Cottbus - The Greenest City in Germany


Cottbus is one of the greenest cities in Germany and is well-known for its parks. More recently Cottbus has established itself as university town. Situated between Berlin and Dresden on the Spree River, close to the “Spreewald” (inland delta of the river Spree in previous glacial valley), Cottbus is rich in culture, art and nature and offers many opportunities for adventure, sightseeing and recreation. Every year, Cottbus hosts the East European Film Festival as well.

The city near the Polish border in east-central Germany developed historically as a market centre in the late 12th century and has today a population of approximately 100,000. The bilingual town's history has been shaped by both Germans and “Wends” (also “Sorb’s” or “Serbian’s” - unrelated to Serbians in Serbia). The Wend's are the smallest Slavic folk with around 20.000 people and are natives of Lower Lusatia.

The settlement was established before the 10th century when “Wends” erected a castle on a sandy island in the River Spree. The first recorded mention of the town's name was in 1156. In the 13th century German settlers came to the town and thereafter lived side-by-side with the Wends. In medieval times Cottbus was known for wool, and the town's drapery was exported all over the Brandenburg , Bohemia and Saxony. In 1462 Cottbus was acquired by the “Margraviate of Brandenburg". In 1701 the city became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1815 the surrounding districts of Upper and Lower Lusatia were ceded by the Kingdom of Saxony to Prussia.

Nowadays, Cottbus is also a centre for trade fairs and congresses in Lower Lusatia. From 1949 until German reunification in 1990, Cottbus was part of the German Democratic Republic (District Cottbus). 

Cottbus is till today the cultural centre of the Wends because of its Lower Sorbian minority. Many signs in the town are bilingual, and there is a Lower Sorbian-medium school (Gymnasium), but Sorbian is rarely spoken on the streets. However, the Lower Serbian Language is undergoing revitalization with increasing numbers of speakers, services in Lower Serbian Language, theatre performances and publishing.

Next to Cottbus is to be found the famous Park of Branitz, created around 1845 by the German nobleman Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau (October 30, 1785 - February 4, 1871).

 

Cottbus has a famous Ensemble-theatre with a fine orchestra that stages high-quality performances 10 months of the year. The category B/F orchestra of 75 permanent musicians is part of the Cottbus-Theatre-ensemble as well as the Opera chorus, the Ballet Company and Soloist of different areas. The theatre company performs a wide repertoire of music-theatre, philharmonic concerts and drama productions.

 

The “Staatstheater Cottbus” has earned a reputation for formidable productions in opera and theatre. The theatre building, erected in 1908 by architect Bernhard Sehring, is a famous example of architecture in “Sezessionistischer Jugenstil” (Art nouveau) style. Sehring harmoniously interweaved architecture, arts and crafts, painting and plastic to create one of Germany ’s most beautiful theatre buildings. In 1986 the Cottbus-Theatre was renovated to bring technical innovation and more comfort for spectators.

 

Since 1992, the Cottbus-Theatre is the solely "Theatre of the Federal State of Brandenburg" and is supported by the State Government. Christof Schroth was artistic director from 1993 to 2003; Martin Schüler is the current artistic director.

 

Cottbus is home to the Brandenburg Technical University (BTU), the Lausitz University of Applied Sciences and the math/science-oriented Max-Steenbeck-High school, one of Germany's best schools in international competitions.

 

Coat of arms of the region Lower Lusatia

 

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