Lübben (Spreewald) (

Lower Sorbian Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

: ''Lubin (Błota)'' , Polish: ''Lubin'') is a town of 14,000 people, capital of the

Dahme-Spreewald Dahme-Spreewald (, ) is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the districts of Oder-Spree, Spree-Neiße, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Elbe-Elster and Teltow-Fläming, and by the city of Berlin. History Th ...

district in the

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the Germany, German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the south, Lower Lusa ...

region in

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, in eastern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Administrative structure

Districts of the town are: * Lübben Stadt (Lower Sorbian: ''Lubin město'') * Hartmannsdorf (''Hartmanojce'') * Lubolz (''Lubolc'') ** Groß Lubolz (''Wjelike Lubolce'') ** Klein Lubolz (''Małe Lubolce'') * Neuendorf (''Nowa Wjas'') * Radensdorf (''Radom''; ''Radowašojce'') * Steinkirchen (''Kamjena'') * Treppendorf (''Ranchow'')

History

The castle of ''Lubin'' in the

March of Lusatia The March or Margraviate of Lusatia () was 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''. Ruled by several Saxon margravial dy ...

was first mentioned in an 1150 register of Nienburg Abbey and had received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

according to

Magdeburg law Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

by 1220. It was located on a trade route from

Luckau Luckau (Lower Sorbian: ''Łuków'') is a city in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in the States of Germany#States, federal state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Known for its beauty, it has been dubbed "the Pearl of Lower Lusatia". Origin of t ...

to Gubin and

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. From 1301 the town in the centre of the Spreewald floodplain was in the possession of the monks of Dobrilugk Abbey, who sold it to Duke Rudolph I of

Saxe-Wittenberg The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg () was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire centered at Wittenberg, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy of Saxony. The Ascanian dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon electoral dignity until ...

in 1329. After several conflicts with the

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

margraves of

the March of Lusatia was finally acquired by Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg in 1367 who incorporated Lübben into the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

. In the 15th century Lübben became the seat of the Bohemian ''

Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

'' administrator and the provincial diet ''(

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 ...

)'' of

. In 1526 the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

inherited the Bohemian kingdom including Lusatia, which in 1623 Ferdinand II of Habsburg had to give in pawn to Elector John George I of Saxony. The Saxon Electorate finally acquired Lübben by signing the 1635 Peace of Prague. After the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

it fell to the Prussian

province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg () was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1947. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg (excluding Altmark) and ...

by 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, Napol ...

. One of the main escape routes for insurgents of the unsuccessful Polish

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

from partitioned Poland to the

Great Emigration The Great Emigration () was the emigration of thousands of Poles and Lithuanians, particularly from the political and cultural élites, from 1831 to 1870, after the failure of the November Uprising of 1830–1831 and of other uprisings such as ...

led through the town. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Oflag III-C and Oflag 8

prisoner-of-war camps A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

for Polish, French, British, Australian, New Zealander, Belgian and Dutch officers, a

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, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

subcamp of the Nazi prison in

and a subcamp of the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

were located in the town. Lübben was taken by Soviet troops of the 3rd Guards Army on 27 April 1945.

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Lübben.pdf, Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of Nazi rule; Red Background: Time of Communist rule) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Lübben.pdf, Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the

Census in Germany A national census in Germany (, ) was held every five years from 1875 to 1910. After the World Wars, only a few full population censuses have been held, the last in 1987. The most recent census, though not a national census, was the 2011 Europea ...

in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2020-2030 (green line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line)

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly ''(Stadtverordnetenversammlung)'' as of 2008 elections: * Christian Democratic Union: 7 *

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

: 5 * The Left: 5 * PRO Lübben (Independent): 4 * Free Democratic Party: 1 Lübben is twinned with Wolsztyn in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Neunkirchen, Saarland Neunkirchen (; ) is a town and a municipality in Saarland, Germany. It is the largest town in, and the seat of the Neunkirchen (German district), district of Neunkirchen. It is situated on the river Blies, approx. 20 km northeast of Saarbrüc ...

in Germany. Luebben Gut Neuhaus

Places of interest

* Spreewald biosphere reserve * Lübben Castle, on medieval foundations, rebuilt in the 17th century under the rule of Duke Christian I of Saxe-Merseburg * Neuhaus Manor in Steinkirchen, built in 1801, former residence of author Christoph Ernst von Houwald from 1822 on * Romanesque St Pancras fieldstone church in Steinkirchen built in the early 13th century, one of the oldest preserved churches in Lower Lusatia * Paul Gerhardt Church from the 16th century, where Paul Gerhardt preached from 1669 on * Roman Catholic Trinity Church, built in 1862

Notable people

Born in Lübben

Hans Peter Bull Hans Peter Bull (born 17 October 1936) is a German constitutional lawyer and jurist. He served between 1978 and 1985 as West Germany's first Federal Commissioner for Data Protection. It was widely believed that he was appointed at the elev ...

(born 1936), German constitutional lawyer and jurist * Karin Büttner-Janz (born 1952 in Hartmannsdorf), German Olympic medal winner in artistic gymnastics and habilitated doctor * Henry Eugene Fritz (1875–1956), American painter * Hans Walter Gruhle (1880–1958), German psychiatrist * Benno Hann von Weyhern (1808–1890), Prussian General of the Cavalry * Louis Klopsch (1852–1910), American author and editor of the '' Christian Herald'' * Sylvio Kroll (born 1965), German Olympic medal winner in artistic gymnastics * Kornelia Kunisch (born 1959), German handball player, 1980 Olympic bronze medal with the East German team * Christian Lillinger (born 1984), German musician and composer * Karl Otto von Manteuffel (1806-1879), German politician, Prussian agriculture minister * Otto Theodor von Manteuffel (1805–1882), German politician, Minister-President of Prussia *

Rudolf Marloth Hermann Wilhelm Rudolf Marloth (28 December 1855 Lübben, Germany – 15 May 1931 Caledon, Cape Province) was a German-born South African botanist, pharmacist and analytical chemist, best known for his ''Flora of South Africa'' which appeared i ...

(1855–1931), South African botanist, pharmacist and analytical chemist * Ella Mensch (1859–1935), German writer, journalist, teacher, feminist and editor * Richard Constantin Noschke (1867–1945), diary of his World War I Alexandra Palace internment sufferings in Imperial War Museum, London. * Benjamin Raschke (born 1982), German politician, member of the Landtag of Brandenburg * Thorsten Rund (born 1976), German cyclist * Kathrin Schneider (born 1962), German politician * Carl Siegemund Schönebeck (1758–1806), German composer and cellist * Lavinia Schulz (1896–1924), German dancer and actress * Ingo Spelly (born 1966), East German-German sprint canoer, Olympic champion

Related to Lübben

* Wolfgang Figulus (c. 1525 – c. 1591), German composer and teacher, 1545 or 1546 cantor in Lübben * Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676), German hymn writer, 1668 till his death archdeacon of Lübben * Renate Holm (1931–2022), German-Austrian film actress and operatic soprano, school in Lübben * Christoph Ernst von Houwald (1778–1845), German dramatist and author, died at Neuhaus * Götz von Houwald (1913–2001), German diplomat, historian and ethnographer, completed his secondary education in Lübben * Albert Naumann (1875–1952), German fencer, died in Lübben * Jens Riewa (born 1963), German television presenter and broadcast news analyst for the Tagesschau, grew up in Lübben * Immanuel Johann Gerhard Scheller (1735–1803), German classical philologist and lexicographer, teacher in Lübben * Daniel Ziebig (born 1983), German footballer, used to live in Lübben * We Butter the Bread with Butter, German deathcore band formed in 2007

References

External links

Lübben (Spreewald)
– official website
Old postcards of Lübben
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lubben Spreewald Localities in Dahme-Spreewald