The Pleiße is a river of Saxony and Thuringia , Germany .
100-624: The Pleiße has its source southwest of Zwickau at Ebersbrunn , then flows through Werdau , Crimmitschau , Altenburg , and other towns and villages in Saxony and Thuringia, before flowing from the right into the White Elster in Leipzig . The river originally had a natural length of 115 km (71 mi); however, south of Leipzig, it has been straightened, which shortened it to around 90 km (56 mi). This article related to
200-401: A pietà in carved and painted wood by Peter Breuer . The late Gothic church of St. Catharine has an altar piece ascribed to Lucas Cranach the elder , and is remembered because Thomas Müntzer was once pastor there (1520–22). The city hall was begun in 1404 and rebuilt many times since. The municipal archives include documents dating back to the 13th century. Early printed books from
300-557: A "family kinship" and "alliance", however others argue a derivation from Iranian-Sarmatian . The name of the Sorbs can be traced to the 6th century or earlier when Vibius Sequester recorded Cervetiis living on the other part of the river Elbe which divided them from the Suevi ( Albis Germaniae Suevos a Cerveciis dividiit ). According to Lubor Niederle , the Serbian district
400-527: A Sorb from Görlitz , Province of Silesia . Although the Weimar Republic guaranteed constitutional minority rights, it did not practice them. Under Nazi Germany , Sorbians were described as a German tribe who spoke a Slavic language. Sorbian costume, culture, customs, and the language was said to be no indication of a non-German origin. The Reich declared that there were truly no "Sorbs" or "Lusatians", only Wendish-speaking Germans. As such, while
500-748: A Sorbian party and in 1925 in Berlin, Skala started Kulturwille- the newspaper for the protection of national minorities in Germany. In 1920, the Sokol Movement was founded (youth movement and gymnastic organization). From 1933 the Nazi party started to repress the Sorbs. At that time the Nazis also dissolved the Sokol Movement and began to combat every sign of Sorbian culture. In 1937, the activities of
600-523: A closer proximity to Poles and Czechs than Germans. The researchers however question this proximity, as the German reference population was almost exclusively West-German, and the Polish and Czech reference population had many that were part of a German minority. In a 2016 paper, Sorbs cluster autosomally again with Poles (from Poznań ). The oldest known relic of Sorbian literature originated in about 1530 –
700-610: A concrete danger for the Sorbs if the AfD enters the governments of the federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony in the autumn elections. According to 2013 and 2015 studies, the most common Y-DNA haplogroup among the Sorbs who speak Upper Sorbian in Lusatia (n=123) is R1a with 65%, mainly its R-M458 subclade (57%). It is followed in frequency by I1 (9.8%), R1b (9.8%), E1b1b (4.9%), I2 (4.1%), J (3.3%) and G (2.4%). Other haplogroups are less than 1%. A study from 2003 reported
800-445: A depth of over 1,000 metres. In 1992 Zwickau's last coke oven plant was closed. Many industrial branches developed in the city in the wake of the coal mining industry: mining equipment, iron and steel works, textile, machinery in addition to chemical, porcelain, paper, glass, dyestuffs, wire goods, tinware, stockings, and curtains. There were also steam saw-mills, diamond and glass polishing works, iron-foundries, and breweries. In 1904
900-422: A diversity of regional costumes (mainly worn by elderly women) that feature white-knitting with black, cross-like embroidery, and a tradition of playing bagpipes . In several villages, residents uphold traditional festivities such as expelling of winter, Maik , Easter and Great Friday singing, and the celebration of dźěćetko (disguised child or young girl giving Christmas presents). There are 60 towns from
1000-657: A greater role in consulting parents of schoolchildren. The number of learners did not decrease again until after German reunification. Sorbs experienced greater representation in the German Democratic Republic than under any other German government. Domowina had status as a constituent member organization of the National Front , and a number of Sorbs were members of the Volkskammer and State Council of East Germany . Notable Sorbian figures of
1100-508: A memorandum in March 2008 and called for "help and protection against the growing threat of their cultural extinction, since an ongoing conflict between the German government, Saxony and Brandenburg about the financial distribution of help blocks the financing of almost all Sorbian institutions". The memorandum also demands a reorganisation of competence by ceding responsibility from the Länder to
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#17327871774171200-818: A municipal park. Near the city are the Hartenstein area, for example, with Stein and Wolfsbrunn castles and the Prinzenhöhle cave, as well as the Auersberg peak (1019 meters) and the winter sports areas around Johanngeorgenstadt and the Vogtland. In the Old Town the Cathedral and the Gewandhaus (cloth merchants' hall) originate in the 16th century and when Schneeberg silver was traded. In the 19th century
1300-567: A petition to the Saxon Government, in which they demanded equality for the Sorbian language with the German one in churches, courts, schools and Government departments. From 1871 the whole of Lusatia became a part of united Germany and was divided between two parts; Prussia ( Silesia and Brandenburg ), and Saxony. In 1871 the industrialization of the region and German immigration began; official Germanization intensified. Persecution of
1400-591: A provision on the Lusatian flag. Section 2 of the Constitution of Saxony contains a provision on the use of the coat of arms and traditional national colors of the Lusatian Sorbs. The laws on the rights of the Lusatian Sorbs of Brandenburg and Saxony contain provisions on the use of Lusatian national symbols (coat of arms and national colors). The national anthem of Lusatian Sorbs since the 20th century
1500-585: A public airfield which takes light aircraft, and by bike along the Zwickau Mulde River on the so-called Mulderadweg. The region around Zwickau was settled by Sorbs as early as the 7th century AD. The name Zwickau is probably a Germanization of the Sorbian toponym Šwikawa , which derives from Svarozič , the Slavic Sun and fire god. In the 10th century, German settlers began arriving and
1600-611: A river in Saxony is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in Thuringia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zwickau Zwickau ( German pronunciation: [ˈtsvɪkaʊ] ; Upper Sorbian : Šwikawa ; Czech : Cvikov or Zvíkov ; Polish : Ćwików ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony , Germany, after Leipzig , Dresden and Chemnitz , with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city
1700-416: A similar frequency of 63.4% of haplogroup R1a among Sorbian males (n=112). Other studies that covered aspects of Sorbian Y-DNA include Immel et al. 2006, Rodig et al. 2007, and Krawczak et al. 2008. Significant percentage of R1a (25.7-38.3%), but strongly diminished in value because of high R1b (33.5-21.7%), and low I2 (5.8-5.1%) are in whole Saxony and Germania Slavica area as well. A 2011 paper on
1800-415: A similar law. Article 40 of the constitution of German Democratic Republic adopted on 7 October 1949 expressly provided for the protection of the language and culture of the Sorbs. In the times of the German Democratic Republic, Sorbian organizations were financially supported by the country, but at the same time the authorities encouraged Germanization of Sorbian youth as a means of incorporating them into
1900-522: A weekly magazine, the precursor of today’s Sorbian News. In 1845 in Bautzen the first festival of Sorbian songs took place. In 1875, Jakub Bart-Ćišinski , the poet and classicist of Upper Sorbian literature, and Karol Arnošt Muka created a movement of young Sorbians influencing Lusatian art, science and literature for the following 50 years. A similar movement in Lower Lusatia was organized around
2000-470: Is divided religiously between Roman Catholicism (the majority) and Lutheranism . The former Minister President of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich is of Sorbian origin. The ethnonym "Sorbs" ( Serbja , Serby ) derives from the medieval ethnic groups called " Sorbs " ( Surbi , Sorabi ). The original ethnonym, Srbi , was retained by the Sorbs and Serbs in the Balkans . By the 6th century, Slavs occupied
2100-603: Is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: Zwickauer Mulde ; progression: Mulde → Elbe → North Sea ), and lies in a string of cities sitting in the densely populated foreland of the Elster and Ore Mountains stretching from Plauen in the southwest via Zwickau, Chemnitz and Freiberg to Dresden in the northeast. Zwickau is the seat of the Zwickau District , the most densely populated district in
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#17327871774172200-696: Is the song Rjana Łužica (Beautiful Lusatia). Previously, the songs “Still Sorbs Have Not Perished” (written by Handrij Zejler in 1840) and “Our Sorbs Rise from the Dust” (written by M. Domashka, performed until 1945) served as a hymn. There are three main regions of Lusatia that differ in language, religion, and customs. Catholic Lusatia encompasses 85 towns in the districts of Bautzen , Kamenz , and Hoyerswerda , where Upper Sorbian language, customs, and tradition are still thriving. In some of these places ( e.g. , Radibor or Radwor in Sorbian, Crostwitz or Chrósćicy, and Rosenthal or Róžant), Sorbs constitute
2300-876: The Audi Q4 e-tron began at the Zwickau-Mosel plant, marking the return of the manufacture of Audi badged cars in Zwickau for the first time in over 80 years. Two major industrial facilities of the Soviet SDAG Wismut were situated in the city: the uranium mill in Zwickau-Crossen, producing uranium concentrate from ores mined in the Erzgebirge and Thuringia, and the machine building plant in Zwickau-Cainsdorf producing equipment for
2400-715: The Bautzen townsmen's oath. In 1548 Mikołaj Jakubica – Lower Sorbian vicar, from the village called Lubanice, wrote the first unprinted translation of the New Testament into Lower Sorbian. In 1574 the first Sorbian book was printed: Albin Mollers ’ songbook. In 1688 Jurij Hawštyn Swětlik translated the Bible for Catholic Sorbs. From 1706 to 1709 the New Testament was printed in the Upper Sorbian translation
2500-666: The Counterreformation . With the formation of the Polish-Saxon union in 1697, Polish-Sorbian contacts resumed, and Poles influenced the Sorbs' national and cultural activities (see Relationship with Poland below). With the Age of Enlightenment , the Sorbian national revival began and resistance to Germanization emerged. In 1706 the Sorbian Seminary, the main centre for the education of Sorbian Catholic priests,
2600-562: The Czech Republic . The core element of Zwickau's urban public transport system is the Zwickau tramway network ; the system is also the prototype of the so-called Zwickau Model for such systems. The closest airport is Leipzig-Altenburg , which has no scheduled commercial flights. The nearest major airports are Leipzig/Halle Airport and Dresden Airport , both of which offer a large number of national and international flights. In
2700-492: The Domowina and its associated societies were re-established and a Sorbian theatre was created. Owing to the suppression of the church and forced collectivization, however, these efforts were severely affected and consequently over time the number of people speaking Sorbian languages decreased by half. The relationship between the Sorbs and the government of East Germany was not without occasional difficulties, mainly because of
2800-472: The European Route of Industrial Heritage (EIRH). Zwickau is twinned with: Sorbs Sorbs ( Upper Sorbian : Serbja , Lower Sorbian : Serby , German : Sorben pronounced [ˈzɔʁbn̩] , Czech : Lužičtí Srbové , Polish : Serbołużyczanie ; also known as Lusatians , Lusatian Serbs and Wends ) are a West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting
2900-529: The Horch automobile plant was founded, followed by the Audi factory in 1909. In 1932 both brands were incorporated into Auto Union but retained their independent trademarks. Auto Union racing cars , developed by Ferdinand Porsche and Robert Eberan von Eberhorst , driven by Bernd Rosemeyer , Hans Stuck , Tazio Nuvolari , Ernst von Delius , became well known nationally and internationally. During World War II,
3000-582: The Milceni (Upper) and Lusici (Lower), and these tribes' respective dialects have developed into separate languages. However, others emphasize differences between these two dialects and that their respective territories correspond to two different Slavic archeological cultures of Leipzig group ( Upper Sorbian language ) and Tornow group ceramics ( Lower Sorbian language ), both a derivation of Prague(-Korchak) culture . The Annales Regni Francorum state that in 806 Sorbian Duke Miliduch fought against
3100-523: The Peace of Bautzen confirmed Lusatia as part of Poland; but, it returned to German rule in 1031. In the 1070s, southern Lusatia, passed into the hands of the Sorbs' other Slavic relatives, the Czechs, within their Duchy of Bohemia . There was a dense network of dynastic and diplomatic relations between German and Slavic feudal lords, e.g. Wiprecht of Groitzsch (a German) rose to power through close links with
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3200-855: The Red Army and the Polish Second Army crossed the river Queis (Kwisa). The defeat of Nazi Germany changed the Sorbs’ situation considerably. The regions in East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) faced heavy industrialisation and a large influx of expelled Germans . The East German authorities tried to counteract this development by creating a broad range of Sorbian institutions. The Sorbs were officially recognized as an ethnic minority, more than 100 Sorbian schools and several academic institutions were founded,
3300-535: The new states of Germany . Zwickau is the seat of the West Saxon University of Zwickau (German: Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau ) with campuses in Zwickau, Markneukirchen , Reichenbach im Vogtland and Schneeberg (Erzgebirge) . The city is the birthplace of composer Robert Schumann . Zwickau has historically been one of the centres of the German automotive industry. It is the cradle of Audi and its forerunner Horch . Horchwerke AG Zwickau
3400-588: The plague of the 17th century caused terrible devastation in Lusatia. This led to further German colonization and Germanization. In 1667 the Prince of Brandenburg , Frederick Wilhelm, ordered the immediate destruction of all Sorbian printed materials and banned saying masses in this language. At the same time the Evangelical Church supported printing Sorbian religious literature as a means of fighting
3500-489: The 17th and 20th centuries, virtually all Sorbs also spoke German by the early 20th century. In the newly created German nation state of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, policies were implemented in an effort to Germanize the Sorbs. These policies reached their climax under the Nazi regime, who denied the existence of the Sorbs as a distinct Slavic people by referring to them as "Sorbian-speaking Germans". The community
3600-483: The 1950s and early 1960s, as many German families protested the state policy of mandatory instruction of the Sorbian language in schools located in bilingual areas. As a consequence of the tensions, which split the local SED, Sorbian language classes were no longer mandatory after 1964, and a temporary but sharp decline in the number of learners occurred immediately thereafter. The number of learners increased again after 1968, when new regulations were adopted giving Domowina
3700-469: The 6th and early 7th century, Sorbian tribes divided into two main groups, which have taken their names from the characteristics of the area where they had settled. The two groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range, one around Upper Spree and the rest between the Elbe and Saale. Some scholars consider that the contemporary Sorbs are descendants of the two largest Sorbian tribes,
3800-568: The 7th century and were vassals of the Merovingian dynasty . The Saale-Elbe line marked the approximate limit of Slavic westward migration. Under the leadership of dux (duke) Dervan ("Dervanus dux gente Surbiorum que ex genere Sclavinorum"), they joined the Slavic tribal union of Samo , after Samo's decisive victory against Frankish King Dagobert I in 631. Afterwards, these Slavic tribes continuously raided Thuringia . The fate of
3900-602: The Bohemian (Czech) king and marriage to the king's daughter. The Kingdom of Bohemia eventually became a politically influential member of the Holy Roman Empire but was in a constant power-struggle with neighbouring Poland. In the following centuries, at various times, parts of Lusatia passed to Piast -ruled fragmented Poland. In the German-ruled parts, Sorbs were ousted from guilds , the Sorbian language
4000-715: The Domowina Institution and other organizations were banned as anti-national. Sorbian clergymen and teachers were forcedly deported from Lusatia; Nazi German authorities confiscated the Sorbian House, other buildings and crops. On May 10, 1945, in Crostwitz , after the Red Army 's invasion, the Domowina Institution renewed its activity. In 1948, the Landtag of Saxony passed an Act guaranteeing protection to Sorbian Lusatians; in 1949, Brandenburg resolved
4100-722: The Domowina, though, and did not wish to split from Germany. Claims asserted by the Lusatian National movement were postulates of joining Lusatia to Poland or Czechoslovakia. Between 1945 and 1947 they postulated about ten petitions to the United Nations , the United States, Soviet Union , the United Kingdom, France, Poland and Czechoslovakia, however, it did not bring any results. On April 30, 1946,
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4200-662: The Franks and was killed. In 840, Sorbian Duke Czimislav was killed. From the 9th century was organized Sorbian March by the East Francia and from the 10th century the Saxon Eastern March ( Margravate of Meissen ) and March of Lusatia by the Holy Roman Empire . In 932, the German king Henry I conquered Lusatia and Milsko . Gero , Margrave of the Saxon Eastern March, reconquered Lusatia
4300-429: The Lusatian National Committee also postulated a petition to the Polish Government, signed by Pawoł Cyž – the minister and an official Sorbian delegate in Poland. There was also a project of proclaiming a Lusatian Free State, whose Prime Minister was supposed to be a Polish archaeologist of Lusatian origin- Wojciech Kóčka. The most radical postulates in this area (" Na swobodu so ńečeka, swobodu so beŕe!") were expressed by
4400-408: The Lusatian youth organization- Narodny Partyzan Łužica. Similarly, in Czechoslovakia, where before the Potsdam Conference in Prague , 300,000 people demonstrated for the independence of Lusatia. The endeavours to separate Lusatia from Germany did not succeed because of various individual and geopolitical interests. The following statistics indicate the progression of cultural change among Sorbs: by
4500-455: The Middle Ages, historical documents, letters and books are kept in the City Archives (e.g. Meister Singer volumes by Hans Sachs (1494–1576)), and in the School Library founded by scholars and by the city clerk Stephan Roth during the Reformation. In 1520 Martin Luther dedicated his treatise "On the Freedom of the Christian Man" to his friend Hermann Muehlpfort, the Lord Mayor of Zwickau. The Anabaptist movement of 1525 began at Zwickau under
4600-414: The Nazi government operated a satellite camp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Zwickau which was sited near the Horch Auto Union plant. The Nazi administration built a hard labour prison camp at Osterstein Castle . Both camps were liberated by the US Army in 1945. On 1 August 1945 military administration was handed over to the Soviet Army. The Auto Union factories of Horch and Audi were dismantled by
4700-442: The Salesian Oratory in Poznań , known as the Poznań Five [ pl ] or five of the 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs of World War II , were imprisoned in Zwickau, before being executed in Dresden. A subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp was located in Zwickau, whose prisoners were mostly Poles and Russians, but also Italians, French, Hungarians, Jews, Czechs, Germans and others. On 17 April 1945, US troops entered
4800-412: The Slavs in the German and Bohemian lands as early as the 9th century", and has theorized that Sorbs may have been contributors to the Ashkenazic Jewish population in Europe from the same period. A Shrove Tuesday festival Zapust is the most popular tradition of the Sorbs, deeply linked to the working life of the community. Traditionally, festivities would last one week ahead of the spring sowing of
4900-446: The Sorbian community were forcibly isolated from their community or simply arrested. The Sorbian national anthem and flag were banned. The specific Wendenabteilung was established to monitor the assimilation of the Sorbs. Towards the end of World War II, the Nazis considered the deportation of the entire Sorbian population to the mining districts of Alsace-Lorraine . The first Lusatian cities were captured in April 1945, when
5000-407: The Sorbian language could be used in public. From the beginning of the 16th century the whole Sorbian-inhabited area, with the exception of Bohemian-ruled Lusatia, underwent Germanization . During the Thirty Years' War , in 1635, Lusatia became a fiefdom of Saxon electors , but it retained a considerable autonomy and largely its own legal system (see Lusatian League ). The Thirty Years' War and
5100-410: The Sorbs of the Kamenz area – predominantly settled on the expansive former site of the Saint Marienstern Monastery in Panschwitz-Kuckau – veered from the norm, with a Catholic population of 88.4%. Otherwise, the proportion of Catholics remained under 1% throughout the region of Lower Lusatia. Due to the rapid decline in language and cultural identity amongst the Protestant Sorbs – particularly during
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#17327871774175200-660: The Sorbs reached its climax under the Nazis, who attempted to completely assimilate and Germanize them. Their distinct identity and culture and Slavic origins were denied by referring to them as "Wendish-speaking Germans". Under Nazi rule, the Sorbian language and practice of Sorbian culture was banned, Sorbian and Slavic place-names were changed to German ones, Sorbian books and printing presses were destroyed, Sorbian organizations and newspapers were banned, Sorbian libraries and archives were closed, and Sorbian teachers and clerics were deported to German-speaking areas and replaced with German-speaking teachers and clerics. Leading figures in
5300-399: The Sorbs under German rule became increasingly harsh throughout the 19th century. Slavs were labeled inferior to Germanic peoples, and in 1875, the use of Sorbian was banned in German schools. As a result, almost the entire Sorbian population was bilingual by the end of the 19th century. During World War I , one of the most venerated Serbian generals was Pavle Jurišić Šturm (Paul Sturm) ,
5400-522: The Sorbs were largely safe from the Reich's policies of ethnic cleansing, the cultivation of "Wendish" customs and traditions was to be encouraged in a controlled manner and it was expected that the Slavic language would decline due to natural causes. Young Sorbs enlisted in the Wehrmacht and were sent to the front. The entangled lives of the Sorbs during World War II are exemplified by the life stories of Mina Witkojc , Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński [ Wikidata ] and Jan Skala . Persecution of
5500-437: The Sorbs' autosomal DNA reported that the Upper Sorbian speakers (n=289) showed the greatest autosomal genetic similarity to Poles , followed by Czechs and Slovaks , consistent with the linguistic proximity of Sorbian to other West Slavic languages. In another genome-wide paper from the same year on Upper Sorbs (n=977), which indicated their genetic isolation "which cannot be explained by over-sampling of relatives" and
5600-401: The Soviets; Auto Union relocated to Ingolstadt , Bavaria, evolving into the present day Audi company. In 1948 all large companies were seized by the East German government. With the founding of the German Democratic Republic in 1949 in East Germany, post-war reconstruction began. In 1958 the Horch and Audi factories were merged into the Sachsenring plant. At the Sachsenring automotive plant
5700-479: The area from Hoyerswerda to Schleife , a dialect of Sorbian which combines characteristic features of both Upper and Lower Sorbian is spoken. The region is predominantly Protestant, highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry, sparsely populated, and to a great extent germanicized. Most speakers of Sorbian are over 60 years old. The region distinguishes itself through many examples of Slavic wooden architecture monuments including churches and regular houses,
5800-454: The area of Cottbus belonging to this region, where most of the older people over 60 but few young people and children can speak the Lower Sorbian language ; the local variant often incorporates many words taken from the German language, and in conversations with the younger generation, German is generally preferred. Some primary schools in the region teach bilingually, and in Cottbus there is an important Gymnasium whose main medium of instruction
5900-441: The area west of the Oder formerly inhabited by Germanic peoples . The Sorbs are first mentioned in the 6th or 7th century. In their languages, the other Slavs call them the "Lusatian Serbs", and the Sorbs call the Serbs "the south Sorbs". The name "Lusatia" was originally applied only to Lower Lusatia. It is generally considered that their ethnonym *Sŕbъ (plur. *Sŕby ) originates from Proto-Slavic with an appellative meaning of
6000-422: The automobile industry. The former VEB Sachsenring manufacturing site was acquired by Volkswagen in 1990 and has since been redeveloped as an engine and transmission manufacturing facility. Nowadays the headquarters of Volkswagen-Saxony Ltd. (a VW subsidiary) is in the northern part of Zwickau. Audi together with the city of Zwickau operates the August Horch Museum in the former Audi works. In 2021, production of
6100-403: The city and the nearby Ore Mountains . Zwickau is the birthplace of the composer Robert Schumann . The house where he was born in 1810 still stands in the marketplace. This is now called Robert Schumann House and is a museum dedicated to him. The histories of the Audi and Horch automobile factories are presented at the August Horch Museum Zwickau . The museum is an Anchor Point of
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#17327871774176200-408: The city centre there are three museums: an art museum from the 19th century and the houses of priests from 13th century, both located next to St. Mary's church. Just around the corner there is the Robert-Schumann museum. The museums offer different collections dedicated to the history of the city, as well as art and a mineralogical, palaeontological and geological collection with many specimens from
6300-423: The city in a south to north direction. It enters Zwickau between Zwickau-Cainsdorf and Zwickau-Bockwa, and leaves at Zwickau-Schlunzig near the Volkswagen plant, and is spanned by 17 bridges within the city. The Silver Road , Saxony's longest tourist route, connects Dresden with Zwickau. Zwickau can be reached by car via the nearby Autobahn s A4 and A72 , the main railway station ( Zwickau Hauptbahnhof ), via
6400-475: The city of Glauchau . Zwickau is home to the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau , with about 4,700 students and two campuses within the boundaries of Zwickau. Dr. Martin Luther School (German: Dr. Martin Luther Schule ) is a grade 1–4 school of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Zwickau. The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was Rainer Eichhorn of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 2001. The mayor
6500-465: The city's economy was driven by industrial coal mining and later by automobile manufacturing. During World War II , in 1942, a Nazi show trial of the members of the Czarny Legion [ pl ] Polish underground resistance organization from Gostyń was held in Zwickau, after which 12 members were executed in Dresden , and several dozen were imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps , where 37 of them died. In May 1942, five Polish students of
6600-404: The city. They withdrew on 30 June 1945 and handed Zwickau to the Soviet Red Army . Between 1944 and 2003, the city had a population of over 100,000. A major employer is Volkswagen which assembles its ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5 models, as well as Audi and Cupra EV's in the Zwickau-Mosel vehicle plant. Coal mining is mentioned as early as 1348. However, mining on an industrial scale first started in
6700-405: The compact Trabant cars were manufactured. These small cars had a two-cylinder, two-stroke engine. The car was the first vehicle in the world to be industrially manufactured with a plastic car body. The production of the Trabant was discontinued after German reunification, but Volkswagen built a new factory in the nearby Mosel area to the north of the city and Sachsenring is now a supplier for
6800-467: The discovery of silver in the Schneeberg in 1470. Because of the silver ore deposits in the Erzgebirge, Zwickau developed in the 15th and 16th centuries and grew to be an important economic and cultural centre of Saxony. Its nine churches include the Gothic church of St. Mary (1451–1536), with a spire 285 ft (87 m) high and a bell weighing 51 tons . The church contains an altar with wood carvings, eight paintings by Michael Wohlgemuth and
6900-449: The early 19th century. The coal mines of Zwickau and the neighbouring Oelsnitz-Lugau coalfield contributed significantly to the industrialisation of the region and the city. In 1885 Carl Wolf invented an improved gas-detecting safety mining-lamp. He held the first world patent for it. Together with his business partner Friemann he founded the "Friemann & Wolf" factory. Coal mining ceased in 1978. About 230 million tonnes had been mined to
7000-435: The early West Slavic Samo's Empire and Great Moravia , as were ultimately conquered by the East Francia ( Sorbian March ) and Holy Roman Empire ( Saxon Eastern March , Margravate of Meissen , March of Lusatia ). From the High Middle Ages , they were ruled at various times by the closely related Poles and Czechs , as well as the more distant Germans and Hungarians. Due to a gradual and increasing assimilation between
7100-409: The end of the 19th century, about 150,000 people spoke Sorbian languages. By 1920, almost all Sorbs had mastered Sorbian and German to the same degree. Nowadays, the number of people using Sorbian languages has been estimated to be no more than 40,000. The Israeli Slavic linguist Paul Wexler has argued that the Yiddish language structure provides "compelling evidence of an intimate Jewish contact with
7200-513: The federal government and an expanded legal status. The call has been issued to all governments and heads of state of the European Union . Dawid Statnik, president of Domowina, the umbrella association of Sorbs in Germany, said in an interview with Tagesspiegel that he considers it dangerous that the AFD defines the issue of German citizens through an ethnic aspect. He believes that there is
7300-400: The federal states has not been taken into consideration. Upper Lusatia still belongs to Saxony and Lower Lusatia to Brandenburg. Liquidations of Sorbian schools, even in areas mostly populated by Sorbs, still happen, under the pretext of financial difficulties or demolition of whole villages to create lignite quarries. Faced with growing threat of cultural extinction, the Domowina issued
7400-494: The fields and would feature traditional dress, parade and dancing. Egg decorating ( pisanici ) is a Slavic Easter tradition maintained by Sorbs since the 17th century. Most current speakers of Upper-Sorbian are part of the Catholic denomination. Originally, the majority of Sorbs were Lutheran Protestants, and this was still the case going into the 20th Century (with a Protestant population of 86.9% recorded in 1900). Only
7500-551: The following year and, in 939, murdered 30 Sorbian princes during a feast. As a result, there were many Sorbian uprisings against German rule. A reconstructed castle, at Raddusch in Lower Lusatia, is the sole physical remnant from this early period. In 1002, the Sorbs came under the rule of their Slavic relatives, the Poles, when Bolesław I of Poland took over Lusatia. Following the subsequent German–Polish War of 1003–1018 ,
7600-642: The functioning of the administration. Also the village communities and the village administration usually kept operating in Sorbian. From 1376 to 1469 and from 1490 to 1635 Lusatia was part of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown under the rule of the houses of Luxembourg , Jagiellon and Habsburg and other kings, whereas from 1469 to 1490 it was ruled by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. Under Bohemian (Czech) rule, Sorbs were allowed to return to cities, offices and crafts, Germanisation significantly reduced and
7700-549: The high levels of religious observance and resistance to the nationalisation of agriculture. During the compulsory collectivization campaign, a great many unprecedented incidents were reported. Thus, throughout the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany , violent clashes with the police were reported in Lusatia. A small uprising took place in three upper communes of Błot. There were also tensions between German and Sorbian parents in
7800-590: The inspiration of the " Zwickau prophets ". After Wittenberg, it became the first city in Europe to join the Lutheran Reformation . The late Gothic Gewandhaus (cloth merchants' hall), was built in 1522–24 and is now converted into a theatre. The city was seriously damaged during the Thirty Years' War . The old city of Zwickau, perched on a hill, is surrounded by heights with extensive forests and
7900-465: The language originally spoken by its inhabitants, although some of the present German names may be of later origin from the time of planned name changes to erase Slavic origin, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1327 the first prohibitions on using Sorbian before courts and in administrative affairs in the cities of Altenburg , Zwickau and Leipzig appeared. Speaking Sorbian in family and business contexts was, however, not banned, as it did not involve
8000-470: The majority of the population, and children grow up speaking Sorbian. On Sundays, during holidays, and at weddings, people wear regional costumes, rich in decoration and embroidery, encrusted with pearls. Some of the customs and traditions observed include Bird Wedding (25 January), Easter Cavalcade of Riders, Witch Burning (30 April), Maik, singing on St. Martin's Day (Nicolay), and the celebrations of Saint Barbara ’s Day and Saint Nicholas ’s Day. In
8100-619: The middle of the 20th century, the revival of the Central European nations included some Sorbs, who became strong enough to attempt twice to regain their independence. After World War II , the Lusatian National Committee in Prague claimed the right to self-government and separation from Germany and the creation of a Lusatian Free State or attachment to Czechoslovakia . The majority of the Sorbs were organized in
8200-562: The most prominent Lower Lusatian poets Mato Kósyk (Mato Kosyk) and Bogumił Šwjela . In 1904, mainly thanks to the Sorbs’ contribution, the most important Sorbian cultural centre (the Sorbian House ) was built in Bautzen . In 1912, the social and cultural organization of Lusatian Sorbs was created, the Domowina Institution - the union of Sorbian organizations. In 1919 it had 180,000 members. In 1920, Jan Skala set up
8300-551: The native Slavs were Germanized. A trading place known as terretorio Zcwickaw (in Medieval Latin ) was mentioned in 1118. The settlement received a town charter in 1212, and hosted Franciscans and Cistercians during the 13th century. Zwickau was a free imperial city from 1290 to 1323, but was subsequently granted to the Margraviate of Meissen . Although regional mining began in 1316, extensive mining increased with
8400-876: The organization. Additionally, there was a seat reserved for a Sorbian representative in the Central Council of the Free German Youth , the mass organization for young people in East Germany, and magazines for both the FDJ and the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation were published in the Sorbian language on a regular basis under the titles Chorhoj Měra and Plomjo , respectively. As of 1989, there were nine schools with exclusively Sorbian language instruction, eighty-five schools that offered Sorbian-language instruction, ten Sorbian-language periodicals, and one daily newspaper. After
8500-585: The parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg . Sorbs traditionally speak the Sorbian languages (also known as "Wendish" and "Lusatian"), which are closely related to Czech , Polish , Kashubian , Silesian , and Slovak . Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian are officially recognized minority languages in Germany . In the Early Middle Ages , the Sorbs formed their own principality, which later shortly became part of
8600-619: The people to the Balkans during the rule of Heraclius in the first half of the 7th century. According to some scholars, the White Serbian Unknown Archon who led them to the Balkans was most likely a son, brother or other relative of Dervan. Sorbian tribes, Sorbi/Surbi, are noted in the mid-9th-century work of the Bavarian Geographer . Having settled by the Elbe, Saale, Spree, and Neisse in
8700-556: The period include Domowina Chairmen Jurij Grós and Kurt Krjeńc , State Council member Maria Schneider , and writer and three-time recipient of the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic Jurij Brězan . In 1973, Domowina reported that 2,130 municipal councillors, 119 burgomasters, and more than 3,500 members of commissions and local bodies in East Germany were ethnic Sorbs registered with
8800-414: The reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, Lusatians made efforts to create an autonomous administrative unit; however, Helmut Kohl ’s government did not agree to it. After 1989, the Sorbian movement revived, however, it still encounters many obstacles. Although Germany supports national minorities, Sorbs claim that their aspirations are not sufficiently fulfilled. The desire to unite Lusatia in one of
8900-468: The short period of time, there was the first printed Sorbian newspaper. In 1767 Jurij Mjeń publishes the first secular Sorbian book. Between 1841 and 1843, Jan Arnošt Smoler and Leopold Haupt (a.k.a. J. L. Haupt and J. E. Schmaler) published two-volume collection of Wendish folk-songs in Upper and Lower Lusatia. From 1842, the first Sorbian publishing companies started to appear: the poet Handrij Zejler set up
9000-450: The system of "building Socialism ". Sorbian language and culture could only be publicly presented as long as they promoted socialist ideology. For over 1000 years, the Sorbs were able to maintain and even develop their national culture, despite escalating Germanization and Polonization , mainly due to the high level of religious observance, cultivation of their tradition and strong families (Sorbian families still often have five children). In
9100-418: The tribes after Samo's death and dissolution of the union in 658 is undetermined, but it is considered that they subsequently returned to Frankish vassalage. According to a 10th-century source De Administrando Imperio , they lived "since the beginning" in the region called by them as Boiki which was a neighbor to Francia, and when two brothers succeeded their father, one of them migrated with half of
9200-452: The uranium mines and mills of East Germany. Uranium milling ended in 1989, and after the unification the Wismut machine building plant was sold to a private investor. Zwickau is bounded by Mülsen , Reinsdorf , Wilkau-Hasslau , Hirschfeld ( Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Kirchberg ), Lichtentanne , Werdau , Neukirchen , Crimmitschau , Dennheritz ( Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Crimmitschau ), and
9300-628: The years of the GDR – the denominational make-up of the Sorbian-speaking population of the region has now been reversed. The flag of the Lusatian Sorbs is a cloth of blue, red and white horizontal stripes. First used as a national symbol in 1842, the flag was fully recognized among Sorbs following the proclamation of pan-Slavic colors at the Prague Slavic Congress of 1848 . Section 25 of the Constitution of Brandenburg contains
9400-432: Was banned and German colonisation and Germanisation policies were enacted. From the 11th to the 15th century, agriculture in Lusatia developed and colonization by Frankish, Flemish and Saxon settlers intensified. This can still be seen today from the names of local villages which geographically form a patchwork of typical German (ending on -dorf, -thal etc.) and typical Slavic origin (ending on -witz, -ow etc.), indicating
9500-548: Was done by Michał Frencel and in Lower Sorbian by Jan Bogumił Fabricius (1681–1741). Jan Bjedrich Fryco (a.k.a. Johann Friedrich Fritze) (1747–1819), translated the Old Testament for the first time into Lower Sorbian, published in 1790. Other Sorbian Bible translators include Jakub Buk (1825–1895), Michał Hórnik (Michael Hornig) (1833–1894), Jurij Łušćanski (a.k.a. Georg Wuschanski) (1839–1905). In 1809 for
9600-597: Was elected. The most recent city council election was held on 9 June 2024, and the results were as follows: The city is close to the A4 (Dresden-Erfurt) and A72 (Hof-Chemnitz) Autobahn s. Zwickau Hauptbahnhof is on the Dresden–Werdau line , part of the Saxon-Franconian trunk line , connecting Nuremberg and Dresden. There are further railway connections to Leipzig as well as Karlovy Vary and Cheb in
9700-627: Was founded in Prague . Sorbian preaching societies were founded by Evangelical students in Leipzig and Wittenberg in 1716 and 1749, respectively. The Congress of Vienna , in 1815, divided Lusatia between Prussia and Saxony . More and more bans on the use of Sorbian languages appeared from then until 1835 in Prussia and Saxony; emigration of the Sorbs, mainly to the town of Serbin in Texas and to Australia, increased. In 1848, 5000 Sorbs signed
9800-677: Was founded there in 1904 and was renamed to Audiwerke Zwickau AG in 1909. Zwickau was also the seat of VEB Sachsenring (now Sachsenring GmbH), which produced East Germany 's most popular car, the Trabant , in Zwickau. Since 1990, there is a large Volkswagen plant in Zwickau-Mosel . The 167-kilometre (104-mile)-long Zwickau Mulde River, originating in Schöneck/Vogtl. in the Western Ore Mountains , traverses
9900-684: Was located somewhere between Magdeburg and Lusatia , and was later mentioned by the Ottonians as Ciervisti , Zerbisti , and Kirvisti . The information is in accordance with the Frankish 7th-century Chronicle of Fredegar according to which the Surbi lived in the Saale - Elbe valley, having settled in the Thuringian part of Francia since the second half of the 6th century or beginning of
10000-524: Was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected. Dietmar Vettermann , also of the CDU, served from 2001 until 2008. He was succeeded by Pia Findeiß of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who was in office until 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 20 September 2020, with a runoff held on 11 October, at which Constance Arndt (Bürger für Zwickau)
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