During the Thirty Years War, in 1631, in the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631), an alliance of Saxon and Swedish forces, under the command of Gustavus II Adolphus, the king of Sweden, with additional Protestant-German allies and mercenaries, defeated the armies of the Catholic League and the Habsburgs, commanded by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly.

At the Battle of Nations in 1813, the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher established his command post in the Breitenfeld mill, from which he coordinated the attacks on Napoleon's French troops positioned in Möckern and Gohlis.

In 1856, the patrimonial authority was relinquished and Breitenfeld acquired local autonomy within the duchy of Saxony, as a community with its own village council.

Since 2002, Breitenfeld has been the main home of the Leipzig animal rescue, and the city's fairgrounds and exhibition hall is located at the village.

Glaubensfreiheit für die Welt, rettete bei Breitenfeld Gustav Adolf, Christ und Held.