Elstra (; Sorbian: ''Halštrow'') is a town in the district of Bautzen, 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 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is situated on the river

Schwarze Elster The Black Elster or Schwarze Elster () is a long river in eastern Germany, in the states Saxony, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, right tributary of the Elbe. Its source is in the Lusatia, Upper Lusatia region, near Elstra. The Black Elster flows ...

, 6 kilometres southeast of

Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gotthol ...

, and 34 kilometres northeast 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 ...

. The name "Elstra" stems from the river

, which rises in the district Kindisch. The city has only about 2,000 citizens and is one of the smallest cities in Germany. The whole municipality has 2,807 citizens (in 2016). It is part of the officially recognized

Sorbian settlement area hsb, Serbski sydlenski rum, dsb, Serbski sedleński rum, image_map=File:Sorbisches Siedlungsgebiet.png, subdivision_type1=Country, subdivision_name1=Germany, subdivision_type2=State, subdivision_name2=Saxony, subdivision_type3=State, subdivision ...

. Due to the town name's similarity to the word "Elster" (German for

magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

), magpies are often used in the town's self-identity.

Personalities

* Georg Derlitzki (1889-1958), important

agricultural scientist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

* Karl Schön (1923-1994), politician (

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

), born in Elstra * Otto Garten (1902-2000), artist, born in Elstra * Karl Eberhard (1820-1907), architect

References

West Lusatia Populated places in Bautzen (district) {{Bautzen-geo-stub