The municipal area comprises the localities of Burgliebenau, Döllnitz, Ermlitz, Hohenweiden, Knapendorf, Korbetha, Lochau, Luppenau, Raßnitz, Röglitz, Schkopau, and Wallendorf.

Already in the ninth century, a Carolingian fortress had been erected on the Saale River, then the eastern border of East Francia with the lands of the Polabian Slavs.

Enfeoffed to the Bishop of Merseburg in 1444 and held by the Trotha noble family from 1477 onwards, the castle was rebuilt several times, recently in 1876 in a Renaissance Revival style.

Today it is used as a hotel.In April 1936, the Buna (i.e. butadiene-natrium polymer) synthetic rubber company was established in Schkopau, part of the Nazi efforts to make German economy self-sufficient in view of coming World War II.

The Schkopau works were a subsidiary of the Leuna chemical company, itself part of the vast IG Farben industry conglomerate.