Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

state of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and is the largest town in

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 t ...

as well as the second-largest town in the region of

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

, after Cottbus. Görlitz is the easternmost town in Germany (easternmost village is Zentendorf (Šćeńc)), and lies opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was the eastern part of Görlitz until 1945. The town has approximately 56,000 inhabitants, which make Görlitz the sixth-largest town in Saxony. It is the seat of the district of Görlitz. Together with Zgorzelec, it forms the Euro City of Görlitz/Zgorzelec, which has a combined population of around 86,000. While not Lusatiophone itself, the town is situated just east of the Sorbian-speaking parts of Lusatia. The town's recorded history began in the 11th century as a Sorbian settlement. Through its history, it has been under German, Czech (Bohemian), Polish and Hungarian rule. From 1815 until 1918, Görlitz belonged to the

Province of Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

, and later to the

Province of Lower Silesia The Province of Lower Silesia (german: Provinz Niederschlesien; Silesian German: ''Provinz Niederschläsing''; pl, Prowincja Dolny Śląsk; szl, Prowincyjŏ Dolny Ślōnsk) was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Betwe ...

in the Free State of Prussia — it was the Silesian provinces' largest town west of the Oder-Neisse line, and hence Görlitz became part of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

from 1949 until

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

in 1990. Görlitz is culturally diverse. While it is a town of

, its inhabitants also identify as

n. The East Lusatian dialect ('' Ostlausitzer Mundart'') of the town differs from the

Upper Saxon Upper Saxon (german: Obersächsisch, ; ) is an East Central German language spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it's mo ...

dialects spoken in most parts of Saxony, especially those of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. And because the town had been integrated into the former provinces of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...

and later Lower Silesia respectively, there is also a strong

n element in the city's culture, which is reflected by the presence of some Silesian dishes like '' Schlesisches Himmelreich'' or '' Liegnitzer Bombe'', a Silesian Museum (''Schlesisches Museum zu Görlitz''), or the Silesian Christmas Market ('' Schlesischer Christkindelmarkt''). Additionally, there is the Sorbian element, as Görlitz was founded and first settled by the Sorbs, a Slavic people. This is most obvious in that the name of the town and the etymology of some of its incorporated villages and geographic features are of Slavic origin. Spared from the destruction of World War II, the town also has a rich architectural heritage. Many movie-makers have used the various sites as filming locations.

History

Middle Ages

In the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

, the area was inhabited by the Bieżuńczanie tribe, one of the old

Polish tribes "Polish tribes" is a term used sometimes to describe the tribes of West Slavic Lechites that lived from around the mid-6th century in the territories that became Polish with the creation of the Polish state by the Piast dynasty. The territory o ...

. The nearby Landeskrone mountain, as ''Businc'', is considered the main stronghold of the tribe, while ''Gorelic'' was a small village. Together with the Sorbian

Milceni The Milceni or Milzeni ( cs, Milčané; german: Milzener; pl, Milczanie) were a West Slavs, West Slavic tribe, who settled in the present-day Upper Lusatia region. They were first mentioned in the middle of the 9th century AD by the Bavarian Geogr ...

tribe, with which they bordered in the west, they were subjugated in 990 by the

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 of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast '' Marca Geronis'' ( Sax ...

, a frontier march of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

. The settlement was then conquered by Polish ruler Bolesław I Chrobry in 1002, and then formed part of the Duchy of Poland ( kingdom from 1025) until 1031, when the region fell back to the Margraviate of Meissen. In 1075, the village was assigned to the Duchy of Bohemia. The date of the town's foundation is unknown. However, ''Goreliz'' was first mentioned in a document from the King of

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 member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, and later

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

, Henry IV in 1071. This document granted Görlitz 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 associate ...

, then under Bishop Benno of

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 Albre ...

. Currently, this document can be found in the Saxony State Archives in

. The origin of the name Görlitz is derived from the Slavic word for "burned land", referring to the technique used to clear land for settlement. Zgorzelec and Czech ''Zhořelec'' have the same derivation. In 1126–1131, Bohemian Duke Soběslav I erected a castle, one of several new castles on the Bohemian-Polish border. It was probably located at the site of the present St. Peter and Paul church. In the 13th century the village gradually became a town. Due to its location on the Via Regia, an ancient and medieval trade route, the settlement prospered. In 1319 it became part of the Piast-ruled Duchy of Jawor, the southwesternmost duchy of fragmented

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, and 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 G� ...

confirmed the town's privileges. Later on, the town fell back to

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 ...

. From 1346 Görlitz was a wealthy member of the Lusatian League, which consisted of Bautzen, Görlitz,

Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gott ...

, Lubań, Löbau and Zittau. Around 1348 a Jewish woman, Adasse, was made a citizen of the town. In 1352 during the reign of King Casimir III the Great, Lusatian German colonists from Görlitz founded the town of Gorlice in southern Poland near

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

. From 1377 to 1396 it was the capital of an eponymous duchy. In 1469, along with the Lusatian League, the town recognized the rule of King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several m ...

, thus passing to Hungarian rule, and in 1490 it fell back to Bohemia then ruled by Polish prince Vladislaus Jagiellon.

Modern period

The

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

came to Görlitz in the early 1520s and by the last half of the 16th century, it and the surrounding vicinity, became almost completely Lutheran. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

, in 1623, the town was captured and occupied alternately by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

and the

. In 1635, the region of Upper Lusatia (including Görlitz) was ceded 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 Charle ...

. From 1639, the town was occupied by Sweden again, and then it was besieged by Imperial and Saxon forces in 1641. After the war, it was part of the Electorate of Saxony, from 1697 within the Polish–Saxon personal union. One of two main routes connecting

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

and

ran through the town in the 18th century and Kings Augustus II the Strong and

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Aug ...

often traveled that route.

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

visited the town several times in 1807, 1812 and 1813. After the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

, 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 ...

transferred the town from the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Sax ...

to the

. Görlitz was subsequently administered within the

, and, after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the

, until 1945. During World War I, an

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

camp for Greek soldiers was located in present-day Zgorzelec, while 500 Greek officers lived in private quarters throughout the town. A burial ground for Greek soldiers was located at the local cemetery. Shortly after the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

's rise to power, in March 1933, the SA established the Leschwitz concentration camp in Leschwitz (present-day district of Weinhübel). Political prisoners were held and tortured in the camp, before it was dissolved in August 1933, and the prisoners were deported to other concentration camps. In 1936, during a nationwide Nazi campaign of changing of placenames, two present-day districts of Görlitz were renamed to erase traces of Slavic origin—Leschwitz to ''Weinhübel'' and Nikrisch to ''Hagenwerder''. During Kristallnacht in November 1938, an arson attack was carried out on the city's synagogue. However, the building survived the attack without major damage, because firefighters resisted the order not to extinguish the fire. It is the only one synagogue in the present state of Saxony that survived Nazi rule. In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

, most of the Jews left the city, and their number dropped from 567 in 1925 to 134 in 1939. Many remaining Jews were then killed in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. During World War II, a Nazi prison was operated in the town, with four

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

subcamps within the town limits and three in nearby villages. The Nazis also established and operated two subcamps of the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

, located in present-day districts of Biesnitz and Kunnerwitz, in which over 1,500

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

men and women were used as forced labour, and 470 of whom died. Numerous subcamps of the Stalag VIII-A

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

were located in the town, in which over 10,000 POWs worked as forced labour in 1942, and one of the largest subcamps was located in nearby Weinhübel (district of Görlitz since 1949). After the Soviet offensive of 1944 and the partial evacuation of the German court staff from the

General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...

in German-occupied Poland, a special court of the General Government was established at the local courthouse. Several Polish citizens were detained in Görlitz and sentenced to prison or death at this court for rescuing Jews from the Holocaust. Near the end of World War II, German troops destroyed all bridges crossing the Lusatian Neisse. The redrawing of boundaries in 1945—in particular the location of the East German-Polish border to the present Oder-Neisse line—divided the town. The right bank became part of Poland and was initially renamed Zgorzelice, and then Zgorzelec in 1948, with both names being historically used in the Polish language, while the main portion on the left bank became part of

, now within the state of Saxony. On 12 June 1945, the city issued a set of four of its own postage stamps.

German Democratic Republic and Reunited Germany

When the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

states were dissolved in 1952, Görlitz became part of the Dresden District, but the states were restored upon

in 1990. In 1972, the East German-Polish border was opened for visa-free travel, resulting in intense movement between Görlitz and Zgorzelec, which lasted until 1980, when East Germany unilaterally closed the border due to anti-communist protests and the emergence of the

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

movement in Poland. On 27 June 1994, the town became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Görlitz, but it remains a Lutheran Protestant stronghold. In 2002 Lake Berzdorf, occupying a former open-cast lignite mine south of Görlitz, began to be filled. The ''Altstadtbrücke'' (literally ''old town bridge'') between Görlitz and sister city Zgorzelec was rebuilt between 2003 and 2004. It was officially opened on 20 October 2004. As soon as Poland signed the Schengen Agreement (20 December 2007), movement between the two banks of the river again became unrestricted, since border controls were eliminated. Indeed, users of the new pedestrian bridge are not told by any signs that they are leaving one country and entering another. Since reunification, and as of 2013, over 700 buildings have been renovated. It is a popular place for retirement among the elderly of Germany, being quiet and relatively affordable by German standards. Its tourist potential is rapidly expanding, being very much an eastern counterpart to towns such as

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

. In the case of Görlitz, much of the funding for the renovations of the town's buildings have come from an anonymous donor, who, from 1995 onward, has sent an annual donation of over

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

500,000, totalling over €10,000,000. In 2021, the surviving old synagogue was reopened.

Arts and culture

Goerlitz-Untermarkt 24 23 von Suedosten-20110627

Today Görlitz and Zgorzelec, two towns on opposite banks of the narrow river, get along well. Two bridges have been rebuilt, a bus line connects the German and Polish parts of the town, and there is a common urban management, with annual joint sessions of both town councils. The town has a rich architectural heritage (

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau). One example of this rich architectural heritage is the Schönhof, which is one of the oldest civic Renaissance buildings in Germany. Another medieval heritage is a model of the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...

( de) whose construction began in 1465 under

Bürgermeister Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chie ...

Georg Emmerich. In 2006 the twin city Görlitz/Zgorzelec applied to be the European City of Culture 2010. It was hoped that the concept of Polish-German cooperation would be sufficient to convince the jury, but

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Do ...

won. Görlitz was placed second. As a result of the campaign Görlitz was renamed ''City of Culture'' in order to further German-Polish relations and to attract tourists from all over the world. As Görlitz was part of

from 1815 onward, it has a ''Silesian Museum'' dedicated to the region (''Schlesisches Museum zu Görlitz''). The exhibition features the 1000-year-old cultural history of Silesia. Görlitz is also the birthplace of the German version of nonpareils, popularly known in Germany as ''Liebesperlen'' (

: ''love pearls''). Invented by confectioner Rudolf Hoinkis (1876–1944), the name derives from a conversation Hoinkis had with his wife, proclaiming his love for her like these "pearls", the nonpareil. Unsure of what to call the treat he invented, his wife suggested calling them love pearls, and the name stuck. The factory where he first manufactured the treat, founded in 1896, is now run by his great-grandson, Mathias.

Geography

Görlitz is situated on the border with Poland, adjacent to the Polish town of Zgorzelec on the opposite bank of the Lusatian Neisse. The municipality measures from north to south, and from east to west.Die Stadt Görlitz und ihre Stadt- und Ortsteile
Stadt Görlitz, accessed 12 October 2021. Its area is .

Divisions

Görlitz is divided into 9 ''Stadtteile'' (town divisions) and 8 ''Ortsteile'' (formerly independent municipalities). These are: *Stadtteile: Historische Altstadt, Innenstadt, Nikolaivorstadt, Südstadt, Rauschwalde, Biesnitz, Weinhübel, Königshufen and Klingewalde *Ortsteile: Ober-Neundorf, Ludwigsdorf, Schlauroth, Kunnerwitz, Klein Neundorf, Deutsch-Ossig, Hagenwerder and Tauchritz

Transport

Görlitz station Görlitz station is the central station of the city of Görlitz in the German state of Saxony. Of the original twelve station tracks only six are still in operation. Görlitz is also served by stations in Rauschwalde, Weinhübel and Hagenwerder. ...

is on the Berlin – Görlitz and the Dresden – Görlitz lines of

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...

. The station also provides an international connection to

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

, Poland. Local public transport is provided by: * The

Verkehrsgesellschaft Görlitz The Verkehrsgesellschaft Görlitz GmbH (VGG) was a public transport operator based in Görlitz, Saxony. VGG was co-owned by Transdev Germany (49%) and the town council of Görlitz (51%), and was a member of Verkehrsverbund Oberlausitz-Niederschle ...

(VGG) provides public transport service in the city, including the Görlitz tramway and bus services. * The Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej (PKS) provides bus service over the river between Görlitz and its sister city, Zgorzelec.

Climate

The climate is oceanic (Köppen: ''Cfb'') or on the western edge of humid continental (''Dfb'') at the 0 °C isotherm. The location at the easternmost border of Germany, far from the sea, gives a climate less affected by prevailing westerly winds although these do reach further into the western half of Poland. Summers can be warm, though not as much as in

Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alb ...

, and the winters are cold; snow is sporadic, not persisting all winter.

Film location

Due to the historical parts of the city, many movie-makers have used the various sites as locations. Eli Roth shot the movie-in-a-movie '' Stolz der Nation'' (''Pride of the Nation'') for

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

's '' Inglourious Basterds'' (which incidentally purports to be France) on the Lower Market Square and Upper Market Square in Görlitz' oldest parts of the city. Other films shot in Görlitz include the 2013 war drama '' The Book Thief'' and the teen years in ''

The Reader ''The Reader'' (german: Der Vorleser) is a novel by German law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and in the United States in 1997. The story is a parable, dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations ...

''. Görlitz was used as the primary shooting location for the Wes Anderson film '' The Grand Budapest Hotel'', with Görlitz standing in for a resort in the fictional Eastern European country of Zubrowka. A vacant department store in the city was redecorated to serve as the hotel itself.

Governance

Mayor and city council

Goerlitz-Neues Rathaus von Osten-20110626

The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was

Matthias Lechner Matthias Florian Lechner (born February 27, 1970) is a motion picture production designer and art director. He worked as an art director and designer on the animated films ''Zootopia'', '' Help! I'm a Fish'' and ''Escape from Planet Earth'', as ...

of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 1998. The mayor was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected. Rolf Karbaum served from 1998 until 2005, Joachim Paulick from 2005 to 2012, and Siegfried Deinege from 2012 to 2019; all were independents. In 2019, CDU politician

Octavian Ursu Octavian Ursu (born 27 October 1967) is a German politician for the Christian Democratic Union and mayor of Görlitz since June 2019. Life Ursu was born in Bucharest and graduated from the National University of Music Bucharest in 1986. He was ...

was elected mayor. The most recent mayoral election was held on 26 May 2019, with a runoff held on 16 June, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Sebastian Wippel , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. ...

, 9,710 , 36.4 , 11,390 , 44.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

, align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 8,077 , 30.3 , 14,043 , 55.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Franziska Schubert , align=left,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

/ BfG / MG / SPD / PARTEI , 7,436 , 27.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Jana Lübeck , align=left, The Left , 1,470 , 5.5 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 26,693 ! 98.7 ! 25,433 ! 98.6 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 339 ! 1.3 ! 370 ! 1.4 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 27,032 ! 100.0 ! 25,803 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 46,120 ! 58.6 ! 46,135 ! 55.9 , - , colspan=7, Source
Wahlen in Sachsen
The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(AfD) , 23,603 , 30.7 , New , 13 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 16,896 , 22.0 , 10.7 , 9 , 4 , - , , align=left, Citizens for Görlitz (BfG) , 13,397 , 17.5 , 2.5 , 8 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 6,516 , 8.5 , 6.7 , 3 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...

(Grüne) , 5,847 , 7.6 , 1.4 , 2 , 1 , - , , align=left, Motor Görlitz (MG) , 4,347 , 5.7 , New , 2 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD) , 1,782 , 2.3 , 3.1 , 1 , 1 , - , , align=left, Down to Business! (ZS) , 1,729 , 2.3 , 7.1 , 0 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 1,663 , 2.2 , 0.7 , 0 , 1 , - , , align=left, BI Seensucht , 604 , 0.8 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, National Democratic Party (NPD) , 376 , 0.5 , 4.8 , 0 , 2 , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 26,530 ! 98.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 544 ! 2.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 27,074 ! 100.0 ! ! 42 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 46,119 ! 58.7 ! 14.7 ! ! , - , colspan="7", Source
Wahlen in Sachsen

Twin towns – sister cities

Görlitz is twinned with: *

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

, France *

Molfetta Molfetta (; Molfettese: ) is a town located in the northern side of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It has a well restored old city, and its own dialect. History The earliest local signs of permanent habitation are ...

, Italy * Nový Jičín, Czech Republic *

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, Germany * Zgorzelec, Poland Being the easternmost town in the country, Görlitz has formed a "Compass Alliance" (''Zipfelbund'') with the northernmost, westernmost, and southernmost towns, List, Selfkant, and

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

respectively. They participate in the annual

German Unity Day German Unity Day (german: Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is the National Day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates German reunification in 1990 when the German Democratic Republic ( East Germany) joined the Federa ...

celebrations to represent the modern limits of Germany.

Notable people

* Michael Ballack (born 1976), football player *

Jakob Böhme Jakob Böhme (; ; 24 April 1575 – 17 November 1624) was a German philosopher, Christian mystic, and Lutheran Protestant theologian. He was considered an original thinker by many of his contemporaries within the Lutheran tradition, and his firs ...

(1575–1624), mystic and theologian *

Johann Christoph Brotze Johann Christoph Brotze ( lv, Johans Kristofs Broce) (1 September 1742 – 4 August 1823) was a German pedagogue, artist and ethnographer. Biography Brotze was born in Görlitz, Electorate of Saxony. He studied theology and philosophy at the unive ...

(1742–1823), educator *

Hans Georg Dehmelt Hans Georg Dehmelt (; 9 September 1922 – 7 March 2017) was a German and American physicist, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1989, for co-developing the ion trap technique (Penning trap) with Wolfgang Paul, for which they shared one-h ...

(1922–2017), co-recipient of 1989

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

Hans-Jürgen Dörner Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner (25 January 1951 – 19 January 2022) was a German football player and coach. He distinguished himself during his career by being named East Germany's player of the year three times (1977, 1984 and 1985) – the on ...

(1951-2022), football player and coach *

Werner Finck Werner Finck (2 May 1902 – 31 July 1978) was a German ''Kabarett'' comedian, actor and author. Not politically motivated by his own admission but just a "convinced individualist", he became one of Germany's leading cabaret artists under the co ...

(1902–1978), comedian, actor and writer *

Richard Foerster (classical scholar) Richard Foerster (March 2, 1843 – August 7, 1922) was a German classical scholar. Biography Though born and raised in Görlitz, Foerster never saw himself a Lusatian and felt the strongest allegiance to Silesia, where he studied since winter ...

(1843–1922), classical scholar * Johann Carl Gehler (1732–1796) physician, anatomist and mineralogist *

Johann Gottlob Harrer Gottlob Harrer (8 May 1703 – 9 July 1755) was a German composer and choir leader. Life Harrer was born in Görlitz, and studied music in Leipzig and Italy. From 1731 he worked in the chapel-choir of Reichsgraf Heinrich von Brühl. Followin ...

(1703–1755), composer *

Clara Hepner Clara Hepner (December 9, 1860 – August 11, 1939) also known by the pseudonym Klara Hepner, or Clara Muschner, Klara Muschner, sometimes Clara Hepner-Muschner, born Clara Freund in Görlitz, in Lower Silesia, Germany. She is best known as a poet ...

(1860-1939), German-Jewish writer *

Torsten Gütschow Torsten Gütschow (born 28 July 1962) is a German football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is most associated with Dynamo Dresden, with whom he had two successful spells, playing top level football in East Germany and afte ...

(born 1962), football player *

Herbert Hirche Herbert Hirche (20 May 1910, in Görlitz – 28 January 2002, in Heidelberg) was a German architect and furniture and product designer. Herbert Hirche studied from 1930 to 1933 at the Bauhaus in Dessau and Berlin.. Retrieved 29 October 2014 His t ...

(1910–2002), architect and designer *

Hanna von Hoerner Hanna von Hoerner (14 November 1942 – 4 July 2014) was a German astrophysicist. She founded the company von Hoerner & Sulger which produces scientific instruments, notably cosmic dust analyzers used on space missions by European Space Agency ...

(1942–2014), astrophysicist * Emil Jannings (1884–1950), first actor to win the

Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...

Jens Jeremies Jens Jeremies (born 5 March 1974) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Best known for his tackling abilities, he played for three clubs during his professional career, most notably Bayern Munich which ...

(born 1974), football player * Reinhart Koselleck (1923–2006), historian * Michael Kretschmer (born 1975), politician (CDU), Minister President of Saxony * Lars Kaufmann (born 1982), handball player * Oskar Morgenstern (1902–1977), economist * Gustavus Adolphus Neumann (1807–1886), publisher *

Arthur Pohl Arthur Pohl (1900–1970) was a German screenwriter and film director. Selected filmography Director * '' The Bridge'' (1949) * '' Die Jungen vom Kranichsee'' (1950) * '' Corinna Schmidt'' (1951) * ''Die Unbesiegbaren'' (1953) * '' Kein Hüsung' ...

(1900–1970), set designer, director and screenwriter *

Pavle Jurišić Šturm Pavle Jurišić Šturm KCMG ( sr-cyr, Павле Јуришић Штурм; 8 August 1848 – 13 January 1922), born Paulus Eugen Sturm, was a Serbian general of Sorbian origin, best known for commanding the Serbian 3rd Army in World War I ...

(1848–1922), Serbian Army general, born in Görlitz *

Alfred Wagenknecht Alfred Wagenknecht (August 15, 1881 – August 26, 1956) was an American Marxist activist and political functionary. He is best remembered for having played a critical role in the establishment of the American Communist Party in 1919 as a leader ...

(1881–1956), American Marxist politician * Giorgio Zur (1930–2019), Catholic Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio in Austria

Gallery

File:Peterskirche Goerlitz.jpg, St. Peter and Paul church, the Woad House and the river Lusatian Neisse in Görlitz File:Görlitz Peterskirche Orgel.jpg, Interior of St. Peter and Paul with its ''Sonnenorgel'' (sun organ) File:Goerlitz-Schoenhof von Westen-20110626.jpg, The Schönhof, the oldest Renaissance building in Görlitz File:Görlitz-Karstadt-Jugendstil.jpg, Interior of the '' Görlitzer Warenhaus'' department store File:Obermarkt Görlitz @20201001 b.jpg, View over Upper Market Square taken from Reichenbach Tower, residential buildings of Zgorzelec in the background File:Görlitz Altes Rathaus am Untermarkt.JPG,

Old town hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

on the Lower Market Square File:Görlitz - Brüderstraße - Altes Rathaus - Corvinuswappen 02 ies.jpg, Royal coats of arms of Hungarian King

(

Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

) File:Görlitz - Obermarkt13-Reichenbacher Turm 02 ies.jpg, Reichenbach Tower File:Görlitz - Postplatz - Gericht 06 ies.jpg, Courthouse File:Landeskrone view from zgorzelec.JPG, The Landeskrone, literally "land's crown", the local mountain of Görlitz File:Gerh'HauptmannTheather Görlitz.jpg, Theatre File:Dreifaltigkeitskirche Goerlitz.jpg, Gothic Holy Trinity church File:Görlitz - Marienplatz - Frauenturm 04 ies.jpg, Thick Tower File:Nikolaikirchhof_Görlitz_01.jpg, Nikolai Cemetery File:Görlitz-Nikolaistr.JPG, Nikolai Tower File:Peter-und-paul.jpg, St. Peter and Paul File:Altes Rathaus Görlitz 1.jpg,

File:Wilhelmsplatz-1-goerlitz.jpg, Wilhelmsplatz

References

External links

*
Official website
*

"Görlitz/Zgorzelec – Urban development from 12th to 21st century"
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorlitz Cities in Silesia Divided cities Germany–Poland border crossings Towns in Görlitz (district) Holocaust locations in Germany