GROSSENHAIN, a town in the circle of Dresden, Saxony, is situated on the Röder, an affluent of the Elbe, 20 miles N. W. of Dresden. It has manufactures of woollen and cotton stuffs, buckskin, silk thread, and waxcloth. The principal buildings are the church of Our Lady completed in 1748, the real school of the second order, the new town-house completed in 1876, the infirmary, and the poorhouse. The population in 1875, including the garrison, was 10,686.

Grossenhain owes its origin to the Sorbs, and obtained the rank of a town in the 10th century. It was for a time possessed by the Bohemians, by whom it was strongly fortified. It afterwards came into the possession of the counts of Meissen, from whom it was taken in 1312 by the margraves Waldemar and John of Brandenburg. It suffered considerably in all the great German wars, and in 1744 was nearly destroyed by fire.