Locator Upper Lusatia within the Holy Roman Empire (1618)

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 north, it makes up the region of Lusatia, named after the Slavic ''Lusici'' tribe. Both parts of Lusatia are home to the West Slavic minority group of the Sorbs. The major part of Upper Lusatia is part of the German federal state of Saxony, roughly comprising

Bautzen district The district of Bautzen (german: Landkreis Bautzen, hsb, Wokrjes Budyšin) is a district in the state of Saxony in Germany. Its largest towns are Bautzen, Bischofswerda, Kamenz, Hoyerswerda and Radeberg. It is the biggest district in Saxony by a ...

and

Görlitz district 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 ...

. The northwestern extremity, around Ruhland 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 district of the state of Brandenburg. The eastern part of Upper Lusatia is in Poland, east of the Neisse (''Nysa'') river, in

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 is incorporated into Lubusz Voivodeship, along with the Polish part of Lower Lusatia. 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, 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 Upper Lusatian territory was previously referred to as ''Milsko'' in contemporary chronicles, named after the local West Slavic Milceni 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 Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape''Upper Lusatia''
at www.silvaportal.info. Accessed 11 July 2011. is Pleistocene formed. The UNESCO has declared this area a Biosphere Reserve 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 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 (Lusatian Ridge), part of the Lusatian 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 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 ...

at and Hochwald at . The adjacent

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

comprise the Landeskrone (420 m),

Löbauer Berg , photo = Löbberg0707.jpg , photo_size = 282px , photo_alt = , photo_caption = Schafberg (left) and Löbauer Berg (right), seen from Bubenik. The town of Löbau is in the foreground. , elevation = ( ...

(448 m),

Kottmar Kottmar ( hsb, Kotmar) is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany. It is part of the Lusatian Highlands The Lusatian HighlandsCzorneboh (561 m), Bieleboh (499 m), and

Valtenberg Valtenberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern 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 m ...

(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 Smrk may refer to: * Smrk (Jizera Mountains), the highest mountain in the Jizera Mountains of Bohemia, Czech Republic at 1124m * Smrk (Moravian-Silesian Beskids) Smrk is a massif and a mountain in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids range in the Czec ...

(''Tafelfichte'') in the Jizera Mountains (''Isergebirge''), the border tripoint of Upper Lusatia with the historical region of Lower Silesia 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 at Königsbrück (the "Gate to Upper Lusatia" on the '' Via Regia'' 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 ...

lands of the Saxon Electorate. The

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 has formed the

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, enters Upper Lusatia near Zittau, flows through Görlitz/Zgorzelec and leaves the country at Bad Muskau 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, who flows past Lubań (''Lauban'') and continues north towards the Silesian lands into the Bóbr river. The central hilly ''Gefilde'' (''Pahórčina'') landscape between Kamenz and Löbau 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 large quantities of brown coal 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 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 (''Lausitzer Seenland'').

Natural regions

Today, Upper Lusatia is grouped into eight natural regions or landscapes: *The Zittau Mountains (southeastern tip of Upper Lusatia) *The East Lusatian Hill Country and River Neisse region (on the Neisse from Görlitz to Zittau, north of the Zittau Mountains) *The

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 The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

(northwest from Bischofswerda to Kamenz) *The

Upper Lusatian Gefilde The Upper Lusatian Gefilde (german: Oberlausitzer Gefilde or sometimes ''Bautzener Gefilde'', Upper Sorbian: ''Hornjołužiska pahórčina'') is a natural region in Saxony near the German tripoint with the Czech Republic and Poland. It is consider ...

region (around Bautzen and Löbau north of the Highlands) *The

Upper Lusatian Heath and Lake District The Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape (also ... District or ... Lake District,Königsbrück-Ruhland Heaths in the northwest (northwest of Kamenz, west of Hoyerswerda) *The

Muskau Heath The Muskau Heath (german: Muskauer Heide, Upper Sorbian: ''Mužakowska hola''), is a natural region in Saxony that lies south of the town of Bad Muskau. It has an area of 400 square kilometres.Wurlitzer, Bernd and Kerstin Sucher. ''Sachsen''. Berli ...

in the northeast (around Bad Muskau and Weisswasser, Poland, in the east)

History

The hunters of 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 (11th century BC to 9th century BC) people of the Lusatian culture entered the previously uninhabited region from

and the Lusatian Neisse. Archeological evidence documents a path between the settlement areas around 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 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. 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 Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of Henr ...

. As a result, the Milceni lands, despite persistent militant struggles, became part of the vast '' Marca Geronis'' 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. 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 and its western expansion. In 1002 Bolesław I Chrobry 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 in 1031, Upper Lusatia again came under the rule of the Meissen margraves, confirmed by the 1033 Treaty of Merseburg. During the Investiture Controversy in 1076, King Henry IV of Germany granted Budissin Land to Duke Vratislaus II of Bohemia as an

Imperial fief Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular prin ...

in turn for his support in the Saxon Rebellion. The son-in-law of Vratislaus, Count Wiprecht of Groitzsch, 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 Zawidów (german: Seidenberg) is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, at the Czech border. The town lies some south-south-east of Zgorzelec and west of the regional capital, Wrocław. As of 2019, th ...

(''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 of St. Peter in Bautzen, which was richly endowed by King Ottokar I of Bohemia 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 ...

monastery of St. Marienthal, which was subjected to the

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 River, over time a separate Upper Lusatian nobility emerged. This nobility controlled the land on behalf of the king or the margraves and in return received the country as a fief. Unlike in neighbouring

, 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. Mark Lausitz

Between the death of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia 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 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 as deputy of the Ascanian ruler they created the most important office in Upper Lusatia. In principle, the powers of the

burggrave Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from german: Burggraf, la, burgravius, burggravius, burcgravius, burgicomes, also praefectus), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especiall ...

s 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, 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 Otto IV, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal, nicknamed ''Otto with the arrow'' ( – 27 November 1308 or 1309) was the Margrave of Brandenburg from the House of Ascania from 1266 until his death. Life Otto was the son of John I and his first w ...

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, 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 in ...

; the eastern part of Görlitz, as a dowry, 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 Głog ...

—with the exception of the area around Lauban. Nevertheless, in 1329 he had to cede Görlitz to the Bohemian king, retaining only Zittau. 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 (''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. Umgebindehaus Ebersbach LC0001

When the Hussite revolution erupted in the beginning of the 15th century in Bohemia, the League took up an adverse stance over the Czech Reformation. In alliance with Emperor Sigismund and Lower Lusatian nobles, the cities waged war against the insurgents. In turn Kamenz,

Reichenbach Reichenbach may refer to: Places Austria * Reichenbach (Litschau), a part of Litschau * Reichenbach (Rappottenstein), a part of Rappottenstein Germany * Reichenbach (Oberlausitz), in Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis district, Saxony * Rei ...

and Löbau, 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'' (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, because of his utraquist confession, which the Pope had condemned as heretical. Upper Lusatia rendered homage to his rival, the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, who had conquered Moravia, 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 prelates, 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 '' Freiherren'' (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'' 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. St Petri church Bautzen 101

Only a few years after Martin Luther put up The Ninety-Five Theses in Saxon Wittenberg, his Reformative ideas spread all over Upper Lusatia. In Görlitz, Bautzen and Zittau, the first Protestant sermons were preached in 1520 and 1521, although the nobility, the city councils and King

Louis II of Bohemia Louis II ( cs, Ludvík, hr, Ludovik , hu, Lajos, sk, Ľudovít; 1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526) was King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. He was killed during the Battle of Mohács fighting the Ottomans, whose victory led to ...

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. Overall, it took decades until the Lutheran 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 those ...

, 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, 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 located ...

, Seidenberg, Hoyerswerda, and Königsbrück. King Ferdinand was dependent on support and taxes in the ongoing Ottoman–Habsburg wars and neither could afford to estrange the nobles nor to force back spreading Protestantism. In turn the estates, unlike the Bohemian utraquists, remained neutral in the Schmalkaldic War of 1546/47 and even arranged troops in support of Ferdinand's brother Emperor Charles V —against the fierce protest of reformer Johannes Bugenhagen. In contrast, the hesitant Lusatian League was not able to prolong military support up to the decisive Battle of Mühlberg. Furious King Ferdinand ordered the League's representatives to his Bohemian court at Prague, 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 The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Ref ...

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. Rakecy – mězniki 2

According to the Final Act of the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia passed from the Kingdom of Saxony to the Kingdom of Prussia. The new demarcation line ran from Ruhland 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,

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 ...

and Lauban (Lubań), was attached to the Prussian Province of Silesia. Though this area had never been affiliated with historic Silesia 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 in 1945, the border between Germany and Poland was fixed at the Oder–Neisse line. 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 Karlheinz is a German given name, composed of Karl and Heinz. Notable people with that name include: * Karlheinz Böhm (1928–2014), Austrian actor * Karlheinz Brandenburg (born 1954), audio engineer * Karlheinz Deschner (born 1924), German agnos ...

: ''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.

External links

* {{Authority control Geography of Lusatia Historical regions in Germany Regions of Brandenburg Historical regions in Poland Regions of Saxony Biosphere reserves of Germany Former duchies of the Kingdom of Bohemia Lands of the Bohemian Crown

Geography and nature

Mountains and rivers

Natural regions

History

Meissen

Bohemia

Lusatian League

Habsburg Monarchy

Saxony

Post-war

Rulers

Inhabitants

References

Sources

Further reading

External links