It was a castle in 806 AD. The city was founded in 98 1. 1281-1478 is a member of the Hanseatic League. Railway and highway hubs; River port; Air station. Mining nearby lignite and potassium salt. Industry is dominated by chemical industry, machine tool and carriage manufacturing, electrical equipment, paper making, printing and other departments, as well as cement, food and wood processing. One of the largest book publishing centers in China. There are Academy of Natural Sciences (founded in 1652), universities (founded in 1694), teachers colleges and museums. There are medieval churches, castles and other monuments.

Harley has the famous Harley-Wittenberg University. It was an important chemistry teaching center during the period of the Democratic Republic of Germany.