolished in 1970, the area is now a park). The
coat of arms of the Lords of Leutzsch shows a linden tree with roots and crown, surrounded by two five-leaf roses. It was the municipal coat of arms until 1890. It can still be seen today at the entrance to the Leutzsch town hall. == Population ==