Spremberg ( dsb, Grodk) is a municipality near the Saxon city of

Hoyerswerda Hoyerswerda () or Wojerecy () is a major district town in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in the Sorbian settlement area of Upper Lusatia, a region where some people speak the Sorbian language in addition to G ...

and is in the

Spree-Neiße Spree-Neiße ( dsb, Wokrejs Sprjewja-Nysa) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise) the districts Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis and Kamenz in Saxony, the di ...

district of

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 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 ...

. First mentioned in 1301, the town alone has 14,028 inhabitants, and the municipality, including other villages, has 22,456 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2017.

Geography

Spremberg is situated about 20 km south 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 ...

and 25 km north of

, on an island and on both banks of the

river Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers ...

. Between 1871 and 1918 the town was the geographical centre 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 ...

: today, it is only 25 km from the German-

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

border. On 1 January 2016, the former municipality

Hornow-Wadelsdorf Hornow-Wadelsdorf is a former municipality in the district of Spree-Neiße, in Brandenburg, Germany. On 1 January 2016 it was dissolved, and Hornow and Wadelsdorf became part of the town Spremberg Spremberg ( dsb, Grodk) is a municipality near t ...

became part of Spremberg.

Demography

Bevölkerungsentwicklung Spremberg.pdf, Development of population since 1875 within the current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population development in Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

; Red Background: Time of communist

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 ...

) Bevölkerungsprognosen Spremberg.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 2017–2030 (scarlet line); for 2020–2030 (green line)

Mayors

* Friedrich Nath (1908–1919) * Paul Steffen (1920–1931) * Richard Buder (1931–1933) * Kurt Kaulbars (1933–1945) NSDAP * Rudolf Otto (1944–1945) temporary * August Scholta (1945–1945) temporary * Richard Buder (1945–1946) * Willi Lange (1946–1953) * Ruth Kartschall (1953–1961) * Herbert Köhler (1961–1965) * Günter Frenzel (1965–1975) * Lothar Barnowski (1975–1975) temporary * Hannelore Neumann (1975–1990) SED * Egon Wochatz (1990–2002) CDU * Klaus-Peter Schulze (2002–2013) CDU * Christine Schönherr (2013–2013) temporary, independent * Frank Kulik (2014–2014) temporary, independent * Christine Herntier (since 2014), independent

Culture

In 1911 there were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and two Protestant churches and a pilgrimage chapel dating from 1100, there was a

ducal Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

chateau built by a son of the

elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

John George around the end of the 16th century (now used as government offices), and there were classical, technical and commercial schools as well as a hospital.

Schwarze Pumpe

Schwarze Pumpe ( dsb, Carna Plumpa) is a district of Spremberg, lying approximately 7 km southwest of Spremberg's town centre on the federal state boundary between Brandenburg to Saxony. It had 1886 inhabitants as of 31 December 2017. A large industrial area extending into Saxony and including the site of a large

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

is known by the same name. On 26 May 2006, construction work started on the world's first -free coal power plant in the Schwarze Pumpe industrial district. The plant is based on a concept called

carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia. Usually th ...

, which means that carbon emissions will be captured and compressed to ^th their original volume, liquefying the gas. It will then be forced 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) below the soil into porous rock where it is believed that it will remain for thousands of years without exacerbating

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. The project, which has cost some 70 million

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s, was funded entirely by the Swedish company

Vattenfall AB Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational power company owned by the Swedish State. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The company's name is Swedish for "waterfall", and ...

and went into service on 9 September 2008. The power plant was a pilot project to serve as a prototype for future full-scale power plants. Vattenfall stopped carbon capture R&D at the plant in 2014 because they found that "its costs and the energy it requires make the technology unviable".

Twin towns – sister cities

Spremberg is twinned with: *

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

, Canada *

Szprotawa Szprotawa (german: Sprottau) is a town in western Poland, in Żagań County, Lubusz Voivodeship. It has 11,820 inhabitants (2019). History The region was part of Poland after the emergence of the Piast monarchy in the 10th century. The first me ...

, Poland * Zheleznogorsk, Russia

Notable people

Johann Agricola Johann or Johannes Agricola (originally Schneider, then Schnitter; 20 April 1494 – 22 September 1566)John Julian: Dictionary of Hymnology, Second Edition, page 19. London: John Murray, 1907. was a German Protestant Reformer during the Protestan ...

(1530–1590), Protestant theologian *

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 Wor ...

(1883–1963), politician (SPD), Lord Mayor of Berlin 1946/1947 *

Erwin Strittmatter Erwin Strittmatter (14 August 1912 – 31 January 1994) was a German writer. Strittmatter was one of the most famous writers in the GDR. Biography Strittmatter was born the son of a baker and foods wholesaler. Between 1924 and 1930 he attended ...

(1912–1994), writer *

Joachim Teege Joachim Teege (November 30, 1925 – November 19, 1969) was a German actor. Selected filmography * ''The Adventures of Fridolin'' (1948) - Heini Bock * ''Und wieder 48'' (1948) - Reisender * '' The Staircase'' (1950) - Herbert Ehrke * ''The Merry ...

(1925–1969), actor and cabaret artist *

Dirk Meier Dirk Meier (born 28 January 1964) is a retired East German cyclist. He had his best achievements in the 4000 m team pursuit, winning silver medals at the world championships of 1986 and 1987 and at the 1988 Summer Olympics. As a road racer, he ...

(born 1964), cyclist *

Sebastian Piersig Sebastian Piersig (born 28 May 1984 in Spremberg) is a German slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 2000 to 2009 in the C2 class together with Felix Michel. He won a silver medal in the C2 team event at the 2006 ICF Cano ...

(born 1984), slalom-canoeist

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Germany Populated places in Spree-Neiße