Zeitz (Upper Sorbian: Žič, pronounced [ˈʒitʃ]) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

A bombing target of the Oil Campaign of World War II, the Brabag plant northeast of Zeitz used lignite coal for the production of synthetic fuels[3] – forced labor was provided by the nearby Wille subcamp of Buchenwald in Rehmsdorf and Gleina.

[citation needed] In the middle of the 1960s work started on the "Zeitz-Ost" residential area, and in the mid-1980s, housing estates such as the "Völkerfreundschaft" (English: International Friendship) were built.

The town was an industrial centre until German Reunification made many companies in eastern Germany uncompetitive, and 20,000 people lost jobs or moved to other employment.

The town still has a large sugar factory, and the nearby lignite mines (Profen and Schleenhain) and Lippendorf Power Station, together employing 2,000 people from Zeitz.