Löbau (

Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as "Wendish", is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in Germany in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, which is today part of Saxony. It is grouped in the West Slavic language branch, together ...

: Lubij) is a city in the east of Saxony, Germany, in the traditional region of Upper Lusatia. It is situated between the slopes of the Löbauer Berg and the fertile hilly area of the Upper Lusatian Mountains. It is the gateway to this volcanic mountainous area and is situated halfway between the cities of Bautzen,

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...

and Zittau. Loebau Rathaus

Koenig-Friedrich-August-Turm Loebauer Berg

History

Löbau was first mentioned in 1221 as " Oppidum Lubaw". During the Middle Ages the city was a member of the Lusatian League, consisting of the six cities Bautzen,

, Kamenz, Lauban, Löbau and Zittau. The regional alliance was first established in 1346 and disbanded in 1815. The league was revived in 1991, though it no longer holds political power and mostly acts as a tourism promotion board. The town is widely known for the piano manufacturing company

August Förster August Förster is a German piano manufacturing company (also rendered "Foerster," occasionally "Forster," officially "August Förster GmbH Kunsthandwerklicher Flügel-und-Pianobau") that currently has a staff of 40 employees and produces around ...

Main sights

The town hall of the city is a noteworthy mixture of several architectural styles. Another famous building is the Schminke House by German architect Hans Scharoun, one of the most important exponents of organic and expressionist architecture. The building dates from the 1930s, anticipating the architecture of the 1950s. It is regarded as one of Scharoun's greatest works. The

King Frederick Augustus Tower The King Frederick Augustus Tower (german: König-Friedrich-August-Turm) is the only preserved observation tower of cast iron in Europe and perhaps the oldest tower built of iron. It is located on the ''Löbauer Berg'' at Löbau in Saxony, offering ...

is Löbau's main landmark; the tower made of cast iron was built in 1854 on the Löbauer Berg, and is 28 m tall. It is the biggest cast-iron tower in Europe and offers magnificent views of the

Lusatian Highlands The Lusatian Highlands''Upper Lusatia''
at www.silvaportal.info. Accessed on 10 July 20 ...

Politics

Reichstag Deputies

Following the North German Confederation Treaty the Kingdom of Saxony entered the North German Confederation in 1866. This continued after the founding of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

on 18 January 1871. Following this Saxony participated in Reichstag elections from February 1867. Löbau returned a series of Reichstag Deputies until 1919 when the existing constituencies were scrapped.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Löbau is twinned with: *

Makó Makó (, german: Makowa, yi, מאַקאָווע Makowe, ro, Macău or , sk, Makov) is a town in Csongrád County, in southeastern Hungary, from the Romanian border. It lies on the Maros River. Makó is home to 23,272 people and it has an area ...

, Hungary * Ettlingen, Germany * Luban, Poland

People

(1829-1897), piano maker *

Marie Wackwitz Marie Wackwitz (born ''Johanna Marie Louise Zinske'': 11 January 1865 – 23 November 1930) was a German socialist politician, women's rights activist and journalist. Biography Provenance and early years Marie Louise Zinske was born slightly more ...

(1865-1930), women's rights activist * Georg Scholze (1897-1945), general during World War II * Konrad Kujau (1938-2000), forger *

Bernd Böhlich Bernd Böhlich (born 25 April 1957) is a German film director. He has directed more than thirty films since 1983. Selected filmography *''Landschaft mit Dornen'' (1992, TV film) *''Deadly Silence'' (1996, TV film) *' (1997, TV film) *' (2001, TV ...

(*1957), director *

Uwe Proske Uwe Proske (born 10 October 1961) is a German former fencer. He competed in the individual épée event for East Germany at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Four years later, he won a gold in the team épée event for Germany at the 1992 Summer Olymp ...

(*1961), Olympic gold medalist (

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, fencing) * Anne-Kathrin Schade (*1968), volleyball player * Jana Henke (*1973), swimmer *

Mirko Müller Mirko Müller (born 12 November 1974) is a German pair skater. His first partner was Jekatarina Silnitzkaja, and he later teamed up with Emilie Gras for a year. Müller found his greatest success when Peggy Schwarz became his partner in 1996 ...

(*1974), pair skater * René Münnich (*1977), auto racing driver and team owner *

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( , ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera (though the Vibrio ...

(*1986), footballer (formerly Dynamo Dresden,

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...

) * Christian Reitz (*1987), Olympic gold medalist (

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, 25 metre rapid fire pistol) and world record holder

References

External links

Official website of the city of Löbau (German)Homepage of the Schminke HouseHomepage of the modern Lusatian League (German)
Towns in Görlitz (district) {{Görlitz-geo-stub