Eilenburg lies at the banks of the river Mulde at the southwestern edge of the Düben Heath wildlife park.

Neighbouring towns and cities are Leipzig (20 kilometres distant), Delitzsch (21), Bad Düben (16), Torgau (25) and Wurzen (12).

In 1632 the body of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was laid out in the Red Deer Inn ("Gasthof Roter Hirsch") after he had been killed in the Battle of Lützen (1632).

On 14 September 1648 the Treaty of Eilenburg was signed and meant the end of the Thirty Years' War for Saxony, and as a consequence the town recovered.

In 1813 during the War of the Sixth Coalition shortly before the Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon took a last view of his and his allies' Saxon troops in eastern Eilenburg.

The social tensions resulting from the industrialization and the huge growth of population triggered a strong labour movement.

The German Celluloid Factory ("Deutsche Celluliod-Fabrik") founded in 1887 characterized the city's business for more than a hundred years.

On 21 October 1917 Wilhelm Pieck, later a President of the German Democratic Republic, escaped from a military transport at Eilenburg station.

In 1952 the city became the seat of the Eilenburg District in Bezirk Leipzig, newly formed by the administrative reform in East Germany.

In autumn 1989 up to seven thousand inhabitants formed peaceful demonstrations demanding a change ("Wende") especially on the political level.

Dismantling of jobs could only be partially offset by new business settlements on newly created industrial areas outside the town.

Since 1 August 2008 Eilenburg lies roughly in the middle of the then newly formed Nordsachsen (northern Saxony) District.