Hoyerswerda, Germany

Welcome to Hoyerswerda, a major district town located in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. This charming town is located in the Sorbian settlement area of Upper Lusatia, a region where some people speak the Sorbian language in addition to German. Hoyerswerda is divided into the Old Town and the New Town, surrounded by village areas. The Old Town is the historical centre with many old houses and sight-seeing attractions, the New Town is more modern and varicoloured. Prior to the renovation of the town, prefabricated apartment blocks predominated in this area. The town has many lakes, marshes and waterways in its surrounding area, because of its situation in Lusatia. This brings many tourists to spend their holidays there. It is attractive for cyclists and inline skaters who use recently created paths meandering among the lakes. The town is situated in the north of the District of Bautzen, close to the borders of Saxony with Brandenburg. Major cities and towns in proximity are Cottbus 35 kilometres (22 miles) in the north-west, Dresden 55 kilometres (34 miles) in the south-west and Berlin 150 kilometres (93 miles) in the north. Hoyerswerda is part of Upper Lusatia and lies on a rural plain characterised by the presence of several lakes and some marshes. The town is divided beside the Old Town and New Town into the following districts (names given in German/Upper Sorbian): Bröthen-Michalken (German), Brětnja/Michałki (Upper Sorbian) Dörgenhausen/Němcy Knappenrode/Hórnikecy Schwarzkollm/Čorny Chołmc Zeißig/Ćisk. The first settlers arrived in this area in 700 AD. They were Milceni Slavs. Many artifacts from this old culture have been found in the Hoyerswerda area. 1000 AD saw the construction of the first church in the town; the Heilige Familie (Holy Family) which is still standing today in the historic centre of Hoyerswerda. In 1150, Hoyerswerda first appeared on a map of Lusatia. The city was first mentioned in 1268. At the time the mayor was Hoyer von Vredeberg. In 1371 it was designated an official market town. Before this Hoyerswerda was a very little town with few structures, but the city then grew under the leadership of the new mayor Karl IV. It received municipal rights from Freiherr von Duba on 19 December 1423, as well as the right to elect its own council. Main sights include: the Hoyerswerda castle, the Market Square (Markt) in the Old Town, including: the Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus), an 18th-century Polish-Saxon post milestone with coats of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Electorate of Saxony and the monogram of King Augustus II the Strong, the Sorbian Fountain (Sorbenbrunnen) from 1980, the St. Johns Church (Johanneskirche), the former seat of the Domowina, built in 1885, the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus), built in 1904, Planetarium Hoyerswerda, founded in the 1960s, the Lusatian Square (Lausitzer Platz) in the New Town with the Lusatian Hall (Lausitzhalle/Łužiska Hala), the ZCOM Zuse-Computer-Museum. Hoyerswerda is twinned with: Dillingen, Germany (1988), Huittinen, Finland (1998), Środa Wielkopolska, Poland (2006).