Finsterwalde (, dsb, Grabin) is a town in the

Elbe-Elster Elbe-Elster is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Teltow-Fläming, Dahme-Spreewald, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Meißen, Nordsachsen and Wittenberg. The district has a partnership with the Mä ...

district (German: Landkreis), in

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; szl, Dolnŏ Łużyca; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the sou ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

, Germany.

Overview

It is situated on the Schackebach, a tributary of the

Kleine Elster Kleine Elster is a river of Brandenburg, Germany. It flows into the Black Elster in Wahrenbrück. See also *List of rivers of Brandenburg A list of rivers of Brandenburg, Germany: A * Alte Oder * Alte Schlaube B * Bäke * Berste * Black E ...

, 28 m. W.S.W of

Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exten ...

by rail. Pop. (2005) 18,840. The town has a Gothic church (1581), a castle, schools, cloth and cigar factories, iron-foundries, flour and saw mills and factories for machine building. Popular are the "four singers from Finsterwalde" and their "singer-song".

History

Finsterwalde, which is first mentioned in 1288, came into the possession of the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

from 1635 and of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

in 1815. From 1815 to 1947, Finsterwalde was part of the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

. From 1952 to 1990, it was part of the

Bezirk Cottbus Cottbus was a district () of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The administrative seat and main town was Cottbus. History The district was established, along with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, ''de facto'' replacing the East German ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Finsterwalde.pdf, Development of population since 1875 within the current boundaries (Blue line: population; dotted line: Comparison to population development of Brandenburg state; grey background: Time of Nazi rule; red background: Time of communist rule) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Finsterwalde.pdf, Recent Population Development and Projections: Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the

Census in Germany A national census in Germany (german: Volkszählung) was held every five years from 1875 to 1910. After the World Wars, only a few full population censuses have been held, the last in 1987. The most recent census, though not a national census, wa ...

in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2020-2030 (green line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line)

Known persons

The following well known persons are from Finsterwalde: *

Hansgeorg Bätcher Hansgeorg Bätcher (13 January 1914 – 23 April 2003) was a highly decorated pilot in the Luftwaffe and with more than 658 combat missions the leading bomber ace during World War II. He was a recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross wi ...

(1914-2003), Oberstleutnant in the Luftwaffe *

Inge Deutschkron Inge Deutschkron (23 August 1922 – 9 March 2022) was a German and Israeli journalist and author. She experienced the Nazi regime as a girl and young woman, living in Berlin first working in a factory, then hiding with her mother. After World ...

, (1922-2022), German-Israeli journalist and author *

Thomas Eisfeld Thomas Eisfeld (born 18 January 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Regionalliga West club Rot-Weiss Essen. Club career Born in Finsterwalde, Germany, Eisfeld began his football career at SV Qui ...

, (born 1993), football player for

Arsenal FC Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (incl ...

Catrin G Grosse Catrin G. Grosse (born 1964 in Finsterwalde), also known as Catrin Große, is a German painter, graphic designer and sculptor. Career Catrin G. Grosse began at 16 years of age with an evening class in painting and graphic design in Cottbus at U ...

(born 1964), artist and painter * Kurt Haehling (1893-1983), Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht *

Detlef Irrgang Detlef Irrgang (born 27 May 1966) is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is best remembered for his two spells with Energie Cottbus, spanning 22 years, over 400 appearances, and the reunification o ...

, (born 1966), football player *

Sonja Kesselschläger Sonja Kesselschläger (born 20 January 1978, in Finsterwalde) is a German heptathlete. International competitions Circuit performances *Hypo-Meeting **2000 (14th), 2001 (9th), 2002 (4th), 2003 (3rd), 2004 (9th), 2005 (8th), 2006, (10th), ...

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

athlete *

Hermann Kotzschmar Johann Carl Hermann Kotzschmar (July 4, 1829April 15, 1908) was a German-American musician, conductor, and composer. Kotzschmar was born in 1829 in Finsterwalde, Germany. His father, Johann Gottfried Kotzschmar, was the town ''Stadtmusiker'' and t ...

, (1829-1908), German-American musician, conductor and composer *

Peggy Kuznik Peggy Nietgen (born 12 August 1986), née Kuznik, is a German football defender. She currently plays for 1. FC Köln. Career Kuznik began her career at the age of five at SV Blau-Weiß Tröbitz. She joined the academy of 1. FFC Turbine P ...

, Football player *

Otto Ostrowski Otto Ostrowski (28 January 1883 in Spremberg – 16 June 1963 in Knokke, Belgium) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Mayor of Berlin in 1946–1947. Ostrowski graduated in Romance studies and after W ...

, (1883-1963), Mayor of Finsterwalde in the 1920s * Stephanie Pohl, (born 1978), beach volleyball player *

Hans-Jürgen Riediger Hans Jürgen Riediger (born 20 December 1955) is a former footballer from East Germany. Riediger played for BFC Dynamo, scoring 105 goals / 196 DDR-Oberliga matches. He participated in 1976 Summer Olympics and received the gold medal. Career ...

, football player

Buildings and Monuments

Finsterwalde Solar Park The Finsterwalde Solar Park was, in November 2010, the world's largest photovoltaic plant with 80.7 MWp. The project is located in Finsterwalde, Germany and is equipped with Q-Cells modules and LDK solar wafers. The first phase of the proje ...

* Janusz-Korczak-Gymnasium, formerly ''Knabenschule'' by

Max Taut Max Taut (15 May 1884 – 26 February 1967) was a German architect of Prussian Lithuanian heritage. Biography Max Taut was born in Königsberg, the younger brother of Bruno Taut. He, his brother and Franz Hoffman formed Taut & Hoffman, an arc ...

(1913) * In Finsterwalde is located a relief dedicated to Lenin in the park "Bürgerheide"https://leninisstillaround.com/2015/07/20/in-front-of-the-playground/ checked 26.1.2020

References

External links

Localities in Elbe-Elster {{Brandenburg-geo-stub