Panschwitz-Kuckau (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

) or Pančicy-Kukow (

Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as Wendish (), is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, today part of Saxony, Germany. It is a West Slavic language, along with Lower Sorbian, Czech, Poli ...

, ) is a municipality in the district of Bautzen, in

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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is the site of the well-known monastery ''Sankt Marienstern''. The place is located at both sides of the ''Klosterwasser'' stream. The municipality is part of the recognized

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 ...

in Saxony.

has an official status next to German, all villages bear names in both languages. In 2001, half of the population spoke Sorbian.Walde, Martin: ''Demographisch-statistische Betrachtungen im Gemeindeverband "Am Klosterwasser".'' In: Lětopis 51 (2004), Heft 1 Due to the local Sorbian dominance the population is mainly Catholic.

St Marienstern Monastery

The village is dominated by the huge monastery of St Marienstern. It was founded as a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery in 1248. The current structures mainly date from the 17th and 18th century. The complex contains a Klosterstube (monastery restaurant, currently closed), a bakery, and a small botanical/herb garden to the south-east open at a small charge. The small river Klosterwasser runs through the monastery and would have served its water and brewing needs.

References

Populated places in Bautzen (district) {{Bautzen-geo-stub