Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

after the state capital,

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

. Cottbus lies in the

Sorbian settlement area The Sorbian settlement area ( , , ; in Brandenburg officially ''Siedlungsgebiet der Sorben/Wenden'') commonly makes reference to the area in the east of Saxony and the South of Brandenburg in which the West Slavs, West Slavic people of the Sorbs ...

() of

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the Germany, German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the south, Lower Lusa ...

, and is the second-largest city on the

River Spree Spree may refer to: Film and television * '' The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers''), an episode of the television show ''Numbe ...

after

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, which is situated around downstream. The city is located on the shores of Germany's largest artificial lake, the

Cottbuser Ostsee The Cottbuser Ostsee (Cottbus Eastern Lake; ) is an artificial lake under development on the grounds of the former open-pit lignite mine :de:Tagebau Cottbus Nord near Cottbus, Brandenburg, Germany. Dimensions When complete, it is to cover a su ...

(). Cottbus is considered the political and cultural center of the Lower Sorbian-speaking

Sorbs Sorbs (; ; ; ; ; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Germany, states of Saxony and Brandenburg. Sorbs tradi ...

(in Lower Lusatia also called the

Wends Wends is a historical name for Slavs who inhabited present-day northeast Germany. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people, tribes or groups depending on where and when it was used. In the modern day, communities identifying ...

), while the overall center of all Sorbs (Lower and Upper) is

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

(''Budyšin''). Cottbus is the largest bilingual city in Germany. Signage is mostly in German and Lower Sorbian. The city is the seat of several Lower Sorbian institutions like the Lower Sorbian version of the

Sorbischer Rundfunk The Sorbischer Rundfunk ( , ) is the Sorbian language program of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), both of which are regional public broadcaster in Germany. It is the only broadcast in a national minority l ...

(/), the Lower Sorbian Gymnasium, and the Wendish Museum (). The use of the Lower Sorbian language, however, is more widespread in the surrounding villages than in the city itself.

Cottbus Hauptbahnhof Cottbus Hauptbahnhof (German language, German) or Chóśebuz głowne dwórnišćo (Lower Sorbian language, Lower Sorbian) is one of the main railway stations of the German state of Brandenburg. It was called ''Cottbus station'' until 9 December 2 ...

(''Chóśebuz głowne dwórnišćo'') is a major railway junction with extensive sidings/depots. In the 10th century, the

constructed the largest Slavic castle of Lower Lusatia, a gord, on a

Spree Spree may refer to: Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers''), an episode of the television show ''Number ...

island. This former gord is considered the nucleus of the city. On it rises the massive 13th century Castle Tower () with its blue clock. Cottbus is the seat of the

Brandenburg University of Technology The Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg (, BTU) was founded in 1991 and is a technical university in Brandenburg, Germany with campuses in Cottbus and Senftenberg. The university has 185 professors, 640 additional academic ...

(, ). Due to this, the city has the official names / ('University City Cottbus').

Branitz Castle Branitz Palace is a baroque palace with interiors designed by Prince Hermann, Fürst von Pückler-Muskau, Hermann von Pückler-Muskau in Cottbus, Brandenburg, Germany. It was built in the 1770s and most of the furnishings date from around 1860. Th ...

, built in 1770–71, in the southeast of the city, was a residence of the Prince of Pückler-Muskau. The prince, who also created

Muskau Park Muskau Park (, officially: ''Fürst-Pückler-Park Bad Muskau''; ) is a landscape park in the Upper Lusatia region of Germany and Poland. It is the largest and one of the most famous English gardens in Central Europe, stretching along both sides ...

, designed the extensive Branitz Park on the shores of the Spree, with its two grass pyramids. Cottbus State Theater () is the only state theater in

. The

Wendish Quarter The Wendish Quarter or Sorbian Quarter (Lower Sorbian: ''Serbski běrtyl'', German: ''Wendisches Viertel'') is a historical ethnic enclave and district in the center of Cottbus, Brandenburg, Germany. History The Wendish Quarter was (re)built by ...

is a part of the city supposed to resemble the traditional Sorbian architectural style, constructed of prefabricated concrete slabs in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

between 1984 and 1989.

Spelling

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the spelling of the city's name was disputed. In

, the spelling "Kottbus" was preferred, and it is still used for the capital's ("Cottbus Gate"). Locally the traditional spelling "Cottbus" (which defies standard German-language rules) was preferred, and it is now used in most circumstances. Because the official spelling used locally before the spelling reforms of 1996 had contravened even the standardized spelling rules already in place, the () stress their urgent recommendation that geographical names should respect the national spelling standards. A citizen of the city may be identified as either a "Cottbuser" or a "Cottbusser". Names in different languages: * , * * * , * * *

History

Medieval period

The settlement was established in the tenth century, when

erected a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

on a sandy island in the River

. It was captured by the

March of Lusatia The March or Margraviate of Lusatia () was an eastern border march of the Holy Roman Empire in the lands settled by Polabian Slavs. It arose in 965 in the course of the partition of the vast ''Marca Geronis''. Ruled by several Saxon margravial dy ...

in 965, then it passed to Poland under

Bolesław I the Brave Bolesław I the Brave (17 June 1025), less often List of people known as the Great, known as Bolesław the Great, was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025 and the first King of Poland in 1025. He was also Duke of Bohemia between 1003 and 1004 as Boles ...

in 1002, and back to the March of Lusatia in 1032. The first recorded mention of the town's name was in 1156. In the 13th century German settlers came to the town and thereafter lived side by side with the Sorbs. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Cottbus was known for

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

, and the town's drapery was exported throughout Brandenburg,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

and

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. It was also located on an important trade route, called the "Salt Road", which was used to transport salt from Halle to Lusatia and further east to Poland. It was part of the Margraviate of Lusatia and later

, which was held by the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

until it became a Bohemian Crown Land in 1367. In 1445 Cottbus was acquired by the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

from Bohemia. It was an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

almost completely surrounded by Bohemian Lower Lusatia (with a short border with the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

to the south-west).

Modern period

In 1514 Jan Rak founded the , a Sorbian gymnasium, in the city. In 1635 Lower Lusatia was ceded by Bohemia to Saxony, thereby making Cottbus an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

of Saxony. Since the 1690s,

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Walloons Walloons ( ; ; ) are a Gallo-Romance languages, Gallo-Romance ethnic group native to Wallonia and the immediate adjacent regions of Flanders, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Walloons primarily speak ''langues d'oïl'' such as B ...

and

Palatines Palatines () were the citizens and princes of the Palatinates, Holy Roman States that served as capitals for the Holy Roman Emperor. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the nationality referred more specifically to residents of the ...

settled in the city. In 1701 Brandenburg-Prussia became the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. In 1807, following the

War of the Fourth Coalition The War of the Fourth Coalition () was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against Napoleon's First French Empire, French Empire, subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were Kingdom of Prussia, ...

, Cottbus was ceded by Prussia to the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

by the

Treaty of Tilsit The Treaties of Tilsit (), also collectively known as the Peace of Tilsit (; ), were two peace treaties signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland, at the end of the War o ...

, reuniting it with Lower Lusatia. Cottbus was returned to Prussia by the

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, Napol ...

in 1815 after the Napoleonic wars. Lower Lusatia was also ceded to Prussia and both became part of the Prussian

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg () was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1947. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg (excluding Altmark) and ...

(and ), where they remained until 1947. In the 19th century, the ''Bramborski Serbski Casnik'' Sorbian newspaper was published in the city, and in 1880, the first Lower Lusatian department of the

Maćica Serbska Maćica Serbska (Upper Sorbian language, Upper Sorbian name, ; ) is a scientific association of Sorbs. It aims at promoting Sorbian studies and disseminating knowledge about the Sorbs and their culture. It is the oldest Sorbian association that is ...

organization was established there. Bramborski Serbski Casnik

Up to 142 French prisoners of war were held in the town by the Prussians during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870–1871. In 1871 Prussia, and therefore Cottbus, became part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. According to the Prussian census of 1905, the city of Cottbus had a population of 46,270, of which 97% were

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, 2% were

and 1% were

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

World War I and the interwar period

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Germany operated two

prisoner-of-war camps A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

and a detention center for Allied privates in the city. The first captives, some 7,500 Russians, were mostly kept outdoors, which, combined with poor sanitary and medical conditions, resulted in an

epidemic typhus Epidemic typhus, also known as louse-borne typhus, is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters where civil life is disrupted. Epidemic typhus is spread to people through contact wit ...

outbreak, with 70% of the prisoners falling ill, and some 400 dying. Soon, also POWs of other nationalities, including French, British, Belgian, Serbian, Romanian, Italian, Portuguese and Australian were held in the POW camps in Cottbus. Conditions in the camps were poor due to overcrowding, filth, inadequate heating in winter, and insufficient medical supplies in the camps' lazarettes. Western Allied POWs were eventually released until mid-January 1919, whereas Russian POWs remained in the camps and were employed at local

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

mines.Stanek, p. 83 Many Russian POWs preferred to stay in the camp rather than leave for

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

and be forced into the Communist Party and army, and many were released to Russia only between September 1920 and January 1921, however some 600 to 1,000 Russians remained in the camp as of June 1921. The former prisoner-of-war camp was used as a concentration camp for some 1,200 to 1,500 Polish activists, civilians and insurgents of the

Silesian Uprisings The Silesian Uprisings (; ; ) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have the area tran ...

of 1919–1921, who were often subjected to harassment, beatings and tortures, with their deportation from

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

to Cottbus being a breach of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

. Among the prisoners were dozens of women with children, and elderly men, and camp conditions remained poor. It was also the site of a concentration camp for unwanted

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

refugees from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. Since late 1922, also Polish laborers and their families were detained in the camp before their deportation to Poland. The camp was eventually closed in December 1923.

World War II and the post-war period

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a Nazi prison for women was operated in the city with multiple

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

subcamps located both in the city and other places in the region. Polish actor

Władysław Hańcza Władysław Hańcza (18 May 1905 – 19 November 1977) was a Polish actor and theatre director. Education and debut In 1924, he graduated high school in his hometown of Łódź. Afterwards he studied philosophy and Polish philology at the Adam Mi ...

was imprisoned in a forced labour camp in the city in 1944–1945. In the final weeks of the war, Cottbus was taken by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

on 22 April 1945. In January 1946, Cottbus issued 34 semi-postal postage stamps to help finance rebuilding the city. From 1949 until

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in 1990, Cottbus was part of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(East Germany). From 1952 to 1990, Cottbus was the administrative seat of

Bezirk Cottbus Cottbus was a Administrative divisions of the German Democratic Republic, district () of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The administrative seat and main town was Cottbus. History The district was established, along with the othe ...

Boroughs

Demography

Bevölkerungsentwicklung Cottbus.pdf, Development of population since 1875 within the current boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population development in Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

; Red Background: Time of communist

) Bevölkerungsprognosen Cottbus.pdf, Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the

Census in Germany A national census in Germany (, ) was held every five years from 1875 to 1910. After the World Wars, only a few full population censuses have been held, the last in 1987. The most recent census, though not a national census, was the 2011 Europea ...

in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line))

Climate

Cottbus has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfb'') in spite of being far inland on a relatively high latitude. Summers are very warm for being so far north, while winters are often mild due to prevailing trade winds from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

facing little natural obstacles on the way to the area. When wind directions come from elsewhere, hard freezes occasionally take place. As a result, the annual temperature amplitude is quite high for an oceanic climate, ranging from in summer to in winter. Precipitation is frequent, although usually light in accumulation. Snowfall is a regular occurrence with 36 days of snow cover annually, but Cottbus remains mild enough that it usually thaws quickly. Most of the year is gloomy, with a notable exception in late spring.

Culture and education

Cottbus is the cultural centre of the

Lower Sorbian Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

minority. Many signs in the town are bilingual, and there is a Lower Sorbian-medium '' Gymnasium'' and a Sorbian Quarter, but Sorbian is rarely spoken on the streets. Next to Cottbus is the famous Branitz Park, created by Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau after 1845. Schloss Branitz (

) was rebuilt by Gottfried Semper in a late Baroque style between 1846 and 1852, and the gardens Prince Hermann laid feature two pyramids. One of these, the Seepyramide, is in the middle of an artificial lake and serves as his

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

. Cottbus is also home to the

(BTU) and the maths/science-oriented Max-Steenbeck-Gymnasium, named after the physicist

Max Steenbeck Max Christian Theodor Steenbeck (21 March 1904 – 15 December 1981) was a German nuclear physicist who invented the betatron in 1934 during his employment at the Siemens AG. After the World War II, Steenbeck was taken into the Soviet custo ...

. Every year Cottbus hosts the East Europe International Film Festival. Cottbus has a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team,

Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus (Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the German reunification, reunificatio ...

, that plays in the

Regionalliga Nordost The Regionalliga Nordost is the fourth tier of German football league system, German football in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. These comprise the states of former East Germany ...

as of the 2021–2022 season. Their home matches are played at the city's Stadion der Freundschaft.

Economy

Transportation

Cottbus is served by

main railway station. Two airports serve the city:

Cottbus-Drewitz Airport Cottbus-Drewitz Airport was a civilian airport located in Drewitz, an Ortsteil of Jänschwalde, approximately north-east of Cottbus in Brandenburg, Germany. History During World War II Cottbus-Drewitz Airport was used by the Luftwaffe and from ...

(approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) north-east of Cottbus), and Cottbus-Neuhausen Airport (approximately 10 km (6.2 miles) south-east of Cottbus).

Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport () () is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the Germany, German capital and state of Berlin, in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the former Mayor of West Berlin, West Berlin mayor and Chance ...

can be reached in one hour from Cottbus. Local public transport is served by trams and buses operated by Cottbusverkehr GmbH and

DB Regio DB Regio AG () is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and therefore part of the DB Regio business segment, which also includes DB Regionn ...

Bus Ost GmbH, both of which are members of the

Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg The Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) is a transport association run by public transport providers in the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. It is a private limited company owned jointly by the states of Berlin and Brandenburg (w ...

(VBB).

Power generation

There are several lignite-fired

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s in the area around Cottbus (Lausitz) fed through local

open pit mining Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ro ...

. The biggest stations are " Schwarze Pumpe" (1600 MW), " Boxberg" (1900 MW) and "

Jänschwalde Jänschwalde (Sorbian language, Sorbian: Janšojce) is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Spree-Neiße in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated in the region of Lower Lusatia. The nearest town is Peitz; Cottbus is 25 ...

" (3000 MW). Some of the open-pit mines have already been shut down with the former being converted into an artificial lake with surface area called

(Cottbus eastern lake).

Governance

Mayor and city council

The current mayor is Tobias Schick of the

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 Form ...

(SPD) since 2022. The most recent mayoral election was held on 11 September 2022, with a runoff held on 9 October, 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, Tobias Schick , align=left,

, 13,300 , 31.8 , 29,526 , 68.6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Lars Schieske Lars Schieske (born 1 January 1977 in Cottbus) is a German politician who was elected as a member of the Bundestag in 2025 representing Cottbus. From 2019 to 2024, he was a member of the Landtag of Brandenburg The Landtag of Brandenburg is ...

, align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

, 11,026 , 26.4 , 13,488 , 31.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Thomas Bergner , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 10,302 , 24.6 , - , , align=left, Sveb Benken , align=left, Our Cottbus! , 2,485 , 5.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Felix Sicker , align=left, Free Democratic Party , 2,377 , 5.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Lysann Kobbe , align=left, dieBasis , 1,621 , 3.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Johann Staudinger , align=left,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, 716 , 1.7 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 41,827 ! 99.4 ! 43,014 ! 99.1 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 260 ! 0.6 ! 383 ! 0.9 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 42,087 ! 100.0 ! 43,397 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 78,918 ! 53.3 ! 78,912 ! 55.0 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Cottbus
1st round2nd round
The city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 9 June 2024, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(AfD) , 41,731 , 29.2 , 6.9 , 14 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 27,991 , 19.6 , 4.0 , 9 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 22,894 , 16.0 , 1.2 , 7 , 2 , - , , align=left, Our Cottbus! (UC!) , 12,938 , 9.0 , 0.4 , 4 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 10,173 , 7.1 , 6.6 , 3 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

(Grüne) , 7,066 , 4.9 , 4.2 , 2 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Active Citizens–

Free Voters Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...

(AUB–FW) , 6,195 , 4.3 , 1.6 , 2 , 1 , - , , align=left, Mittle Class Initiative Brandenburg (MIBrb) , 5,881 , 4.1 , New , 1 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 2,926 , 2.0 , 2.0 , 1 , 1 , - , , align=left, Social Upheavel (SUB) , 2,704 , 1.9 , 0.0 , 1 , 0 , - , , align=left, Secure Future Cottbus (ZSC) , 2,456 , 1.7 , New , 1 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 142,965 ! 100.0 ! ! 56 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Invalid ballots ! 769 ! 1.6 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ballots ! 48,820 ! 98.4 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 78,002 ! 62.6 ! 6.3 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Cottbus

Twin towns – sister cities

Cottbus is twinned with: *

Montreuil Montreuil is a French place name derived from Medieval Latin , "Little Monastery". It most often refers to Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis (aka Montreuil-sous-Bois), a French commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, Seine-St-Denis department. It ma ...

, France (1959) *

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

, Italy (1967) *

Lipetsk Lipetsk (, ), also Romanization of Russian, romanized as Lipeck, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the banks of the Voronezh (river), Voronezh River in the Do ...

, Russia (1974) *

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra (; ''Green Mountain''; ) is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (). The region is closely associated with vineyards and holds an annual Zielona Góra Wine Fest, Wine Fest. Zie ...

, Poland (1975) *

Targovishte Targovishte (, also transliteration, transliterated ''Tǎrgovište'', , ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in Bulgaria, the administrative and economic capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the l ...

, Bulgaria (1975) *

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

, Slovakia (1978) *

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

, Germany (1987) *

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...

, Germany (1995) *

Nuneaton and Bedworth Nuneaton and Bedworth is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Warwickshire, England. It includes the towns of Nuneaton (where the council is based) and Bedworth, as we ...

, England, United Kingdom (1999)

Notable people

* Janice Behrendt (born 1983), beauty queen and model * Carl Blechen (1798–1840), landscape painter *

Kurt Demmler Kurt Demmler (born ''Kurt Abramowitsch'', 12 September 1943 Posen – 3 February 2009 Berlin) was a German songwriter, who in the earlier part of his life was a dissident East German songwriter. Accused of alleged sexual abuse of underage gir ...

(1943–2009), songwriter; accused of sexual abuse, he hanged himself in his jail cell. *

Rudi Fink Rudi Fink (born 6 June 1958) is a retired boxer, who won the gold medal in the featherweight division (−57 kg) for East Germany at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Biography Fink took up boxing at the age of nine. He won the national title in ...

(born 1958), amateur boxer and boxing coach * Gustav Theodor Fritsch (1838–1927), anatomist, anthropologist and physiologist * Marco Geisler (born 1974), rower * Otto Hugo Paul Grottkau (1846–1898), socialist and trade unionist and American journalist *

Robert Harting Robert Harting (; born 18 October 1984) is a retired German discus thrower. He represents the sports club SCC Berlin, his coach is Torsten Schmidt (athlete), Torsten Schmidt. He is a former Olympic, World, and European champion in the men's dis ...

(born 1984), discus thrower * Martha Israel (1905–), politician * Tony Martin (born 1985), cyclist *

Jens Melzig Jens Melzig (born 28 September 1965) is a former professional German footballer who played as a defender. Career Born in Cottbus, Melzig began his career with Energie Cottbus, helping the club earn promotion to the DDR-Oberliga in 1986, and ag ...

(born 1965), footballer *

Daniel Musiol Daniel Musiol (born 27 March 1983 in Cottbus) is a German former professional cyclist. Major results ;2001 :1st Team pursuit, National Junior Track Championships ;2003 :1st Stage 8 Tour de Guadeloupe ;2007 :5th Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboo ...

(born 1983), cyclist * Thomas Neumann (born 1975), artist *

Reinhold Platz Reinhold Platz (16 January 1886 – 15 September 1966) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer in service of the Dutch company Fokker. Platz was hired by Fokker in 1912 as a welder. His first hands-on projects were to weld the frame pa ...

(1886–1966), aircraft designer and manufacturer at

Fokker Fokker (; ) was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer that operated from 1912 to 1996. The company was founded by the Dutch aviator Anthony Fokker and became famous during World War I for its fighter aircraft. During its most successful period in the 19 ...

Colin Raak Colin Raak (born 21 April 2000) is a German Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for NOFV-Oberliga Nord club VfB Krieschow. Career Raak made his professional debut for FC Energie Cottbus, Energie Cottbus in the 3. Liga on ...

(born 2000), footballer *

Gabriele Reinsch Gabriele Reinsch (born 23 September 1963 in Cottbus) is a German track and field athlete. She represented East Germany in the 1988 Olympic Games in discus throw. On 9 July 1988 at the East Germany–Italy tournament in Neubrandenburg, she set ...

(born 1963), world record holder discus throwing *

Viktoria Schmidt-Linsenhoff Viktoria Schmidt-Linsenhoff (21 August 1944 – 14 February 2013) was a German art historian and professor with particular research interest in the fields of gender studies and postcolonial studies. Early life and education Viktoria Schmidt-Linsen ...

(1944–2013), art historian and professor *

Maja Wallstein Maja Scarlett Wallstein (born 18 March 1986) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2021. Early life and career Wallstein was born 1986 in the East German city of Cottbu ...

(born 1986), politician * Heiko Schwarz (born 1989), footballer

References

External links

* *
Homepage of Brandenburg Technical University
* {{Authority control Populated places established in the 10th century Towns in Brandenburg Urban districts of Brandenburg