Weißenberg

Weißenberg/Wóspork
Weißenberg/Wóspork
Town
	Coat of arms
	Location of Weißenberg/Wóspork within Bautzen district
	Weißenberg/Wóspork Weißenberg/Wóspork
	Coordinates: 51°11′49″N 14°39′34″E / 51.19694°N 14.65944°E
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Bautzen
Subdivisions	15
Government
• Mayor (2022–29)	Jürgen Arlt
Area
• Total	50.92 km2 (19.66 sq mi)
Elevation	197 m (646 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	3,062
• Density	60/km2 (160/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	02627
Dialling codes	035876
Vehicle registration	BZ, BIW, HY, KM
Website	www.stadt-weissenberg.de

Weißenberg (German) or Wóspork (Upper Sorbian, pronounced [ˈwʊspɔʁk]) is a town in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. The Upper Lusatian town has approximately 3100 inhabitants and is part of the recognized Sorbian settlement area in Saxony.

Geography

Weißenberg is located 16 km east of Bautzen/Budyšin in the region of Lusatia. The town borders Malschwitz/Malešecy and Hohendubrau in the north, Vierkirchen and Löbau in the south, and Hochkirch and Kubschütz in the west. It also borders the district of Görlitz. It's near to the border to the Czech Republic and Poland.

Subdivisions

Belgern (Sorbian Běła Hora, which means "white mountain") with Neubelgern (Nowa Běła Hora), 88 inhabitants
Cortnitz (Chortnica), 42 inhabitants
Drehsa (Droždźij), 234 inhabitants
Gröditz (Hrodźišćo), 246 inhabitants
Grube (Jama), 27 inhabitants
Kotitz (Kotecy), 193 inhabitants
Lauske (Łusk), 139 inhabitants
Maltitz (Malećicy) with Wasserkretscham (Wodowa korčma), 265 inhabitants
Nechern '(Njechorń), 123 inhabitants
Nostitz (Nosaćicy), 174 inhabitants
Särka (Žarki), 166 inhabitants
Spittel (Špikały), 53 inhabitants
Weicha (Wichowy), 98 inhabitants
Wuischke (Wuježk), 53 inhabitants
Wurschen (Worcyn), 312 inhabitants

The actual town of Weißenberg has 977 inhabitants.

History

Weißenberg was founded in 1228 at the Via Regia by Ottokar I of Bohemia and it used to be called Wizenburg, referring to the city's white castle.^[3]

In 1625, the town was able to buy its freedom from its noble masters for 8,500 thalers, but Weißenberg still had to accept a knightly patron.

Today's district of Wurschen is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, since the Battle of Bautzen (1813) on May 20 and 21.

In the 18th century, Weißenberg was still mentioned as a largely Sorbian-inhabited market town, with all residents also speaking German. In the 1880s Arnošt Muka determined a population of 1242, including 300 Sorbs (24%). In 1893 the regular Sorbian services in the Weißenberg church were abolished. 1956, Ernst Tschernik counted a Sorbian-speaking population of only 5.8%, a total of 81 speakers.^[4] Today, the Sorbian community in Weißenberg is a big minority.

On April 17, 1945, the battlefield of World War II came to Weißenberg for the first time, when Soviet artillery shelled the town's train station. The following day Weißenberg was occupied by Soviet troops.^[5]

From 1952 to 1990, Weißenberg was part of the Bezirk Dresden of East Germany.

Sights

Castle of Gröditz
Kotitz: Evangelical church with Jan-Kilian-monument
Riegelmühle in Nechern
Church of Nostitz
The museum Alte Pfefferküchlerei shows how the traditional Pfefferkuchen are made
Castle of Wurschen

Education

There are two schools in Weißenberg; a 'Grundschule' and a 'Mittelschule'.

Notable people

Pawoł Nedo (1908–1984), educator and anthropologist Sorbian, Chairman of the Domowina
Benno von Heynitz (1924–2010), resistance fighter and lawyer, founder of Bautzen Committee e. V. and the Bautzen Memorial
Wolfgang Beyer, city historian and former director of the outpatient clinic

In fiction

In James P. Hogan's science fiction novel The Proteus Operation, Weißenberg was the location of a time machine in Nazi Germany.

Twin towns

Deckenpfronn (1990) ^[6]

External links

Weißenberg in the Digital Historic Index of Places in Saxony (Digitales Historisches Ortsverzeichnis von Sachsen)
Website of Weißenberg
Interactive 360° panorama of Weißenbergs, Marktplatz

References

^ Gewählte Bürgermeisterinnen und Bürgermeister im Freistaat Sachsen, Stand: 17. Juli 2022, Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen.
^ "Einwohnerzahlen nach Gemeinden als Excel-Arbeitsmappe" (XLS) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen. 2024.
^ Jan Meschgang: Die Ortsnamen der Oberlausitz. Domowina Verlag, Bautzen 1973, S. 144.
^ Ernst Tschernik (1954), Die Entwicklung der sorbischen Bevölkerung (in German), Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, p. 108
^ Bautzener Tageblatt vom 2. Mai 1945, Bericht über die Kämpfe um Bautzen
^ "Fruchtbare Gemeindefreundschaft Weißenberg - Deckenpfronn" [Fruitful community friendship Weißenberg - Deckenpfronn] (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-10-01.

[1] Gewählte Bürgermeisterinnen und Bürgermeister im Freistaat Sachsen, Stand: 17. Juli 2022, Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen.

[2] "Einwohnerzahlen nach Gemeinden als Excel-Arbeitsmappe" (XLS) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen. 2024.

[3] Jan Meschgang: Die Ortsnamen der Oberlausitz. Domowina Verlag, Bautzen 1973, S. 144.

[4] Ernst Tschernik (1954), Die Entwicklung der sorbischen Bevölkerung (in German), Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, p. 108

[5] Bautzener Tageblatt vom 2. Mai 1945, Bericht über die Kämpfe um Bautzen

[6] "Fruchtbare Gemeindefreundschaft Weißenberg - Deckenpfronn" [Fruitful community friendship Weißenberg - Deckenpfronn] (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-10-01.

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