Bischofswerda (; hsb, Biskopicy) is a small town in Germany at the western edge of
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...
in
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
.
Geography
![BIW Altmarkt Altes Rathaus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/BIW_Altmarkt_Altes_Rathaus.JPG)
The town is located 33 km to the east of
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
at the edge of the Upper Lusatian mountain country. The town is known as the "Gateway to Upper Lusatia" – "Tor zur Oberlausitz" in German. Located in the
district of Bautzen, the town is 18 km west of
Bautzen
Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...
itself.
Großdrebnitz
Großdrebnitz, in Sorbian language ''Drjewnica'', is part of the city of Bischofswerda in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. It stretches along 4 km from the river Wesenitz in the north to the foothills of Lausitzer Bergland in th ...
is among its quarters. The river
Wesenitz
The Wesenitz (''Wjazońca'' in Upper Sorbian language) is a river in Saxony, Germany, right tributary of the Elbe. Its total length is . The Wesenitz runs through the tourist regions of the Lusatian Highlands and Saxon Switzerland. Its name is d ...
flows through the town.
History
The first documentary evidence of the existence of Bischofswerda dates from 1227.
[Unfug, von Regina, Hantzsch; Stadtbilder aus Bischofswerda, Leiziger Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig, 1994] Nominally the town was founded by the Bishops of
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
, though it may have existed before that point. In 1288 city walls were constructed. The first mention of Bischofswerda as a city is in a document dating from 1361. The town remained under the authority of the Bishops of Meissen until 1559 when power was transferred to
Augustus, Elector of Saxony
Augustus (31 July 152611 February 1586) was Elector of Saxony from 1553 to 1586.
First years
Augustus was born in Freiberg, the youngest child and third (but second surviving) son of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg. He cons ...
, who introduced
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. The city arms are based on a 14th-century seal and consist of two crossed bishop's
crozier
A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...
s and four stars. The significance of the stars is not known.
Like many late medieval towns, Bischofswerda suffered from periodic fires that damaged the town. Fires are recorded in 1429, 1469, 1528, 1583, 1596, 1641, 1671 and 1813. The last fire was the worst. During the
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...
,
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
ic forces had occupied Bischofswerda when a fire broke out within the town walls on 12 May 1813, destroying most of the medieval town. However the town was rebuilt on an order of
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony
pl, Fryderyk August Józef Maria Antoni Jan Nepomucen Alojzy Ksawery
, image = Frederick Augustus I of Saxony by Marcello Bacciarelli (ca 1808-1809).png
, caption = Portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli (1809)
, succession = King of Saxony
, coron ...
in a manner closely following the earlier layout, and this remains to this day.
During the increased tensions of the 1980s between the Western democracies and the Eastern Communist Bloc, Bischofswerda became a base for Soviet
SS-12 nuclear missiles
Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task.
''Strategic'' nuclear weapons are used primari ...
. A depot for the missiles and their launchers was built just outside town. The missiles were withdrawn in 1988.
The following table indicates Bischofwerda's population at different times:
:
Source from 2000: Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen (Saxony Office of Statistics)
Sights
Among the most impressive buildings are the town hall and the ''Christuskirche''. Both are examples of
neo-classical architecture and were designed by
Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer
Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer (23 October 1775 - 11 February 1842) was a German representative of neoclassical architecture.
Life and artwork
Education and early work
Thormeyer was born in the Protestant Kreuzkirche parish, Dresden. He started to ...
. The town hall (Rathaus) was constructed in 1818, just off the Altmarkt, the centre of the town. The entrance to the Christuskirche is decorated by a mosaic by
Josef Goller. In the interior one can find a painting by
Osmar Schindler
Osmar Schindler (December 21, 1867 – June 19, 1927) was a German painter belonging to the Dresden Academy school of artists. His works were considered a mixture of impressionism and Art Nouveau.
Life
Osmar Schindler was born on December 2 ...
, who grew up in the town. The Catholic church is named after
Saint Benno of Meissen, who is said to have founded Bischofswerda in the 11th century.
File:BIW_Fronfeste_N_h.JPG, Historical ''Fronfeste'' (built 1286), entrance at the medieval town wall
File:Bischofswerda_Christuskirche_Westseite_2010.jpg, ''Christuskirche'' by Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer
Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer (23 October 1775 - 11 February 1842) was a German representative of neoclassical architecture.
Life and artwork
Education and early work
Thormeyer was born in the Protestant Kreuzkirche parish, Dresden. He started to ...
File:Goller-villeroy.jpg, Mosaic at the entrance of ''Christuskirche'' (by Josef Goller and Villeroy & Boch
Villeroy & Boch (, ) is a German manufacturer of ceramics, with the company headquarters located in Mettlach, Saarland.
History
The company began in the tiny Lorraine village of Audun le Tiche, where the iron master François Boch set up a potte ...
)
File:BIW_kath._Kirche_St._Benno_h.JPG, Catholic church St. Benno
Economy and transport
Before the
reunification of Germany
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
in 1990, Bischofswerda was a significant industrial location. The company
Fortschritt produced agricultural machines. This manufacture as well as the glass fabrication has closed. The textile industry had a centuries-long tradition in the town, but also ended in 2012.
Herrenmode macht Ende 2012 dicht
New industries began to settle in Bischofswerda in recent years. Roth Industries Roth may refer to:
Places
Germany
* Roth (district), in Bavaria, Germany
** Roth, Bavaria, capital of that district
** Roth (electoral district), a federal electoral district
* Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany:
** Roth an der Our, in the district ...
, a German enterprise from the environmental technology
Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as ''clean technology'' (''cleantech''), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic device ...
sector, has a subsidiary here. The Canadian producer of solar cells, ARISE Technologies, came to the town, but has closed.
File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-M1020-022,_VEB_Herrenmode_Bischofswerda.jpg, Textile industry in the G.D.R.
File:Haselmausbruecke.jpg, "Hazel Dormouse
The hazel dormouse or common dormouse (''Muscardinus avellanarius'') is a small mammal and the only living species in the genus ''Muscardinus''.
Distribution and habitat
The hazel dormouse is native to northern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the ...
" bridge over the bypass road in the south-west of the town
The town is situated on the ''Bundesstraße 6
The Bundesstraße 6 (abbr. B6) is a German federal highway running from Bremerhaven on the North Sea coast in a southeasterly direction through the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony to Görlitz on the Polish border.
Hi ...
'', which connects Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
and Görlitz
Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...
at the Polish border. The Bundesautobahn 4
is an autobahn that crosses Germany in a west–east direction. The western segment has a length of , the part in the east is long. Works to continue the A 4 are in progress, but currently no plans exist to fill the gap completely.
T ...
bypasses the town 6 km north, enabling easy access to Dresden Airport
Dresden Airport is the international airport of Dresden, the state capital of Saxony, Germany. It is located in Klotzsche, a district of Dresden north of the city centre. It was formerly also known in German as ''Flughafen Dresden-Klotzsche''. ...
. The road traffic bypasses the town in the west. Via Bischofswerda railway station, direct access by rail is possible to Dresden, Görlitz, Zittau
Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, :de:Oberlausitzer Mundart, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic languages, Slavic "''rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto' ...
as well as to Czech Liberec
Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...
.
Culture and sports
The little town became known nationally when the local football club BSG Fortschritt Bischofswerda
The Bischofswerdaer FV 08 is a German association football club from the town of Bischofswerda, Saxony.
The club's greatest success during play in the former East Germany was two seasons spend in the DDR-Oberliga in the 1980s, the highest level ...
, sponsored by Fortschritt, twice reached the DDR-Oberliga
The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany.
Overview
Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied eastern ...
, the highest football league in East Germany. Today, a modern open air bath and Saxony's littlest zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological g ...
can be noted. Regularly, the local festival ''Schiebocker Tage'' and a Karl May
Karl Friedrich May ( , ; 25 February 1842 – 30 March 1912) was a German author. He is best known for his 19th century novels of fictitious travels and adventures, set in the American Old West with Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as main pro ...
festival are organized.
File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0728-021,_Mannschaftsfoto_Fortschritt_Bischofswerda.jpg, DDR-Oberliga
The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany.
Overview
Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied eastern ...
team of Bischofswerda
File:BIW_Freibad.JPG, Open air bath
File:Karl-May-Spiele-Bischofswerda.Blutsbr%C3%BCder.jpg, Karl May
Karl Friedrich May ( , ; 25 February 1842 – 30 March 1912) was a German author. He is best known for his 19th century novels of fictitious travels and adventures, set in the American Old West with Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as main pro ...
Festival
Partnership
Bischofswerda is twin town of:
* Geislingen an der Steige
Geislingen an der Steige is surrounded by the heights of the Swabian Alb and embedded in 5 beautiful valleys. It is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The name relates to its location "on the climb ...
* Gryfów Śląski
Gryfów Śląski (), simplified to Gryfów (german: Greiffenberg), is a historic town in Lwówek Śląski County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district ( gmina) called Gmina Gryfów Ś ...
* Raspenava
Moreover, a long-term partnership exists between organizations for the disabled in Bischofswerda and Eggenfelden
Eggenfelden (; Central Bavarian: ''Eggenfejdn'') is a municipality in the district of Rottal-Inn in Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
Geographical location
Eggenfelden is located in the valley of the Rott at the intersection of B 20 with the B 38 ...
.
Personality
Freemen
* 1891: Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
* 1911: Heinrich Grafe (1857–1917), wine wholesalers, City Council Chairman and antisemitic Member of Reichstag 1893-1917
Sons and daughters of the town
* Christian Heckel (1676–1744), teacher, organist, musician, poet and publisher
* Christian Adolph Klotz (1738–1771), philologist
* Karl Friedrich Bahrdt
Karl Friedrich Bahrdt (; 25 August 1741 – 23 April 1792), also spelled Carl Friedrich Bahrdt, was an unorthodox German Protestant biblical scholar, theologian, and polemicist. Controversial during his day, he is sometimes considered an ...
(1741–1792), theologian and enlightener
* Robert Heller (1812–1871), writer
* Walther Hesse
Walther Hesse (27 December 1846 – 19 July 1911) is best known for his work in microbiology, specifically his work with his wife Fanny Hesse in developing agar as a medium for culturing microorganisms.
Biography
He was born in Bischofswerda, L ...
(1846–1911), microbiologist
* Max Neumeister (1849–1929), born in Kleindrebnitz, director of the Tharandt Forestry Academy
* Johannes Pache
Johannes ''Johann Fürchtegott Pache'' (9 December 1857, Bischofswerda – 24 December 1897, Limbach) was a German composer and organist.
Life
Pache was born in Bischofswerda, Upper Lusatia, as son of a teacher. It was his father wish tha ...
(1857–1897), composer
* Oskar Ernst Bernhardt (1875–1941), German founder of the Grail, writer
* Arthur Biram
Arthur Yitzhak Biram (Hebrew: ארתור בירם; August 13, 1878 – June 5, 1967) was a German–Israeli philosopher, philologist, and educator.
Biography
Biram was born in Bischofswerda in Saxony in 1878 and attended school in Hirsch ...
(1878–1967), philologist and philosopher
* Günther Wyschofsky (born 1929), politician (SED), Minister for chemical industry in the GDR
Adeltraut Thienel - (1943 - ) Actress, Dressmaker, Designer,
Personalities who are associated with the city
* Benno (1010–1106), bishop of Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
* Hanns Georgi
Hanns Georgi (21 September 1901 – 23 October 1989) was a German painter, printmaker and book illustrator.
Early life
Hanns Georgi was the youngest of five children of August Friedrich Wilhelm and Anna Georgi Georgi, Scharschmidt born in Dre ...
(1901–1989), painter, director of a teacher training institute
Notes
External links
Bischofswerda Official Website (German)
Statistics of Bischofswerda, Germany (German)
* Karl Wilhelm Mittag. ''Chronik der königlich sächsischen Stadt Bischofswerda''. Verl. Friedrich May Bischofswerda, 186
Chronicle of the town, digitized
at Europeana
Europeana is a web portal created by the European Union containing digitised cultural heritage collections of more than 3,000 institutions across Europe. It includes records of over 50 million cultural and scientific artefacts, brought togethe ...
{{Authority control
Towns in Saxony
Populated places in Bautzen (district)
West Lusatia