Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc , cz, Zhořelec, East Lusatian dialects: , , ) is a town in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia as well as the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after Cottbus. Görlitz is the easternmost town in Germany (the easternmost village being Zentendorf (Šćeńc)) and lies opposite the

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 ...

town of Zgorzelec, which was the eastern part of Görlitz until 1945. The town has approximately 56,000 inhabitants, which make Görlitz the sixth-largest town in Saxony. It is the seat of the district of Görlitz. Together with Zgorzelec it forms the Euro City of Görlitz/Zgorzelec, which has a combined population of around 86,000. Whilst not Lusatiophone itself, the town is situated just east of the Sorbian-speaking parts of Lusatia. The town's recorded history began in the 11th century as a Sorbian settlement. Through its history it has been under German, Czech (Bohemian), Polish and Hungarian rule, the last three by invasion. From 1815 until 1918 Görlitz belonged to the Province of Silesia in the Kingdom of Prussia and later to the Province of Lower Silesia in the Free State of Prussiait was the Silesian provinces' largest town west of the Oder-Neisse line, and hence Görlitz became part of East Germany from 1949 until

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

in 1990. Görlitz is culturally diverse. Whilst it is in Saxony, its inhabitants also identify as Upper Lusatian. The East Lusatian dialect (') of the town differs from the

Upper Saxon Upper Saxon (german: Obersächsisch, ; ) is an East Central German language spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it's mostl ...

dialects spoken in most parts of Saxony, especially those of Dresden and Leipzig. Because the town had been integrated into the former provinces of Silesia and later Lower Silesia respectively there is also a strong Silesian element in the city's culture, which is reflected by the presence of some Silesian dishes such as ' and ', a Silesian Museum (), and the Silesian Christmas Market ('). There is also a Sorbian element, since Görlitz was founded and first settled by the Sorbs, a Slavic people. This is evidenced by the name of the town and the etymology of some of its incorporated villages and geographical features being of Slavic origin. Spared from the destruction of World War II, the town also has a rich architectural heritage. Many movie-makers have used the various sites as filming locations.

History

Middle Ages

In the Early Middle Ages the area was invaded during the westwards Slav migrations. The nearby Landeskrone mountain, as ''Businc'', is considered the main stronghold of the early tribes and ''Gorelic'' is said to mean a small village. Other references state the origin of the name Görlitz is the Slavic word for 'burned land', referring to the technique used to clear land for settlement. Zgorzelec and Czech ''Zhořelec'' have the same derivation. The early Sorbian Milceni tribe were subjugated in 990 by the

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 ...

, a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire. The settlement was then conquered by Polish ruler Bolesław I Chrobry in 1002 and briefly, from 1025 until 1031, was governed by Poland, after which the region fell back to the Margraviate of Meissen. In 1075 the village was assigned to the Duchy of Bohemia. ''Goreliz'' was first mentioned in a document from the King of Germany, and later

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

, Henry IV in 1071. This document granted Görlitz to the religious

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 ...

, then under Bishop Benno of

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 ...

. This document can now be found in the Saxony State Archives in Dresden. In 1126–1131 Bohemian Duke Soběslav I erected a castle, one of several new castles on the Bohemian-Polish border. It may have been on the site of the present St Peter and Paul church. The date the town was founded is unknown but in the 13th century the village gradually became a town. Owing to its location on the Via Regia, an ancient and medieval trade route, the settlement prospered. In 1319 it briefly became part of the Duchy of Jawor of the fragmented Poland, and 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 Głog ...

confirmed the town's

privileges Privilege may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Privilege'' (film), a 1967 film directed by Peter Watkins * ''Privilege'' (Ivor Cutler album), 1983 * ''Privilege'' (Television Personalities album), 1990 * ''Privilege (Abridged)'', an alb ...

. Later on, the town fell back to

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 ...

. From 1346 Görlitz was a wealthy member of the Lusatian League, which consisted of Bautzen, Görlitz, Kamenz, Lubań, Löbau and Zittau. Around 1348 a Jewish woman, Adasse, was made a citizen of the town. In 1352 during the reign of Polish King Casimir III the Great, Lusatian German colonists from Görlitz founded the town of Gorlice in southern Poland near Kraków. From 1377 to 1396 it was the capital of an eponymous duchy. In 1469, along with the Lusatian League, the town became part of the realm of King Matthias Corvinus, thus passing to Hungarian rule, and in 1490 it reverted to Bohemia then ruled by Vladislaus II of Hungary.

Modern period

The Protestant Reformation came to Görlitz in the early 1520s and by the last half of the 16th century, it and the surrounding vicinity, became almost completely Lutheran. In 1623, during the Thirty Years' War, the town was captured and occupied alternately by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and the Holy Roman Empire. In 1635, the region of Upper Lusatia (including Görlitz) was ceded 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 ...

. From 1639, the town was occupied by Sweden again, and then it was besieged by Imperial and Saxon forces in 1641. After the war it was part of the Electorate of Saxony, from 1697 within the Polish–Saxon personal union. One of two main routes connecting Warsaw and Dresden ran through the town in the 18th century and Kings Augustus II the Strong and

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Aug ...

often travelled that route.

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

visited the town several times in 1807, 1812 and 1813. After the Napoleonic Wars, the 1815 Congress of Vienna transferred the town from the Kingdom of Saxony to the Kingdom of Prussia. Görlitz was subsequently administered within the Province of Silesia and, after World War I, the Province of Lower Silesia, until 1945. During World War I an

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

camp for Greek soldiers was located in present-day Zgorzelec, whilst 500 Greek officers lived in private quarters throughout the town. A burial ground for Greek soldiers was located in the local cemetery. Shortly after the Nazi Party's rise to power, in March 1933, the SA established the Leschwitz concentration camp in Leschwitz (present-day district of Weinhübel). Political prisoners were held and tortured in the camp before it was dissolved in August 1933 and the prisoners were deported to other concentration camps. In 1936, during a nationwide Nazi campaign of changing of placenames, two present-day districts of Görlitz were renamed to erase traces of Slavic origin—Leschwitz to ''Weinhübel'' and Nikrisch to ''Hagenwerder''. On Kristallnacht in November 1938 an arson attack was carried out on the city's synagogue. However the building survived the attack without major damage because firefighters resisted the order not to extinguish the fire. It is the only synagogue in the present state of Saxony that survived Nazi rule. In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

most of the Jews had left the city and their number dropped from 567 in 1925 to 134 in 1939. Many remaining Jews were then killed in the Holocaust during World War II. During World War II a Nazi prison was operated in the town, with four

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

subcamps within the town limits and three in nearby villages. The Nazis also established and operated two subcamps of the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

, located in present-day districts of Biesnitz and Kunnerwitz, in which over 1,500 Jewish men and women were used as forced labour, and 470 of whom died. Numerous subcamps of the Stalag VIII-A prisoner-of-war camp were located in the town, in which over 10,000 POWs worked as forced labour in 1942, and one of the largest subcamps was located in nearby Weinhübel (district of Görlitz since 1949). After the Soviet offensive of 1944 and the partial evacuation of the German court staff from the

General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...

in German-occupied Poland, a special court of the General Government was established at the local courthouse. Several Polish citizens were detained in Görlitz and sentenced to prison or death at this court for rescuing Jews from the Holocaust. Near the end of World War II German troops destroyed all bridges crossing the Lusatian Neisse. The redrawing of boundaries in 1945—in particular the location of the East German-Polish border to the present Oder-Neisse line—divided the town. The right bank became part of Poland and was initially renamed Zgorzelice, and then Zgorzelec in 1948, with both names being historically used in the Polish language, while the main portion on the left bank became part of East Germany, now within the state of Saxony. On 12 June 1945 the city issued a set of four of its own postage stamps.

German Democratic Republic and Reunited Germany

When the East German states were dissolved in 1952 Görlitz became part of the Dresden District, but the states were restored on

in 1990. In 1972 the East German-Polish border was opened for visa-free travel, resulting in intense movement between Görlitz and Zgorzelec, which lasted until 1980, when East Germany unilaterally closed the border because of anti-communist protests and the emergence of the

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

movement in Poland. On 27 June 1994 the town became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Görlitz but it remains a Lutheran Protestant stronghold. In 2002

Lake Berzdorf Lake Berzdorf is located at the southern city limits of Görlitz in Upper Lusatia. It consists of the residual hole of the former Berzdorf open-cast lignite mine, which was flooded from 2002 to the beginning of 2013. The lake forms the southeastern ...

, occupying a former open-cast lignite mine south of Görlitz, began to be filled. The ''Altstadtbrücke'' (literally ''old town bridge'') between Görlitz and sister city Zgorzelec was rebuilt between 2003 and 2004. It was officially opened on 20 October 2004. As soon as Poland signed the Schengen Agreement (20 December 2007), movement between the two banks of the river again became unrestricted, since border controls were eliminated. Indeed, users of the new pedestrian bridge are not informed by any signs that they are leaving one country and entering another. Since reunification and as of 2013 more than 700 buildings have been renovated. It is a popular place for retirement among the elderly of Germany, being quiet and relatively affordable by German standards. Its tourist potential is rapidly expanding since it is very much an eastern counterpart to towns such as Heidelberg. In the case of Görlitz much of the funding for the renovations of the town's buildings has come from an anonymous donor, who, since 1995, has sent an annual donation of more than

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

500,000, totalling more than €10,000,000. In 2021 the surviving old synagogue was reopened.

Arts and culture

Goerlitz-Untermarkt 24 23 von Suedosten-20110627

Today Görlitz and Zgorzelec, two towns on opposite banks of the narrow river, are well connected. Two bridges have been rebuilt, a bus line connects the German and Polish parts of the town and there is a common urban management, with annual joint sessions of both town councils. The town has a rich architectural heritage (

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, Renaissance,

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

, Neoclassical and Art Nouveau). One example of this heritage is the Schönhof, one of the oldest civic Renaissance buildings in Germany. Another medieval heritage is a model of the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...

( de) the construction of which began in 1465 under Bürgermeister Georg Emmerich. In 2006 the twin cities of Görlitz and Zgorzelec applied to be the European City of Culture for 2010. It was hoped that the concept of Polish-German cooperation would be sufficient to convince the jury, but

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

won and Görlitz was placed second. As a result of the campaign Görlitz was renamed the ''City of Culture'' in order to further German-Polish relations and to attract tourists from all over the world. As Görlitz was part of Silesia from 1815 onward, it has a Silesian Museum dedicated to the region (). The exhibition features the 1000-year-old cultural history of Silesia. Görlitz is also the birthplace of the German version of nonpareils, popularly known in Germany as (

for ''love pearls''). Invented by confectioner Rudolf Hoinkis (1876–1944), the name derives from a conversation Hoinkis had with his wife, proclaiming his love for her was like these 'pearls', the nonpareil. Unsure of what to call the treat he invented, his wife suggested calling them love pearls and the name stuck. The factory where he first manufactured the treat, founded in 1896, is now run by his great-grandson, Mathias.

Geography

Görlitz is situated on the border with Poland, adjacent to the Polish town of Zgorzelec on the opposite bank of the Lusatian Neisse. The municipality measures from north to south, and from east to west.Die Stadt Görlitz und ihre Stadt- und Ortsteile
Stadt Görlitz, accessed 12 October 2021. Its area is .

Divisions

Görlitz is divided into 9 ''Stadtteile'' (town divisions) and 8 ''Ortsteile'' (formerly independent municipalities). These are: *Stadtteile: Historische Altstadt, Innenstadt, Nikolaivorstadt, Südstadt, Rauschwalde, Biesnitz, Weinhübel, Königshufen and Klingewalde *Ortsteile: Ober-Neundorf, Ludwigsdorf, Schlauroth, Kunnerwitz, Klein Neundorf, Deutsch-Ossig, Hagenwerder and Tauchritz

Transport

Görlitz station Görlitz station is the central station of the city of Görlitz in the German state of Saxony. Of the original twelve station tracks only six are still in operation. Görlitz is also served by stations in Rauschwalde, Weinhübel and Hagenwerder ...

is on the Berlin – Görlitz and the Dresden–Görlitz lines of

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

. The station also provides an international connection to Wrocław, Poland. Local public transport is provided by: * The

Verkehrsgesellschaft Görlitz The Verkehrsgesellschaft Görlitz GmbH (VGG) was a public transport operator based in Görlitz, Saxony. VGG was co-owned by Transdev Germany (49%) and the town council of Görlitz (51%), and was a member of ZVON transport association. History ...

(VGG) provides public transport service in the city, including the Görlitz tramway and bus services. * The

Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej (commonly abbreviated PKS, can be translated as ''Motor Transport Company'') is a major Polish enterprise dealing with inter-city public transport using coaches. History It was created as a state enter ...

(PKS) provides bus service over the river between Görlitz and its sister city, Zgorzelec.

Climate

The climate is oceanic (Köppen: ''Cfb'') or on the western edge of humid continental (''Dfb'') at the 0 °C isotherm. The location on the easternmost border of Germany, far from the sea, gives a climate less affected by prevailing westerly winds although these do reach further into the western half of Poland. Summers can be warm, though not as much as in Southern Europe, and the winters are cold; snow is sporadic, not persisting all winter.

Film location

Due to the historical parts of the city, many movie-makers have used the various sites as locations. Eli Roth shot the movie-in-a-movie ''

Nation's Pride Nation's Giant Hamburgers, or simply Nation's, is a privately held El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California, El Cerrito, California-based fast food diner Chain store#Restaurant chains, chain. The chain, founded in 1952, largely operates in t ...

'' () for Quentin Tarantino's '' Inglourious Basterds'' (which incidentally purports to be France) in the Lower Market Square and Upper Market Square in the oldest parts of the city. Other films shot in Görlitz include the 2013 war drama '' The Book Thief'' and the teen years in ''

The Reader ''The Reader'' (german: Der Vorleser) is a novel by German law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and in the United States in 1997. The story is a parable, dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations ...

''. Görlitz was used as the primary shooting location for the Wes Anderson film '' The Grand Budapest Hotel'', with Görlitz standing in for a resort in the fictional Eastern European country of Zubrowka. A vacant department store in the city was redecorated to serve as the hotel itself.

Governance

Mayor and city council

Goerlitz-Neues Rathaus von Osten-20110626

The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was

Matthias Lechner Matthias Florian Lechner (born February 27, 1970) is a motion picture production designer and art director. He worked as an art director and designer on the animated films ''Zootopia'', ''Help! I'm a Fish'' and ''Escape from Planet Earth'', as w ...

of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 1998. The mayor was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected.

Rolf Karbaum Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' ( Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The Old Norse cognate is ''Hrólfr''. A ...

served from 1998 until 2005,

Joachim Paulick Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

from 2005 to 2012, and

Siegfried Deinege Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid ...

from 2012 to 2019; all were independents. In 2019, CDU politician

Octavian Ursu Octavian Ursu (born 27 October 1967) is a German politician for the Christian Democratic Union and mayor of Görlitz since June 2019. Life Ursu was born in Bucharest and graduated from the National University of Music Bucharest in 1986. He wa ...

was elected mayor. The most recent mayoral election was held on 26 May 2019, with a runoff held on 16 June, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Sebastian Wippel , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

, 9,710 , 36.4 , 11,390 , 44.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

, align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 8,077 , 30.3 , 14,043 , 55.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Franziska Schubert , align=left, Green / BfG / MG /

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

/ PARTEI , 7,436 , 27.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Jana Lübeck , align=left, The Left , 1,470 , 5.5 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 26,693 ! 98.7 ! 25,433 ! 98.6 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 339 ! 1.3 ! 370 ! 1.4 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 27,032 ! 100.0 ! 25,803 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 46,120 ! 58.6 ! 46,135 ! 55.9 , - , colspan=7, Source
Wahlen in Sachsen
The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(AfD) , 23,603 , 30.7 , New , 13 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 16,896 , 22.0 , 10.7 , 9 , 4 , - , , align=left, Citizens for Görlitz (BfG) , 13,397 , 17.5 , 2.5 , 8 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 6,516 , 8.5 , 6.7 , 3 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

(Grüne) , 5,847 , 7.6 , 1.4 , 2 , 1 , - , , align=left, Motor Görlitz (MG) , 4,347 , 5.7 , New , 2 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD) , 1,782 , 2.3 , 3.1 , 1 , 1 , - , , align=left, Down to Business! (ZS) , 1,729 , 2.3 , 7.1 , 0 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP) , 1,663 , 2.2 , 0.7 , 0 , 1 , - , , align=left, BI Seensucht , 604 , 0.8 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, National Democratic Party (NPD) , 376 , 0.5 , 4.8 , 0 , 2 , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 26,530 ! 98.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 544 ! 2.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 27,074 ! 100.0 ! ! 42 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 46,119 ! 58.7 ! 14.7 ! ! , - , colspan="7", Source
Wahlen in Sachsen

Twin towns – sister cities

Görlitz is twinned with: * Amiens, France * Molfetta, Italy * Nový Jičín, Czech Republic * Wiesbaden, Germany * Zgorzelec, Poland Being the easternmost town in the country, Görlitz has formed a 'Compass Alliance' () with the northernmost, westernmost and southernmost towns, List, Selfkant and Oberstdorf respectively. They participate in the annual German Unity Day celebrations to represent the modern limits of Germany.

Notable people

* Adasse (fl.1348), money lender * Michael Ballack (born 1976), football player *

Jakob Böhme Jakob Böhme (; ; 24 April 1575 – 17 November 1624) was a German philosopher, Christian mystic, and Lutheran Protestant theologian. He was considered an original thinker by many of his contemporaries within the Lutheran tradition, and his first ...

(1575–1624), mystic and theologian * Johann Christoph Brotze (1742–1823), educator *

Hans Georg Dehmelt Hans Georg Dehmelt (; 9 September 1922 – 7 March 2017) was a German and American physicist, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1989, for co-developing the ion trap technique (Penning trap) with Wolfgang Paul, for which they shared one- ...

(1922–2017), co-recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics *

Hans-Jürgen Dörner Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner (25 January 1951 – 19 January 2022) was a German football player and coach. He distinguished himself during his career by being named East Germany's player of the year three times (1977, 1984 and 1985) – the on ...

(1951–2022), football player and coach * Werner Finck (1902–1978), comedian, actor and writer *

Richard Foerster (classical scholar) Richard Foerster (March 2, 1843 – August 7, 1922) was a German classical scholar. Biography Though born and raised in Görlitz, Foerster never saw himself a Lusatian and felt the strongest allegiance to Silesia, where he studied since winte ...

(1843–1922), classical scholar * Johann Carl Gehler (1732–1796) physician, anatomist and mineralogist * Gottlob Harrer (1703–1755), composer *

Clara Hepner Clara Hepner (December 9, 1860 – August 11, 1939) also known by the pseudonym Klara Hepner, or Clara Muschner, Klara Muschner, sometimes Clara Hepner-Muschner, born Clara Freund in Görlitz, in Lower Silesia, Germany. She is best known as a poet ...

(1860–1939), German-Jewish writer *

Torsten Gütschow Torsten Gütschow (born 28 July 1962) is a German football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is most associated with Dynamo Dresden, with whom he had two successful spells, playing top level football in East Germany and after ...

(born 1962), football player *

Herbert Hirche Herbert Hirche (20 May 1910, in Görlitz – 28 January 2002, in Heidelberg) was a German architect and furniture and product designer. Herbert Hirche studied from 1930 to 1933 at the Bauhaus in Dessau and Berlin.. Retrieved 29 October 2014 His te ...

(1910–2002), architect and designer *

Hanna von Hoerner Hanna von Hoerner (14 November 1942 – 4 July 2014) was a German astrophysicist. She founded the company von Hoerner & Sulger which produces scientific instruments, notably cosmic dust analyzers used on space missions by European Space Agency ( ...

(1942–2014), astrophysicist * Emil Jannings (1884–1950), first actor to win the

Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...

Jens Jeremies Jens Jeremies (born 5 March 1974) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Best known for his tackling abilities, he played for three clubs during his professional career, most notably Bayern Munich which ...

(born 1974), football player * Reinhart Koselleck (1923–2006), historian *

Michael Kretschmer Michael Kretschmer (born 7 May 1975) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Minister President of Saxony since 13 December 2017. Since 2022, he has been one of four deputy chairs of the CDU, under ...

(born 1975), politician (CDU), Minister President of Saxony *

Lars Kaufmann Lars Kaufmann (born February 25, 1982) is a German team handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkee ...

(born 1982), handball player *

Selma Lohse Selma Lohse (; 17 February 1883 – 4 May 1937) was a German politician who served in the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic from 1931 until 1932. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she represented the Franconia constituency. Lohse was also a ...

(1883–1937), politician * Oskar Morgenstern (1902–1977), economist * Gustavus Adolphus Neumann (1807–1886), publisher *

Arthur Pohl Arthur Pohl (1900–1970) was a German screenwriter and film director. Selected filmography Director * ''The Bridge'' (1949) * ''Die Jungen vom Kranichsee'' (1950) * ''Corinna Schmidt'' (1951) * '' Die Unbesiegbaren'' (1953) * '' Kein Hüsung'' ...

(1900–1970), set designer, director and screenwriter *

Hans Ulrich Rudel Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982) was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist. The most decorated German pilot of the war and the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with Go ...

(1916–1982) highly decorated WWII pilot for Nazi Germany *

Pavle Jurišić Šturm Pavle Jurišić Šturm KCMG ( sr-cyr, Павле Јуришић Штурм; 8 August 1848 – 13 January 1922), born Paulus Eugen Sturm, was a Serbian general of Sorbian origin, best known for commanding the Serbian 3rd Army in World War I. ...

(1848–1922), Serbian Army general, born in Görlitz *

Alfred Wagenknecht Alfred Wagenknecht (August 15, 1881 – August 26, 1956) was an American Marxist activist and political functionary. He is best remembered for having played a critical role in the establishment of the American Communist Party in 1919 as a leader ...

(1881–1956), American Marxist politician *

Giorgio Zur Giorgio Zur (15 February 1930 – 8 January 2019) was a Catholic archbishop and diplomat of the Holy See. Biography The son of a master tailor, Giorgio Zur studied in Rome at the Gregorian University, where he obtained a licentiate in philos ...

(1930–2019), Catholic Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio in Austria

Gallery

File:Peterskirche Goerlitz.jpg, St. Peter and Paul church, the Woad House and the river Lusatian Neisse in Görlitz File:Görlitz Peterskirche Orgel.jpg, Interior of St. Peter and Paul with its ''Sonnenorgel'' (sun organ) File:Goerlitz-Schoenhof von Westen-20110626.jpg, The Schönhof, the oldest Renaissance building in Görlitz File:Görlitz-Karstadt-Jugendstil.jpg, Interior of the '' Görlitzer Warenhaus'' department store File:Obermarkt Görlitz @20201001 b.jpg, View over Upper Market Square taken from Reichenbach Tower, residential buildings of Zgorzelec in the background File:Görlitz Altes Rathaus am Untermarkt.JPG,

Old town hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

on the Lower Market Square File:Görlitz - Brüderstraße - Altes Rathaus - Corvinuswappen 02 ies.jpg, Royal coats of arms of Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus (

Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

) File:Görlitz - Obermarkt13-Reichenbacher Turm 02 ies.jpg, Reichenbach Tower File:Görlitz - Postplatz - Gericht 06 ies.jpg, Courthouse File:Landeskrone view from zgorzelec.JPG, The Landeskrone, literally "land's crown", the local mountain of Görlitz File:Gerh'HauptmannTheather Görlitz.jpg, Theatre File:Dreifaltigkeitskirche Goerlitz.jpg, Gothic Holy Trinity church File:Görlitz - Marienplatz - Frauenturm 04 ies.jpg, Thick Tower File:Nikolaikirchhof_Görlitz_01.jpg, Nikolai Cemetery File:Görlitz-Nikolaistr.JPG, Nikolai Tower File:Peter-und-paul.jpg, St. Peter and Paul File:Altes Rathaus Görlitz 1.jpg,

File:Wilhelmsplatz-1-goerlitz.jpg, Wilhelmsplatz

Notes

References

External links

*
Official website
*

"Görlitz/ZgorzelecUrban development from 12th to 21st century"
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorlitz Cities in Silesia Divided cities Germany–Poland border crossings Towns in Görlitz (district) Holocaust locations in Germany