Weißwasser ( hsb, Běła Woda) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

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 ...

in eastern

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 ...

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 ...

. Weißwasser is the third largest town in the Görlitz district after

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

and

Zittau Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic "'' rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto'')) is the southeasternmost city in the Ge ...

. The town's landmark is its

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conju ...

. The town is part of the recognized

Sorbian settlement area hsb, Serbski sydlenski rum, dsb, Serbski sedleński rum, image_map=File:Sorbisches Siedlungsgebiet.png, subdivision_type1=Country, subdivision_name1= Germany, subdivision_type2=State, subdivision_name2=Saxony, subdivision_type3=State, subdivisio ...

in Saxony. Upper Sorbian has an official status next to German, all villages bear names in both languages.

History

Weißwasser was mentioned for the first time on 8 June 1552, when it was part of the

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom o ...

in 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 town's name means "white water". In 1635 it passed 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 ...

, and following 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 ...

, in 1815 it fell to 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 was included within 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 19th and 20th centuries, Weißwasser was the European centre of

glass Glass is a non- crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenchin ...

production. It became part of the Prussian

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 1919.

Weißwasser received its

town charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

on 28 August 1935. 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 ...

, the Nazis established and operated the ''FAL Weisswasser''

subcamp Subcamps (german: KZ-Außenlager), also translated as satellite camps, were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazi ...

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 ...

, whose prisoners were mainly Jewish women. In the Second World War, 40% of the town was destroyed. With the dissolution of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

resulting from the war, the town became part of Saxony from 1945–52. It was then part of communist

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 1952–90 and administered within

Bezirk Cottbus Cottbus was a district () of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The administrative seat and main town was Cottbus. History The district was established, along with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, ''de facto'' replacing the East German ...

. Many enterprises had to close during the communist regime. After the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

, only a few enterprises were left. It was included within a restored Saxony after

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 ...

. Weißwasser now struggles with the after-effects of German reunification, as the fall of the Berlin Wall has had a devastating effect on the local economy. Many people have since lost their jobs and the town's population continues to suffers from a high percentage of

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refe ...

. Consequently, many have left the area in the hope of finding a new job elsewhere in a reunited Germany. In September 2005, Weißwasser hosted the " Tag der Sachsen." The event was a success with more than 300,000 visitors, which left some believing that the town could reinvent itself as a tourist attraction. WSW Ortseingang aus Richtung Weißkeißel

There are bilingual street signs in German and Upper Sorbian in the town.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was allotted on 31 January 1927. The two green glasses symbolise the glass industry of the town, which was one of the largest in former East Germany. The tools are a reference to coal mining, which is carried out close to the city. Blue and yellow are the traditional colours of Upper Lusatia and the white waves in the bottom part of the coat of arms symbolise the name of the city.

Population development

Development of the population figure since 31 December 1960 Source from 1998 on: Statistics office Saxony

Politics

A new city council was elected on the 13 June 2004. Out of 18,653 eligible voters, 29.36% participated in the vote. The results were as following: *27.68 %

PDS PD, P.D., or Pd may refer to: Arts and media * ''People's Democracy'' (newspaper), weekly organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) * ''The Plain Dealer'', a Cleveland, Ohio, US newspaper * Post Diaspora, a time frame in the ''Honorverse'' ...

*27.01 % CDU *18.54 % Wir für Hier e.V. *12.70 % SPD *6.96 % Klartext *3.84 % FDP *3.26 % NPD

Twin cities

* Brühl (North Rhine-Westphalia) *

Żary Żary (pronounced , german: Sorau, dsb, Žarow) is a town in western Poland with 37,502 inhabitants (2019), situated in the Lubusz Voivodeship since 1999. Previously it was located within Zielona Góra Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the admin ...

(Poland)

Sights

* Water Tower * Ice Hockey Stadium "Fuchsbau" (fox's den) * Glass museum * Zoo * Pückler - Park in Bad Muskau * Rhododendron - Park in Kromlau * Forest Railway Muskau * Braunsteich - Lake * Erratic Rock - Park in Nochten * Opencast pit in Nochten

Sport

The local ice hockey club Dynamo Weißwasser, known presently as

Lausitzer Füchse The Lausitzer Füchse (literally ''Lusatian Foxes'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Weißwasser, Saxony. They currently play in DEL2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany. Prior to the 2013–14 season they played in the 2nd Bun ...

and also known as "The Foxes", was the most successful club in the ice hockey Premier League of former

, winning 25 championships.

Notable people

Tino Chrupalla Tino Chrupalla (/ˈtiːno kʁʊˈpala/; born 14 April 1975) is a German politician, and Member of the Bundestag since 2017 of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party. In November 2019 he was nominated by Alexander Gauland to replace him as co-ch ...

(born 1975), politician and co-chairman of the

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. ...

* Roland Hemmo (born 1946), voice actor and actor * Klaus Hirche (born 1939), hockey goalkeeper and coach, national team GDR, 1968 Olympian *

Christa Luding-Rothenburger Christa Luding-Rothenburger ( Rothenburger, born 4 December 1959) is a former speed skater and track cyclist. She was born in Weißwasser, East Germany. Luding is one of the few athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic ...

(born 1959), speed skater and cyclist * Angela Ranft (born 1969), cyclist *

Günter Schubert Günter Schubert (18 April 1938 – 2 January 2008) was a German actor and voice actor. His son Alexander Schubert is also an actor. He was born in Weißwasser and died in Berlin. Filmography * 1966: ''Die Söhne der großen Bärin'' * 1972: ...

(1938–2008), actor and voice actor

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisswasser Towns in Görlitz (district)