Dessau-Roßlau (German pronunciation: [ˈdɛsaʊ̯ ˈʁɔslaʊ̯] ) is a kreisfreie Stadt (urban district) in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Elbe and Mulde. The town was formed by merger of the towns of Dessau and Roßlau as part of the 2007 regional boundary reform of Saxony-Anhalt (Kreisreform Sachsen-Anhalt). The reform involved a reduction in the number of rural districts in Sachsen-Anhalt from 21 to 11, in anticipation of a continued population decline.

Dessau-Roßlau is the third largest town of Saxony-Anhalt by population, after Magdeburg and Halle. Its area is 245.0 km (94.6 sq mi).

Dessau is the largest population centre within Dessau-Roßlau, with approximately 79,000 inhabitants (2021). Most of the town is located on the left bank of the river Mulde, south of its confluence with the river Elbe. Dessau was first mentioned in 1213, and became the capital of a small state (Anhalt-Dessau) in the 14th century. Between 1863 and 1918, it was the capital of Anhalt. Since the second half of the 19th century, Dessau has been an industrial town. With the famous art and architecture school Bauhaus, located in Dessau between 1925 and 1932, and the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm, the town features two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The town could be referred to as one of the birthplaces of the "Jet Age" because the Junkers factory that designed the Jumo 004 jet engine for the German Me 262 jet fighter (operational from mid-1944) was designed there. As the western shore of the Elbe-Mulde rivers was the stopping point for U.S. troops in World War II, the capture of the town allowed the U.S. Army to evacuate Junkers employees to the west before Russia occupied the area on 1 July 1945. Several engineers of the jet engine development team at Junkers ended up at the Lycoming engine plant in Stratford, Conn., building gas turbine engines for the U.S. Army from 1952 on.

Roßlau has approximately 13,000 inhabitants (2006). It is located on the right bank of the Elbe, near its confluence with the Mulde, about 7 kilometers north of the centre of Dessau. Roßlau was first mentioned in 1215. Before it merged with Dessau, it was part of the district Anhalt-Zerbst.

The current mayor of Magdeburg is independent politician Robert Reck since 2021. The most recent mayoral election was held on 6 June 2021, with a runoff held on 27 June, and the results were as follows:

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Robert Reck	Independent	10,548	28.4	14,856	73.9
	Eiko Adamek	Christian Democratic Union	7,913	21.3	5,255	26.1
	Ralf-Peter Weber	Alliance 90/The Greens	6,119	16.5
	Sebastian Rumberg	Independent	4,229	11.4
	Lutz Büttner	Alternative for Germany	3,906	10.5
	Frank Lehmann	Independent	2,823	7.6
	Jakob Uwe Weber	Independent	1,209	3.3
	Karsten Rudolf Lückemeyer	Independent	417	1.1
Valid votes			37,164	100.0	20,111	100.0
Invalid votes			563	1.5	82	0.4
Total			37,727	100.0	20,193	100.0
Electorate/voter turnout			66,811	56.5	66,752	30.3
Source: City of Magdeburg

The most recent city council election was held on 9 June 2024, and the results were as follows:

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Alternative for Germany (AfD)	29,028	25.5	8.7	13	5
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	25,112	22.0	0.8	11	1
	Pro Dessau-Roßlau (Pro DE)	14,308	12.6	4.0	6	2
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	10,649	9.3	0.2	5	0
	The Left (Die Linke)	9,096	8.0	6.6	4	3
	New Forum–Citizens' List (Forum-BL)	8,092	7.1	1.3	4	0
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	6,243	5.5	4.6	3	2
	Free Faction Dessau-Roßlau	5,634	4.9	0.0	2	1
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	3,276	2.9	1.8	1	1
	Weber (Independent)	1,885	1.7	New	1	New
	Ribbecke (Independent)	648	0.6	New	0	New
Valid votes		113,971	100.0
Invalid ballots		717	0.2
Total ballots		39,413	100.0		50	±0
Electorate/voter turnout		64,726	60.9	7.1
Source: City of Magdeburg

Dessau-Roßlau is twinned with:

• Official website (in German)