Löbau (

Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as "Wendish", is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in Germany in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, which is today part of Saxony. It is grouped in the West Slavic language branch, together ...

: Lubij) is a city in the east of

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 ...

, in the traditional region 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 ...

. It is situated between the slopes of the Löbauer Berg and the fertile hilly area of the Upper Lusatian Mountains. It is the gateway to this volcanic mountainous area and is situated halfway between the cities 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 ...

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 ...

and

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' ...

Koenig-Friedrich-August-Turm Loebauer Berg

History

Löbau was first mentioned in 1221 as "

Oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...

Lubaw". During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

the city was a member of the

Lusatian League The Lusatian League (german: Oberlausitzer Sechsstädtebund; cs, Šestiměstí; pl, Związek Sześciu Miast) was a historical alliance of six towns in the Bohemian (1346–1635), later Saxon (1635–1815) region of Upper Lusatia, that existed fr ...

, consisting of the six cities

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 ...

, Lauban, Löbau and

. The regional alliance was first established in 1346 and disbanded in 1815. The league was revived in 1991, though it no longer holds political power and mostly acts as a tourism promotion board. The town is widely known for the piano manufacturing company

August Förster August Förster is a German piano manufacturing company (also rendered "Foerster," occasionally "Forster," officially "August Förster GmbH Kunsthandwerklicher Flügel-und-Pianobau") that currently has a staff of 40 employees and produces around ...

Main sights

The town hall of the city is a noteworthy mixture of several architectural styles. Another famous building is the Schminke House by German architect

Hans Scharoun Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the Berliner Philharmonie (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important ...

, one of the most important exponents of organic and expressionist architecture. The building dates from the 1930s, anticipating the architecture of the 1950s. It is regarded as one of Scharoun's greatest works. The

King Frederick Augustus Tower The King Frederick Augustus Tower (german: König-Friedrich-August-Turm) is the only preserved observation tower of cast iron in Europe and perhaps the oldest tower built of iron. It is located on the ''Löbauer Berg'' at Löbau in Saxony, offering ...

is Löbau's main landmark; the tower made of

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

was built in 1854 on the Löbauer Berg, and is 28 m tall. It is the biggest cast-iron tower in Europe and offers magnificent views of the

Lusatian Highlands The Lusatian Highlands''Upper Lusatia''
at www.silvaportal.info. Accessed on 10 July 20 ...

Politics

Reichstag Deputies

Following the

North German Confederation Treaty The North German Confederation Treaty (in German ''Augustbündnis'', or Alliance of August) (also called the North German Federation Treaty and the Treaty of 18 August 1866) was the treaty between the Kingdom of Prussia and other northern and centr ...

the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxon ...

entered the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...

in 1866. This continued after the founding of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

on 18 January 1871. Following this Saxony participated in Reichstag elections from February 1867. Löbau returned a series of Reichstag Deputies until 1919 when the existing constituencies were scrapped.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Löbau is twinned with: *

Makó Makó (, german: Makowa, yi, מאַקאָווע Makowe, ro, Macău or , sk, Makov) is a town in Csongrád County, in southeastern Hungary, from the Romanian border. It lies on the Maros River. Makó is home to 23,272 people and it has an area ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Ettlingen Ettlingen (; South Franconian: ''Eddlinge'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about south of the city of Karlsruhe and approximately from the border with Lauterbourg, in France's Bas-Rhin department. Ettlingen is the second largest tow ...

* Luban,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

People

(1829-1897), piano maker *

Marie Wackwitz Marie Wackwitz (born ''Johanna Marie Louise Zinske'': 11 January 1865 – 23 November 1930) was a German socialist politician, women's rights activist and journalist. Biography Provenance and early years Marie Louise Zinske was born slightly more ...

(1865-1930), women's rights activist *

Georg Scholze __NOTOC__ Georg Scholze (21 August 1897 – 23 April 1945) was a German general during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Scholze committed suicide on 23 April 1945 in Berlin. Awards an ...

(1897-1945), general during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Konrad Kujau Konrad Paul Kujau (27 June 1938 – 12 September 2000) was a German illustrator and forger. He became famous in 1983 as the creator of the so-called Hitler Diaries, for which he received DM 2.5 million (€2,421,020 in 2020 terms, adjusted for in ...

(1938-2000), forger * Bernd Böhlich (*1957), director *

Uwe Proske Uwe Proske (born 10 October 1961) is a German former fencer. He competed in the individual épée event for East Germany at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Four years later, he won a gold in the team épée event for Germany at the 1992 Summer Olymp ...

(*1961), Olympic gold medalist (

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, fencing) * Anne-Kathrin Schade (*1968), volleyball player *

Jana Henke Jana Henke (born 1 October 1973 in Löbau, Saxony) is a former freestyle swimmer from Germany, who won the bronze medal in the 800 m freestyle at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. She competed in three Summer Olympics The ...

(*1973), swimmer *

Mirko Müller Mirko Müller (born 12 November 1974) is a German pair skater. His first partner was Jekatarina Silnitzkaja, and he later teamed up with Emilie Gras for a year. Müller found his greatest success when Peggy Schwarz became his partner in 1996 ...

(*1974), pair skater *

René Münnich René Münnich (born 6 May 1977) is a German auto racing driver, team owner and entrepreneur. He is the owner and team manager of Münnich Motorsport. Münnich is also the owner of Web hosting service ''all-inkl.com''. He made his debut in the Wor ...

(*1977), auto racing driver and team owner *

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( , ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera (though the Vibrio ...

(*1986), footballer (formerly

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

, 1. FC Nürnberg) *

Christian Reitz Christian Reitz (born 29 April 1987) is a German 25 metre rapid fire pistol shooter, the current world record holder. Career He rose to fame during 2005, the first year with the new equipment rules, but was defeated in that year's European Ju ...

(*1987), Olympic gold medalist (

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, 25 metre rapid fire pistol) and world record holder

References

External links

Official website of the city of Löbau (German)Homepage of the Schminke HouseHomepage of the modern Lusatian League (German)
Towns in Görlitz (district) {{Görlitz-geo-stub