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
Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that ...
in
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 ...
and
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 ...
. Along with
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 ...
to the north, it makes up the region of
Lusatia
Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...
, named after the Slavic ''Lusici'' tribe. Both parts of Lusatia are home to the West Slavic
minority group
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
of the
Sorbs
Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Brandenbu ...
.
The major part of Upper Lusatia is part of the German federal state 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 ...
Ruhland
( Sorbian: ''Rólany'') is a town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in Upper Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Schwarze Elster, 12 km southwest of Senftenberg.
Ruhland station is a major railway junction, fo ...
and
Tettau
Tettau is a municipality in the district of Kronach in Bavaria in 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 th ...
, is incorporated into the
Oberspreewald-Lausitz
Oberspreewald-Lausitz ( dsb, Wokrejs Górne Błota-Łužyca, hsb, Wokrjes Hornje Błóta-Łužica) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Dahme-Spreewald, Spree- ...
district of the state 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 ...
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbrz ...
. A small strip of land in the north around
Łęknica
Łęknica (german: Lugknitz; hsb, Wjeska) is a border town in western Poland, one of the two gminas of Żary County in Lubusz Voivodeship.
Muskau Park (''Park Mużakowski''), a Polish-German World Heritage Site, stretches north of the town ce ...
is incorporated into
Lubusz Voivodeship
Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province ( pl, województwo lubuskie ), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland.
It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Po ...
, along with the Polish part of
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 ...
.
The historic capital of Upper Lusatia is Bautzen/Budyšin, while the largest city in the region is
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 ...
/
Zgorzelec
Zgorzelec (, german: link=no, Görlitz, szl, Gorlice, Upper Lusatian German dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', and ''Gerltsch'', hsb, Zhorjelc, dsb, Zgórjelc, cz, Zhořelec) is a town in southwestern Poland with 30,374 inhabitants (2019). It ...
, halved between Germany and Poland since 1945. The name ''Lusatia superior'' was first recorded in a 1474 deed, derived from the adjacent Lower Lusatian lands in the north, which originally were just called the
March of Lusatia
The March or Margraviate of Lusatia (german: Mark(grafschaft) Lausitz) was as an eastern border march of the Holy Roman Empire in the lands settled by Polabian Slavs. It arose in 965 in the course of the partition of the vast ''Marca Geronis''. R ...
. The Upper Lusatian territory was previously referred to as ''Milsko'' in contemporary chronicles, named after the local West Slavic
Milceni
The Milceni or Milzeni ( cs, Milčané; german: Milzener; pl, Milczanie) were a West Slavic tribe, who settled in the present-day Upper Lusatia region. They were first mentioned in the middle of the 9th century AD by the Bavarian Geographer, who ...
tribe, later also called ''Land Budissin''.
Geography and nature
Geomorphological
Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...
Upper Lusatia is shaped by the uniform Lusatian granite massif, only the north and northeast, the plain of the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
has declared this area a
Biosphere Reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
in 1996, in particular for the protection of
otter
Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...
s. The middle part is hilly, while the south is characterized by the
Lusatian Mountains
The Lusatian Mountains ( cs, Lužické hory; german: Lausitzer Gebirge; pl, Góry Łużyckie) are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic. They are a continuation of the Ore Mountains ...
, the westernmost range of the
Sudetes
The Sudetes ( ; pl, Sudety; german: Sudeten; cs, Krkonošsko-jesenická subprovincie), commonly known as the Sudeten Mountains, is a geomorphological subprovince in Central Europe, shared by Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. They consis ...
.
Mountains and rivers
The highest elevations of the German part of Upper Lusatia are in the
Zittau Mountains
The Zittau Mountains (german: Zittauer Gebirge, cs, Žitavské hory), formerly also called the Lusatian Ridge (''Lausitzer Kamm''), refer to the German part of the Lusatian Mountains that straddle the Saxon-Bohemian border in the extreme sout ...
(Lusatian Ridge), part of the
Lusatian Mountains
The Lusatian Mountains ( cs, Lužické hory; german: Lausitzer Gebirge; pl, Góry Łużyckie) are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic. They are a continuation of the Ore Mountains ...
forming the border with the adjacent
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
n region in the south, which today belong to the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
. The highest peaks of the Zittau Mountains are the
Lausche
Lausche ( cs, Luž) is the highest peak of the Lusatian Mountains and the highest mountain in the German part of the Upper Lusatia region at . The conical mountain is part of the Zittau Mountains range, situated on the border of the German stat ...
Czorneboh
Czorneboh (; hsb, Čornobóh) is a mountain between Hochkirch and Cunewalde in Upper Lusatia. Czorneboh is located 10 km. from the German-Czech border north of Šluknov and 8 km. southeast of Bautzen and with an altitude of 555.7 m it i ...
(561 m),
Bieleboh
Bieleboh is a mountain in the Lusatian Highlands, in the east of Saxony, Germany. Its summit is located on the grounds of Beiersdorf municipality.
Geography and geology
Bieleboh is located between the villages of Beiersdorf and Cunewalde, on the ...
(499 m), and Valtenberg (587 m). However, the highest point of historic Upper Lusatia is the ''Tafelstein'' (Tabulový Kámen) in the Polish part, located at on the eastern slopes of the Smrk (''Tafelfichte'') in the
Jizera Mountains
Jizera Mountains ( cz, Jizerské hory), or Izera Mountains ( pl, Góry Izerskie; german: Isergebirge), are part of the Western Sudetes on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The range got its name from the Jizera River, which rises a ...
(''Isergebirge''), the border
tripoint
A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...
of Upper Lusatia with the historical region of
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...
to the east and Bohemia to the south.
All major rivers in the Upper Lusatia flow from south to north. In the west, the
Pulsnitz
Pulsnitz () or Połčnica (Upper Sorbian) is a town in the district of Bautzen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the small river Pulsnitz, 11 km southwest of Kamenz, and 24 km northeast of the centre of Dresden.
...
at
Königsbrück
Königsbrück (Upper Sorbian: ''Kinspork'') is a town in the Bautzen district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated west of Kamenz, and northeast of the Saxon capital Dresden. Königsbrück is known as the western gate of the historic Upper Lusatia ...
(the "Gate to Upper Lusatia" on the ''
Via Regia
The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire.
History Origins
The ...
'' trade route) formerly marked the border with the
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 ...
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' ...
river has its source in the
Lusatian Highlands
The Lusatian Highlands''Upper Lusatia'' at www.silvaportal.info. Accessed on 10 July 20 ...
in the far south of the country and flows through Bautzen. The
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.German-Polish border German Polish or Polish German may refer to:
* German–Polish relations
*German minority in Poland
*Polish minority in Germany
Poles in Germany are the second largest Polish diaspora (''Polonia'') in the world and the biggest in Europe. Estimate ...
since 1945. The river rises in the Czech
Jizera Mountains
Jizera Mountains ( cz, Jizerské hory), or Izera Mountains ( pl, Góry Izerskie; german: Isergebirge), are part of the Western Sudetes on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The range got its name from the Jizera River, which rises a ...
, flows through Görlitz/Zgorzelec and leaves the country at
Bad Muskau
Bad Muskau (; formerly ''Muskau'', hsb, Mužakow, pl, Mużaków, cs, Mužakov) is a spa town in the historic Upper Lusatia region in Germany, at the border with Poland. It is part of the Görlitz district in the State of Saxony.
It is located ...
for Lower Lusatia. Most of the smaller rivers are called ''-wasser'' (water), often in combination with the name of a village which the stream flows through. The eastern border of Upper Lusatia with Lower Silesia is marked by the River
Kwisa
The Kwisa (german: Queis, hsb, Hwizdź) is a river in south-western Poland, a left tributary of the Bóbr, which itself is a left tributary of the Oder river.
It rises in the Izera Mountains, part of the Western Sudetes range, where it runs al ...
, who flows past
Lubań
Lubań (german: Lauban; cz, Lubáň), sometimes called Lubań Śląski ( en, Silesian Lubań; hsb, Lubań Šlešćina); is a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwest Poland. It is the administrative seat of Lubań County and also of ...
(''Lauban'') and continues north towards the Silesian lands into the
Bóbr
Bóbr ( cs, Bobr, german: Bober, ) is a river which carries water through the north of the Czech Republic and the southwest of Poland, a left tributary of the Oder.
Course
The Bóbr has a length of (3 in Czech Republic, 276 in Poland, 10th ...
river.
The central hilly ''Gefilde'' (''Pahórčina'') landscape between
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
Löbau
Löbau ( Upper Sorbian: Lubij) is a city in the east of Saxony, Germany, in the traditional region of Upper Lusatia. It is situated between the slopes of the Löbauer Berg and the fertile hilly area of the Upper Lusatian Mountains. It is the ga ...
was especially well suited for agriculture and is still very profitable. In the 19th century, in the northern part of Upper Lusatia, in the east on both sides of the Neisse river and around
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 ...
large quantities of
brown coal
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
were found. Especially the digging in open pits has destroyed large parts of the old cultural landscape. Currently the Nochten pit south of
Weißwasser
Weißwasser ( hsb, Běła Woda) is a town in Upper Lusatia in eastern Saxony, Germany.
Weißwasser is the third largest town in the Görlitz district after Görlitz and Zittau. The town's landmark is its water tower. The town is part of the re ...
and Turów near
Bogatynia
Bogatynia (; German: ''Reichenau in Sachsen'') is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 16,460.
Geography
The municipal area forms Poland's "Turoszów p ...
in the Polish part are still active. Many of the old coal mines have been restored since the 1970s, especially after 1990, when particular attention was paid to revitalize the landscape. The newly formed lakes are already named and advertised as the
Lusatian Lake District
The Lusatian Lake District (german: Lausitzer Seenland, dsb, Łužyska jazorina, hsb, Łužiska jězorina) is a chain of artificial lakes under construction in Germany across the north-eastern part of Saxony and the southern part of Brandenburg ...
(''Lausitzer Seenland'').
Natural regions
Today, Upper Lusatia is grouped into eight natural regions or landscapes:
*The
Zittau Mountains
The Zittau Mountains (german: Zittauer Gebirge, cs, Žitavské hory), formerly also called the Lusatian Ridge (''Lausitzer Kamm''), refer to the German part of the Lusatian Mountains that straddle the Saxon-Bohemian border in the extreme sout ...
Lusatian Highlands
The Lusatian Highlands''Upper Lusatia'' at www.silvaportal.info. Accessed on 10 July 20 ...
(southern Upper Lusatia to Bohemia)
*The Northwest Lusatian Highlands (northwest from Bischofswerda to Kamenz)
*The Upper Lusatian Gefilde region (around Bautzen and Löbau north of the Highlands)
*The
Middle Stone Age
The Middle Stone Age (or MSA) was a period of African prehistory between the Early Stone Age and the Late Stone Age. It is generally considered to have begun around 280,000 years ago and ended around 50–25,000 years ago. The beginnings of pa ...
(until about 8000 BC) only crossed through the area. Even the oldest agricultural cultures (4500 BC to 3300 BC) left behind only little evidence of settlement. In the early
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
(11th century BC to 9th century BC) people of the Lusatian culture entered the previously uninhabited region from
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
and the
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.Bautzen/Budyšin and Zittau/Žitawa. A fortified hill from the 10th century BC, the Schafsberg near Löbau/Lubij played a special role. Another significant settlement was on the cliff above the Spree river, where in the course of history Bautzens Ortenburg was built, dominant and administrative center of what would become Upper Lusatia.
Slavs settled in the region from the 7th century. In the area between today's cities of Kamenz/Kamjenc and Löbau the tribe of the
Milceni
The Milceni or Milzeni ( cs, Milčané; german: Milzener; pl, Milczanie) were a West Slavic tribe, who settled in the present-day Upper Lusatia region. They were first mentioned in the middle of the 9th century AD by the Bavarian Geographer, who ...
was located. Their center was a fortified town at the site of today's Ortenburg in Bautzen. Another early Slavic settlement was situated in the valley of the Neisse river. The rural Sorbian population erected numerous hill forts, which were tribal centers as well as the residences of Slavic nobility.
Meissen
The independent development of the West Slavic tribes was interrupted in the 10th century by the expansion of the German state of
East Francia
East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...
. With the raids of 921/922 and 928/929 King
Henry the Fowler
Henry the Fowler (german: Heinrich der Vogler or '; la, Henricus Auceps) (c. 876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he ...
initiated a period of military subjugation of the
Polabian Slavs
Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern German ...
. In 932 the Milceni were forced to pay tribute. After Henry's death in 936 the Milceni once again became independent, but were subdued again in 939 by King Otto I of Germany. As a result, the Milceni lands, despite persistent militant struggles, became part of the vast ''
Marca Geronis
The ''Marca Geronis'' (march of Gero) was a vast super-march in the middle of the tenth century. It was created probably for Thietmar (in the 920s) and passed to his two sons consecutively: Siegfried and Gero. On Gero's death in 965 it was divide ...
'' under the
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
margrave
Gero
Gero I ( – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great ( la, magnus),Thompson, 486. Also se was a German nobleman who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he expande ...
and after 965 of the newly established
Margraviate of Meissen
The Margravate of Meissen (german: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march
In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of bor ...
.
All the major wall ring castles in the border areas were strengthened and prepared as starting points for further conquests. In place of the Milceni castles, German ''Burgwards'' appeared (first mentioned 1006), such as the Ortenburg Castle in Bautzen, or the castles of Göda/Hodźij and Doberschau/Dobruša. In the year 1002 the city of Bautzen was first mentioned by the chronicler
Thietmar of Merseburg
Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. Two ...
. Until the second half of the 10th century the fights continued, and in 990 the Milceni were finally subdued by Margrave
Eckard I of Meissen
Eckard I (''Ekkehard'';Rarely ''Ekkard'' or ''Eckhard''. Contemporary Latin variants to his name include ''Ekkihardus'', ''Eggihardus'', ''Eggihartus'', ''Heckihardus'', ''Egihhartus'', and ''Ekgihardus''. – 30 April 1002) was Margrave of Meiss ...
. The church of Upper Lusatia was assigned to the
Diocese of Meissen
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...
in 968. In 1007, the diocese received the first donation in Milceni lands, the castles ''Ostrusna'' (probably
Ostritz
Ostritz (, hsb, Wostrowc) is a town in the district Görlitz, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the border with Poland, on the left bank of the Lusatian Neisse, 16 km south of Görlitz.
It was the scene of a small battle in the Seven ...
) and ''Godobi'' (Göda).
Soon, however, the German feudal rule was threatened by the ascending
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
*Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
*Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...
and its western expansion. In 1002
Bolesław I Chrobry Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to:
In people:
* Boleslaw (given name)
In geography:
*Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
*Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
*Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, Pol ...
conquered both Upper and Lower Lusatia and forced German king Henry II to enfeoff him with the ''Gau Milsca''. After several volatile and bitter feuds both parties signed the
Peace of Bautzen
The Peace of Bautzen (; ; ) was a treaty concluded on 30 January 1018, between Holy Roman Emperor Henry II and Bolesław I of Poland which ended a series of Polish-German wars over the control of Lusatia and Upper Lusatia (''Milzenerland'' or ...
on 30 January 1018, which assigned the Milceni lands of Upper Lusatia and Lusatia proper (today Lower Lusatia) to Poland. After the victory of Emperor
Conrad II
Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...
over the Polish king
Mieszko II Lambert
Mieszko II Lambert (; c. 990 – 10/11 May 1034) was King of Poland from 1025 to 1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death.
He was the second son of Bolesław I the Brave, but the eldest born from his third wife Emnilda of Lusatia. He was pro ...
in 1031, Upper Lusatia again came under the rule of the Meissen margraves, confirmed by the 1033
Treaty of Merseburg
The Treaty of Merseburg of 1033 was an agreement between the Salian Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II and the Piast king of Poland Mieszko II, settling the question of Polish succession which had been contested between Mieszko and his half-brothers B ...
.
During the
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monast ...
in 1076, King
Henry IV of Germany
Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son o ...
granted Budissin Land to Duke
Vratislaus II of Bohemia
Vratislaus II (or Wratislaus II) ( cs, Vratislav II.) (c. 1032 – 14 January 1092), the son of Bretislaus I and Judith of Schweinfurt, was the first King of Bohemia as of 15 June 1085, his royal title granted as a lifetime honorific from Holy ...
Saxon Rebellion
The Saxon Rebellion or Rebellion of the Saxons (german: Sachsenkrieg), also commonly called the Saxon Uprising (not to be confused with the Saxon Wars, also called the Saxon Uprising), refers to the struggle between the Salian dynasty ruling the H ...
. The son-in-law of Vratislaus, Count
Wiprecht of Groitzsch
Wiprecht (or Wigbert) of Groitzsch (died 22 May 1124) was the Margrave of Meissen and the Saxon Ostmark from 1123 until his death. He was born to a noble family of the Altmark, the son of Wiprecht of Balsamgau and Sigena of Leinungen. After his fa ...
, ruled it independently from 1084 to 1108 residing at Ortenburg Castle. In 1091, a further donation to the church was made, when Henry IV transferred five other villages in the ''Milzenerland'', four of them south of Göda. For 1144 it is documented that the ''Zagost'' province, an area southeast of Görlitz around Zawidów (''Seidenberg''), was a part of Budissin Land. Also in this region, the Diocese of Meissen was equipped with possessions. Upper Lusatia reached the Kwisa (''Queis''), the border to Silesia and its largest expansion to the east, already in the 12th century.
Bohemia
In 1156 Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
signed an alliance with the Přemyslid duke Vladislaus II of Bohemia. He not only promised him the royal crown but also the investiture with Ortenburg Castle and Land Budissin, which both became reality two years later. Therewith the first
Bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
period in the history of Upper Lusatia, with far-reaching consequences for the development of the country, began.
In the first century of Přemyslid rule all major towns of Upper Lusatia, and all major religious institutions of the country – apart from the older Bautzen – were established. The Meissen bishop Bruno II from 1213 to 1218 established the
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
Ottokar I of Bohemia
Ottokar I ( cs, Přemysl Otakar I.; c. 1155 – 1230) was Duke of Bohemia periodically beginning in 1192, then acquired the title of King of Bohemia, first in 1198 from Philip of Swabia, later in 1203 from Otto IV of Brunswick and in 1212 (a ...
and his successors; Queen
Kunigunde Kunigunde, Kunigunda, or Cunigunde, is a European female name of German origin derived from "kuni" (clan, family) and "gund" (war). In Polish this is sometimes Kunegunda or Kinga. People with such names include:
* Kunigunde of Rapperswil (c. early ...
in 1234 donated the
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
Diocese of Prague
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague (Praha) ( cs, Arcidiecéze pražská, la, Archidioecesis Pragensis) is a Metropolitan Catholic archdiocese of the Latin Rite in Bohemia, in the Czech Republic.
The cathedral archiepiscopal see is St. Vi ...
in 1244, and Bishop Bernhard in 1248 founded the second Cistercian monastery of St. Marienstern in Kuckau/Kukow.
The forest clearance from about the year 1100, mainly by Sorbian peasants, expanded the cultivated land. New places in the northern area around Hoyerswerda/Wojerecy arose. The country's expansion intensified in the middle of the 12th century under the Bohemian kings, which was almost carried out as a competition with the Meissen bishops. German peasants, who cleared the large forest areas and created many new villages, were brought into the country in the course of the ''
Ostsiedlung
(, literally "East-settling") is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration-period when ethnic Germans moved into the territories in the eastern part of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire (that Germans had al ...
''. Often Slavic (Sorbian) hamlets were also extended by German settlers. The new German farmers were legally better off than the old-established population. The majority of the Sorbians peasants were
serfs
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
and had to perform
serjeanty
Under feudalism in France and England during the Middle Ages, tenure by serjeanty () was a form of tenure in return for a specified duty other than standard knight-service.
Etymology
The word comes from the French noun , itself from the Latin , ...
. The new (mostly German) villages could manage their affairs also relatively autonomously. However, when Sorbian peasants were involved in the ''Landesausbau'' development of the country, they enjoyed the same rights as the German colonists.
Due to immigration from the west of the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
River, over time a separate Upper Lusatian nobility emerged. This nobility controlled the land on behalf of the king or the
margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...
s and in return received the country as a
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
. Unlike in neighbouring
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, the nobles held no
allodial title
Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defens ...
s, as the conquered Milceni Land as a whole belonged to the king. In 1241 the boundary between the possessions of the Meissen bishops and the Bohemian Crown in Upper Lusatia were agreed by contract.
Between the death of King
Wenceslaus I of Bohemia
Wenceslaus I ( cs, Václav I.; c. 1205 – 23 September 1253), called One-Eyed, was King of Bohemia from 1230 to 1253.
Wenceslaus was a son of Ottokar I of Bohemia and his second wife Constance of Hungary.
Marriage and children
In 1224, Wencesl ...
in 1253 and 1262, the
Ascanian
The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt.
The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schloss ...
margraves 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 ...
attained Budissin Land. Neither the exact date of the acquisition nor the legal form of ownership – feud, marriage or pledge rule – can be established with certainty. With the establishment of a
Landvogt
A ''Vogt'' (plural ''Vögte'') was a title and office in the Old Swiss Confederacy, inherited from the feudal system of the Holy Roman Empire, corresponding to the English '' reeve''. The German term ''Vogtei'' is ultimately a loan from Latin '' ...
as deputy of the Ascanian ruler they created the most important office in Upper Lusatia. In principle, the powers of the burggraves and judges from Bohemians time were united in one hand and even expanded. The Landvogt was the country's highest official, he decided in feudal matters, presided in the supreme court and was military commander-in-chief. The Landvogts remained in power until after the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, although the administrative practice changed frequently.
During the reign of the House of Ascania the division of Upper Lusatia into the countries of Bautzen (Budissin) and Görlitz by Margrave Otto IV of Brandenburg in 1268 was the most important event. Although the autonomy of Görlitz Land ended in 1329 (shortly revived under Duke
John of Görlitz
John of Görlitz (also known as John of Bohemia and John of Luxembourg; 22 June 1370 – 1 March 1396) was a member of the House of Luxembourg and the only Duke of Görlitz (Zgorzelec) from 1377 until his death.
Life
Born in Prague, John was the ...
between 1377 and 1396), it permanently divided the Upper Lusatian nobility and the municipal administration. In Görlitz Land henceforth own meetings nobility took place, which also remained the case after the reunification of the two countries. The town of Görlitz, centre of the eastern phalf, rapidly gained importance and became economically the strongest city of Upper Lusatia.
After the extinction of the Ascanian dynasty in 1319, the princes of the neighboring territories, including King
John of Bohemia
John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of ...
from the mighty
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg ( lb, D'Lëtzebuerger Haus; french: Maison de Luxembourg; german: Haus Luxemburg) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as king ...
, claimed Upper Lusatia for themselves. The Bohemian king again received the western lands around Bautzen in 1319 from Emperor
Louis the Bavarian
Louis IV (german: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328.
Louis' election as king of Germany ...
; the eastern part of Görlitz, as a
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
, fell to Silesian duke
Henry I of Jawor
Henry I of Jawor ( pl, Henryk I. Jaworski; german: Heinrich I. von Jauer; – 15 May 1346), was a duke of Jawor-Lwówek-Świdnica- Ziębice during 1301–1312 (with his brothers as co-rulers), sole Duke of Jawor-Lwówek since 1312 and Duke of Gło ...
—with the exception of the area around Lauban. Nevertheless, in 1329 he had to cede Görlitz to the Bohemian king, retaining only
. In the same year John incorporated the ''terra et civitas goerlic'' into the Bohemian Crown, which tied Upper Lusatia closely and permanently with the Kingdom of Bohemia, without affecting Upper Lusatias internal order.
Lusatian League
In 1346 the five royal cities of Upper Lusatia and Zittau, which had fallen to Bohemia upon the death of Duke Henry of Jawor, founded 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 ...
(''Sechstädtebund''). The united forces of the cities should secure the public peace and override local robber barons. This was also in the sense of the sovereign, King Charles IV, who supported the League with numerous privileges. The six municipalities in the subsequent period were able to prevail successfully against the nobility. With their increased economic prosperity they gained political influence. They were able to purchase numerous villages in the following 200 years and a significant proportion of the country fell under the direct rule of the city councils. In addition, within the so-called ''Weichbild'' enlarged municipal area, they were able to enforce their jurisdiction over large parts of the local nobility and its possessions.
When the
Hussite
The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation.
The Hussit ...
revolution erupted in the beginning of the 15th century in Bohemia, the League took up an adverse stance over the
Czech Reformation
The Bohemian Reformation (also known as the Czech Reformation or Hussite Reformation), preceding the Reformation of the 16th century, was a Christian movement in the late medieval and early modern Kingdom and Crown of Bohemia (mostly what is n ...
. In alliance with Emperor
Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...
and Lower Lusatian nobles, the cities waged war against the insurgents. In turn
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 ...
Löbau
Löbau ( Upper Sorbian: Lubij) is a city in the east of Saxony, Germany, in the traditional region of Upper Lusatia. It is situated between the slopes of the Löbauer Berg and the fertile hilly area of the Upper Lusatian Mountains. It is the ga ...
, as well as Zittau and Lauban were conquered by the Hussites and devastated. Only the two largest cities, Bautzen and Görlitz, could stand up to the sieges. The
Hussite Wars
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...
eased the links of Upper Lusatia to the Bohemian Crown, and because of the weakness of the kingdom the internal affairs of the margraviate were regulated largely without royal interference. During this time the Upper Lusatian ''
Landtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
'' (diet) developed into the main instrument of the estates' autonomy.
In 1469 the Upper Lusatian estates even seceded from the Bohemian king
George of Poděbrady
George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (23 April 1420 – 22 March 1471), also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad ( cs, Jiří z Poděbrad; german: Georg von Podiebrad), was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the ...
, because of his
utraquist
Utraquism (from the Latin ''sub utraque specie'', meaning "under both kinds") or Calixtinism (from chalice; Latin: ''calix'', mug, borrowed from Greek ''kalyx'', shell, husk; Czech: kališníci) was a belief amongst Hussites, a reformist Christia ...
confession, which the Pope had condemned as heretical. Upper Lusatia rendered homage to his rival, the Hungarian king
Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...
, who had conquered
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The me ...
, Silesia and both Lusatias, but never ruled in Bohemia itself. Until the 1479
Peace of Olomouc
The Peace of Olomouc was signed on 2 April 1479 between Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and King Vladislaus II of Bohemia (and Hungary, later), bringing the Bohemian–Hungarian War (1468–1478) to an end. On 21 July 1479 the agreement was ratifi ...
with King Vladislaus II, the Lusatian League took part in Matthias' war for the Bohemian Crown. Matthias tried to manage his country more efficient. In Silesia, he therefore installed the office of an '' Oberlandeshauptmann'' (Upper State Governor), to whom both Lusatias were subjected. This was considered a threat to autonomy by the Upper Lusatian estates.
Upon the death of Matthias Corvinus in 1490, Upper Lusatia again became a constituent Land of the Bohemian Crown. The hated Landvogt of King Matthias, Georg von Stein, was immediately expelled from Bautzens Ortenburg. At the end of the 15th century the political system of the margraviate was largely stabilized. Deputy of the absent sovereign remained the Landogt, who traditionally descended from the nobility of the Bohemian crown lands. However, before 1620, only one Upper Lusatian noble was able to assume the office. In Bautzen and Görlitz moreover two ''Amtshauptmänner'' existed. These three officials, with several secretaries, formed the entire royal administration.
The country's centre of power was the ''Landtag'' assembly of the estates. Ever since the 15th century
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...
s, nobles and cities could, without the consent of the king's, assemble and take decisions. Thus, the ''Landtag'' was, next to the king, the legislative body of Upper Lusatia. The power of the cities had the effect that there were only two voting estates:
# the rural ''Landstände'', consisting of the ''
Freiherr
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
en'' (barons), the collegiate chapters of St. Marienstern, St. Marienthal, the Magdalene convent in Lauban and the cathedral foundation in Bautzen, as well as the ''
Ritter
Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above "Edler" and below "Freiherr" (Baron). As with most titles an ...
'' chivalry,
# the six cities of the Lusatian League.
The cities had extensive judicial powers over the subjects of many knights and over the nobles themselves. The supreme court was the court of the land and the cities, which was formed together by both estates. According to the '' privilegium de non-appellando'', a decision was final and couldn't be changed at the royal courts in Prague. The cities' supremacy remained a thorn in the side of the Upper Lusatian nobility.
Only a few years after
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
put up
The Ninety-Five Theses
The ''Ninety-five Theses'' or ''Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences''-The title comes from the 1517 Basel pamphlet printing. The first printings of the ''Theses'' use an incipit rather than a title which summarizes the content ...
in Saxon
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...
, his Reformative ideas spread all over Upper Lusatia. In Görlitz, Bautzen and Zittau, the first
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
sermons were preached in 1520 and 1521, although the nobility, the city councils and King Louis II of Bohemia tried to prevent its spread. In Görlitz and Bautzen the municipal authorities however soon conceded the pressure of the population and officially adopted the Protestant Reformation in 1523 and 1524, though only in small cautious steps. In particular, the chapter of St. Peter in Bautzen resisted successfully and remained
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Overall, it took decades until the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
doctrine finally prevailed in most parishes, as in Upper Lusatia not the Bohemian sovereign introduced the Reformation but the local city councils and noble lords.
Habsburg Monarchy
When King Louis II was killed at the 1526
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...
, his crown lands including Upper Lusatia were inherited by his
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
brother-in-law Archduke
Ferdinand I of Austria
en, Ferdinand Charles Leopold Joseph Francis Marcelin
, image = Kaiser Ferdinand I.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Eduard Edlinger (1843)
, succession = Emperor of AustriaKing of Hungary
, moretext = ( more...)
, cor-type = ...
, husband of the late king's sister
Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394), also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and ...
. During his only visit in 1537, he received the
homage
Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to:
History
*Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance
*Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts
*Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...
by the estates; however the rule was entrusted to the Bohemian '' Hofmeister'' Zdislav
Berka of Dubá
Berka of Dubá ( cs, Berka z Dubé) was a cadet branch of a Bohemian noble family of Lords of Dubá established by Hynek Berka of Dubá (1249–1306). It held estates in what is today the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany throughout the Middl ...
as Landvogt in Bautzen, who was not able to reach a settlement between the League and the local nobility. King Ferdinand himself took contradictory decisions, that did not resolve the continuous struggle over the hegemony in the Upper Lusatian lands. The stance of the nobility was strengthened with the establishment of the Upper Lusatian state countries of
Muskau
Bad Muskau (; formerly ''Muskau'', hsb, Mužakow, pl, Mużaków, cs, Mužakov) is a spa town in the historic Upper Lusatia region in Germany, at the border with Poland. It is part of the Görlitz district in the State of Saxony.
It is locate ...
, Seidenberg, Hoyerswerda, and Königsbrück.
King Ferdinand was dependent on support and
tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
es in the ongoing
Ottoman–Habsburg wars
The Ottoman–Habsburg wars were fought from the 16th through the 18th centuries between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy, which was at times supported by the Kingdom of Hungary, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Habsburg Spai ...
and neither could afford to estrange the nobles nor to force back spreading
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 ...
. In turn the estates, unlike the Bohemian
utraquists
Utraquism (from the Latin ''sub utraque specie'', meaning "under both kinds") or Calixtinism (from chalice; Latin: ''calix'', mug, borrowed from Greek ''kalyx'', shell, husk; Czech: kališníci) was a belief amongst Hussites, a reformist Christia ...
, remained neutral in the
Schmalkaldic War
The Schmalkaldic War (german: link=no, Schmalkaldischer Krieg) was the short period of violence from 1546 until 1547 between the forces of Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (simultaneously King Charles I of Spain), commanded by the Duk ...
of 1546/47 and even arranged troops in support of Ferdinand's brother Emperor
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infan ...
—against the fierce protest of reformer
Johannes Bugenhagen
Johannes Bugenhagen (24 June 1485 – 20 April 1558), also called ''Doctor Pomeranus'' by Martin Luther, was a German theologian and Lutheran priest who introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th ce ...
. In contrast, the hesitant Lusatian League was not able to prolong military support up to the decisive
Battle of Mühlberg
The Battle of Mühlberg took place near Mühlberg in the Electorate of Saxony in 1547, during the Schmalkaldic War. The Catholic princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V decisively defeated the Lutheran Schmalka ...
. Furious King Ferdinand ordered the League's representatives to his Bohemian court at
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, where he sentenced the cities to pay an enormous fine and seized their properties. Moreover, he revoked all the League's privileges, a measure that later could be rescinded in a long and arduous process of negotiations.
Ferdinand's successor Emperor Maximilian II officially implemented the Lutheran Confessio Augustana in 1564. Nevertheless, the Upper Lusatian lands did not remain untouched by the rising conflicts in the course of the
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
in the neighbouring lands of Bohemia and Moravia.
Saxony
The
Margraviate 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 ...
was transferred by the
Peace of Prague (1635)
The Peace of Prague (, ), signed on 30 May 1635, ended Saxony's participation in the Thirty Years War. Other German princes subsequently joined the treaty and although the Thirty Years War continued, it is generally agreed Prague ended it as a ...
to 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 ...
until 1806, when the electorate was elevated to 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 ...
.
According to the Final Act of the 1815
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
, the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia passed from 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 ...
to 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 ...
. The new demarcation line ran from
Ruhland
( Sorbian: ''Rólany'') is a town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in Upper Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Schwarze Elster, 12 km southwest of Senftenberg.
Ruhland station is a major railway junction, fo ...
in the northwest to the Bohemian border at Seidenberg (Zawidów) in the southeast. The Upper Lusatian territory north of it, i.e. the districts 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 ...
,
Rothenburg Rothenburg is a German language placename and refers to:
Places
*Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany
*Rothenburg, Oberlausitz, Saxony, Germany
*Rothenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
*Rothenburg, Switzerland, Canton of Lucerne, S ...
,
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 ...
Province of Silesia
The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...
.
Though this area had never been affiliated with historic
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
before, it is still referred to as "Silesian Upper Lusatia" (''Schlesische Oberlausitz''), e.g. by the local body of the
Evangelical Church
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
.
Post-war
After the end of
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 ...
in 1945, the border between Germany and Poland was fixed at the
Oder–Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line (german: Oder-Neiße-Grenze, pl, granica na Odrze i Nysie Łużyckiej) is the basis of most of the international border between Germany and Poland from 1990. It runs mainly along the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers a ...
. This new border split the historic region of Upper Lusatia between the two countries.
Rulers
Inhabitants
Today approximately 780,000 people live in Upper Lusatia, nearly 157,000 of them in the Polish part to the east of the Neisse river. A part of the country belongs to the settlement area of the Sorbs. Between Kamenz, Bautzen and Hoyerswerda, about 20,000 people speak Sorbian. However, the German population is not culturally homogeneous, and the cultural borders can be quite well identified by the different dialect groups. While in the region around Bautzen a good deal of High German is spoken, in the south the Upper Lusatian dialect of German (''Oberlausitzisch''), is common. In the east, Silesian is still spoken by some. The greatest density of population can be found in the German-Polish twin city of Görlitz/Zgorzelec. Currently 91,000 inhabitants, 33,000 in the Polish part, live there.
In the German part of Upper Lusatia, the population has been declining since the 1990s. Young people leave the region because the unemployment in Eastern Saxony is particularly high.Zahl der Arbeitslosen in der Oberlausitz unter 17.000 gesunken - https://www.radiolausitz.de/beitrag/zahl-der-arbeitslosen-in-der-oberlausitz-unter-17000-gesunken-722060/ This and the low birth rate have led to severe aging of the population. In the absence of available jobs, minimal influx of foreigners is noticeable. The Polish part of Upper Lusatia is, apart from Zgorzelec, Lubań and Bogatynia, only sparsely populated and the area belongs to an economically weak region of Poland: only the coal-fired power plant in Turów offers a larger number of industrial jobs.
References
Sources
* Joachim Bahlcke (ed.): ''Geschichte der Oberlausitz. Herrschaft, Gesellschaft und Kultur vom Mittelalter bis zum Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts''. 2. durchgesehene Auflage, Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2004, .
* Karlheinz Blaschke: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der Oberlausitz''. Oettel, Görlitz 2000, .
* Frank Nürnberger (ed.): ''Oberlausitz. Schöne Heimat''. Oberlausitzer Verlag, Spitzkunnersdorf 2004, .
* Tino Fröde: ''Privilegien und Statuten der Oberlausitzer Sechsstädte – Ein Streifzug durch die Organisation des städtischen Lebens in Zittau, Bautzen, Görlitz, Löbau, Kamenz und Lauban in der frühen Neuzeit''. Spitzkunnersdorf : Oberlausitzer Verlag, 2008.
Further reading
*
Kito Lorenc
Kito Lorenc (4 March 1938 – 24 September 2017) was a German writer, lyric poet and translator. He was a grandson of the writer and politician Jakub Lorenc-Zalěski.
Lorenc attended the Sorbian boarding high school in Cottbus from 1952 to 1956 ...
: "''Die wendische Schiffahrt'' (The Wendish Voyage)", Domowina-Verlag 2004,