Luban
Encyclopedia
Lubań ' is a town in southwest Poland
north of the Jizera Mountains
on the Kwisa
river, with 22,137 inhabitants (2006). Situated within the historic Upper Lusatia
region, it today belongs to the Lower Silesian Voivodeship
(from 1975–1998 it was in the former Jelenia Góra Voivodeship
). The town is the seat of Lubań County
and also of the smaller administrative district called Gmina Lubań
(although it is not part of the territory of the latter, as the town is a separate urban gmina
in its own right).
tribe, whose lands from 927 on were conquered by German king Henry the Fowler and incorporated into the marca Geronis
in 939. In 965 the Milceni territory became part of the Margraviate of Meissen. In 1156 Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
vested his ally Duke Vladislaus II of Bohemia with the former Milceni territory around Bautzen
, that later would be called Upper Lusatia.
Likewise several other city foundings under the rule of the Přemyslid dynasty
, Lubań, owing to its favourable location on various trade routes, expanded rapidly. In 1220 or 1268 (the second date is more probable) Lauban became a town with Magdeburg rights
. The centre of the town was a square marketplace with perpendicular streets, leading to four gates: Görlitzer Tor (Zgorzelecka) to the west, Bracker (Bracka) (built in 1318 together with stone curtains by Heinrich Jaworski) to the south, Mikołajska to the east and Nowogrodziecka to the north. The first mayor of the town was Nikolaus Hermann, and Lauban received its own seal. Since about 1253 Upper Lusatia had been under the rule of the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg
. In 1319 the Piast
Duke Henry I of Jawor
claimed their heritage and occupied the lands up to the town of Görlitz
including Lubań. He built a new town hall, whose ruins can be seen today (Kramarska Tower). Henry ruled the town for eighteen years, before he finally ceded it to his brother-in-law King John of Bohemia.
Under the rule of the Bohemian kingdom
, Lubań on 10 August 1346 established the Lusatian League, together with the towns of Görlitz
, Löbau
, Zittau
, Bautzen
and Kamenz
. Twice however, in 1427 and 1431, the Hussite
s completely demolished the town, it was quicky rebuilt. In its history, Lauban has repeatedly suffered great fires, which often ruined the whole town. Many inhabitants died as a result of plagues. According to the rules of the 1635 Peace of Prague
the town with Upper Lusatia passed to the Saxon Electorate
. During Saxon rule, the Dom pod Okrętem ("House under the Ship") was built.
In 1815 the Lusatian territory around Lauban and Görlitz was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia
after the Vienna Congress
and incorporated into the Province of Silesia
. In 1865 and 1866 Lauban obtained railway connections with Görlitz
and Hirschberg
. At the end of World War II
in 1945, the region east of the Oder-Neisse line
became part of the People's Republic of Poland
following decisions approved at the Potsdam Conference
. The remaining German inhabitants were expelled westward and replaced with Polish settlers. In 1992–2004 the marketplace was renovated. Streets were paved and town houses around the Kramarska Tower were rebuilt.
• Kramarska Tower – remains of the 13th-century Gothic town hall
• Stone curtains (1318) made from basalt from a local quarry. Behind the curtains were situated four main gates: Nowogrodziecka, Mikołajska, Bracka i Zgorzelecka
• Bracka Donjon (built in 1318 by Henryk Jaworski)
• Trynitarska Tower (1320 r.) on Wrocławska street, a remnant of Holy Trinity Church
• Salt House or Cereal House (Polish: Dom Solny/Dom Zbożowy) (1539), a building made of basalt
• Town hall built in 1554 in Renaissance style
• House under the Ship (Polish: Dom pod Okrętem) (1715), the house of the Kirchoff family
• Park on Kamienna Góra hill (14 hectare
s). Contains evidence of an extinct tertiary volcano, such as basalt columns or “volcanic bombs”; also has a wood with exotic trees: Liriodendron tulipifera, Pinus pinea, Pinus nigra. Kamienna Góra also has an amphitheatre and a castle-style residence, which was built in 1824 and rebuilt in 1909, offering views of the Sudetes mountains (including Śnieżka, the highest peak).
• Johann Knöfel (1525–30-1617), composer
• Jakob Bartsch
(1600-1633), astronomer
• Konrad Gottlob Anton (1745-1814), orientalist
• Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow (1831-1890), explorer of Africa
• Elisabeth von Saldern (1878-1938), Mother Superior
• Karl Hanke
(1903-1945), NSDAP-Politician
• Otto Kuss (1905-1991), theologian
• Heinz Kessler
(1920), general in the National People's Army, Minister of Defense in the Ministerrat, and representative in the Volkskammer of the German Democratic Republic
• Horst Klaus (1930), unionist
• Hans Geisler (1940), politician
• Konrad Weiß (1942), film director
• Helmut Bakaitis
(1944), actor
• Ludwig Danziger (1874–1925), painter
, Denmark
Kolín
, Czech Republic
Prienai
, Lithuania
}
}}
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
north of the Jizera Mountains
Jizera Mountains
Jizera Mountains , or Izera Mountains, are part of the Western Sudetes on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The major part is formed from granite, with some areas formed from basalt. The mountains got their name from the Jizera River, which rises at the southern base of Smrk...
on the Kwisa
Kwisa
The Kwisa is a river in south-western Poland, a left tributary of the Bóbr, which itself is a left tributary of the Oder river.It rises in the Izera Mountains, part of the Western Sudetes range, where it runs along the border with the Czech Republic...
river, with 22,137 inhabitants (2006). Situated within the historic Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia is a region a biggest part of which belongs to Saxony, a small eastern part belongs to Poland, the northern part to Brandenburg. In Saxony, Upper Lusatia comprises roughly the districts of Bautzen and Görlitz , in Brandenburg the southern part of district Oberspreewald-Lausitz...
region, it today belongs to the Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province , is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is currently divided. It lies in southwestern Poland...
(from 1975–1998 it was in the former Jelenia Góra Voivodeship
Jelenia Góra Voivodeship
Jelenia Gora Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship...
). The town is the seat of Lubań County
Luban County
Lubań County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. The county covers an area of . Its administrative seat and...
and also of the smaller administrative district called Gmina Lubań
Gmina Luban
Gmina Lubań is a rural gmina in Lubań County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Lubań, although the town is not part of the territory of the gmina....
(although it is not part of the territory of the latter, as the town is a separate urban gmina
Gmina
The gmina is the principal unit of administrative division of Poland at its lowest uniform level. It is often translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2010 there were 2,479 gminas throughout the country...
in its own right).
History
In the 9th and 10th century AD Lubań was a small settlement established by the West Slavic MilceniMilceni
The Milceni or Milzeni were a West Slavic tribe, who settled in the present-day Upper Lusatia region. They were first mentioned in the middle of the 9th century AD by the Bavarian Geographer, who wrote of 30 civitates which possibly had fortifications. They were gradually conquered by Germans...
tribe, whose lands from 927 on were conquered by German king Henry the Fowler and incorporated into the marca Geronis
Marca Geronis
The Marca Geronis was a vast super-march in the middle of the tenth century. It was created probably for Thietmar and passed to his two sons consecutively: Siegfried and Gero...
in 939. In 965 the Milceni territory became part of the Margraviate of Meissen. In 1156 Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
vested his ally Duke Vladislaus II of Bohemia with the former Milceni territory around Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
, that later would be called Upper Lusatia.
Likewise several other city foundings under the rule of the Přemyslid dynasty
Premyslid dynasty
The Přemyslids , were a Czech royal dynasty which reigned in Bohemia and Moravia , and partly also in Hungary, Silesia, Austria and Poland.-Legendary rulers:...
, Lubań, owing to its favourable location on various trade routes, expanded rapidly. In 1220 or 1268 (the second date is more probable) Lauban became a town with Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...
. The centre of the town was a square marketplace with perpendicular streets, leading to four gates: Görlitzer Tor (Zgorzelecka) to the west, Bracker (Bracka) (built in 1318 together with stone curtains by Heinrich Jaworski) to the south, Mikołajska to the east and Nowogrodziecka to the north. The first mayor of the town was Nikolaus Hermann, and Lauban received its own seal. Since about 1253 Upper Lusatia had been under the rule of the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
. In 1319 the Piast
Silesian Piasts
The Silesian Piasts were the oldest line of the Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile, son of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland...
Duke Henry I of Jawor
Henry I of Jawor
Henry I of Jawor , was a Duke of Jawor-Lwówek-Świdnica-Ziębice during 1301-1312 , sole Duke of Jawor-Lwówek since 1312 and Duke of Głogów since 1337 until his death....
claimed their heritage and occupied the lands up to the town of Görlitz
Görlitz
Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
including Lubań. He built a new town hall, whose ruins can be seen today (Kramarska Tower). Henry ruled the town for eighteen years, before he finally ceded it to his brother-in-law King John of Bohemia.
Under the rule of the Bohemian kingdom
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
, Lubań on 10 August 1346 established the Lusatian League, together with the towns of Görlitz
Görlitz
Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
, Löbau
Lobau
The Lobau is a Vienna floodplain on the northern side of the Danube and partly in Großenzersdorf, Lower Austria. It has been part of the Danube-Auen National Park since 1996 and has been a protected area since 1978. It is used as a recreational area and is known as a site of nudism. There is...
, Zittau
Zittau
Zittau is a city in the south east of the Free State of Saxony, Germany, close to the border tripoint of Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. , there are 28,638 people in the city. It is part of the Görlitz district....
, Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
and Kamenz
Kamenz
Kamenz is a Lusatian town in eastern Saxony, Germany, with a population of 18,243, and is part of the Bautzen district. The town is located about northeast of Dresden and about northwest of Bautzen....
. Twice however, in 1427 and 1431, the Hussite
Hussite
The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...
s completely demolished the town, it was quicky rebuilt. In its history, Lauban has repeatedly suffered great fires, which often ruined the whole town. Many inhabitants died as a result of plagues. According to the rules of the 1635 Peace of Prague
Peace of Prague (1635)
The Peace of Prague of 30 May 1635 was a treaty between the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II and the Electorate of Saxony representing most of the Protestant states of the Holy Roman Empire...
the town with Upper Lusatia passed to the Saxon Electorate
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
. During Saxon rule, the Dom pod Okrętem ("House under the Ship") was built.
In 1815 the Lusatian territory around Lauban and Görlitz was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
after the Vienna Congress
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
and incorporated into the Province of Silesia
Province of Silesia
The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...
. In 1865 and 1866 Lauban obtained railway connections with Görlitz
Görlitz
Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
and Hirschberg
Jelenia Góra
----Jelenia Góra is a city in Lower Silesia, south-western Poland. The name of the city means "deer mountain" in Polish, Czech and German. It is close to the Krkonoše mountain range running along the Polish-Czech border – ski resorts such as Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba can be found...
. At the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1945, the region east of the Oder-Neisse line
Oder-Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line is the border between Germany and Poland which was drawn in the aftermath of World War II. The line is formed primarily by the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and meets the Baltic Sea west of the seaport cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście...
became part of the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
following decisions approved at the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
. The remaining German inhabitants were expelled westward and replaced with Polish settlers. In 1992–2004 the marketplace was renovated. Streets were paved and town houses around the Kramarska Tower were rebuilt.
Places of interest
Points of interest in Lubań include:• Kramarska Tower – remains of the 13th-century Gothic town hall
• Stone curtains (1318) made from basalt from a local quarry. Behind the curtains were situated four main gates: Nowogrodziecka, Mikołajska, Bracka i Zgorzelecka
• Bracka Donjon (built in 1318 by Henryk Jaworski)
• Trynitarska Tower (1320 r.) on Wrocławska street, a remnant of Holy Trinity Church
• Salt House or Cereal House (Polish: Dom Solny/Dom Zbożowy) (1539), a building made of basalt
• Town hall built in 1554 in Renaissance style
• House under the Ship (Polish: Dom pod Okrętem) (1715), the house of the Kirchoff family
• Park on Kamienna Góra hill (14 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s). Contains evidence of an extinct tertiary volcano, such as basalt columns or “volcanic bombs”; also has a wood with exotic trees: Liriodendron tulipifera, Pinus pinea, Pinus nigra. Kamienna Góra also has an amphitheatre and a castle-style residence, which was built in 1824 and rebuilt in 1909, offering views of the Sudetes mountains (including Śnieżka, the highest peak).
Famous people born in Lubań
• Martin Behm (1557-1662), pastor, writer• Johann Knöfel (1525–30-1617), composer
• Jakob Bartsch
Jakob Bartsch
Jakob Bartsch or Jacobus Bartschius was a German astronomer.-Biography:Bartsch was born in Lauban in Lusatia. He was taught how to use the astrolabe by Sarcephalus , a librarian in Breslau...
(1600-1633), astronomer
• Konrad Gottlob Anton (1745-1814), orientalist
• Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow (1831-1890), explorer of Africa
• Elisabeth von Saldern (1878-1938), Mother Superior
• Karl Hanke
Karl Hanke
Karl August Hanke was an official of the National Socialist German Workers Party . He served as governor of Lower Silesia from 1941 to 1945 and as the final Reichsführer-SS for a few days in 1945.- Early life :Hanke was born in Lauban in Silesia, on 24 August 1903, the son of a locomotive...
(1903-1945), NSDAP-Politician
• Otto Kuss (1905-1991), theologian
• Heinz Kessler
Heinz Kessler
Heinz Kessler was an Armeegeneral in the National People's Army of the German Democratic Republic ; Minister of Defense of the GDR; a member of the Politbüro of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany ; and a deputy of the GDR's Volkskammer...
(1920), general in the National People's Army, Minister of Defense in the Ministerrat, and representative in the Volkskammer of the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
• Horst Klaus (1930), unionist
• Hans Geisler (1940), politician
• Konrad Weiß (1942), film director
• Helmut Bakaitis
Helmut Bakaitis
Helmut Bakaitis is an Australian director, actor and screenwriter.Bakaitis was born in Lauban, Silesia, Germany to Lithuanian parents...
(1944), actor
• Ludwig Danziger (1874–1925), painter
Twin towns
In 1992 the Lusatian Six-City League was reactivated. Lubań is further twinned with: SkjernSkjern, Denmark
Skjern is a railway town located in western Jutland, Denmark with a population of 7,665 . It was the main town in now abolished Skjern Municipality. From 2007 it is, with Ringkøbing, the co-administrative seat of Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Kolín
Kolín
Kolín is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic some east from Prague, lying on the Elbe river.-History:Kolín was founded by king Přemysl Otakar II in the 13th century, first mentioned in 1261. Later on, 1437, a castle was founded here...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
Prienai
Prienai
Prienai is a city in Lithuania situated on the Neman River, south of Kaunas. In 2001 the city had 11,353 inhabitants. The name of the city is a derivative from a surname Prienas. Pociūnai Airport is associated with the city.-History:...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
External links
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