Lusatia: Encyclopedia II - Lusatia - Upper and Lower Lusatia

Lusatia - Upper and Lower Lusatia

The region is divided into two parts.

Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz) belongs to Saxony; it consists of hilly countryside rising to the Lausitzer Bergland (Lusatian hills) near the Czech border, which rises even higher to form the Lusatian Mountains (Lužické hory/Lausitzer Gebirge) in the Czech Republic.

Upper Lusatia is characterised by fertile soil and soft hills, as well as historic towns and cities such as Bautzen, Görlitz, Zittau, Löbau, Kamenz, Lubań, Bischofswerda, Hoyerswerda, Bad Muskau. A few big villages in the very south of the Upper Lusatia are a typical attraction of the region, the so-called Umgebindehäuser, half-timbered-houses as a mixture between Franconian and Slavic style. Among those villages are Wehrsdorf, Jonsdorf, Sohland an der Spree, Taubenheim, Oppach, Varnsdorf or Ebersbach.

Most of the portion belonging to Brandenburg is called Lower Lusatia (Niederlausitz), and is characterised by forests and meadows. In the course of much of the 19th and the entire 20th century, it was shaped by lignite industry and extensive open-cast mining. Important towns include Cottbus, Lübben, Lübbenau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg.

Between the Upper and Lower Lusatia is a region called Grenzwall meaning something like "border-wall". This region has been damaged by the coal-industry with small and big villages destroyed. The former open-cast mines are being regenerated by creating artificial lakes under the name of Lausitzer Seenland.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Upper and Lower Lusatia", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki