Senftenberg is a town in southern Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, capital of the Oberspreewald-Lausitz

Oberspreewald-Lausitz

Oberspreewald-Lausitz is a Kreis in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Dahme-Spreewald, Spree-Neiße, the districts Kamenz and Riesa-Großenhain in Saxony, and the district Elbe-Elster....

 district.

Geography

Senftenberg is located in the southwest of the historic Lower Lusatia

Lower Lusatia

Lower Lusatia is a historical region stretching from the southeast of the Brandenburg state of Germany to the southwest of the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Important towns beside the historic capital Lübben include Calau, Cottbus, Guben , Luckau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg and Żary...

 region at the border with Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

. Its town centre is situated north of the river Schwarze Elster

Schwarze Elster

The Black Elster or Schwarze Elster is a 179 km long river in eastern Germany, in the states Saxony, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, right tributary of the Elbe. Its source is in the Upper Lusatia region, near Elstra....

 and the artificial Senftenberger Lake, part of the Lausitzer Seenland

Lausitzer Seenland

The Lausitzer Seenland is a chain of artificial lakes in Germany, situated across the north-eastern part of Saxony and the southern part of Brandenburg...

 chain, approximately 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) northwest of Hoyerswerda

Hoyerswerda

Hoyerswerda is the largest city in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in Lusatia, a region where many people speak the Sorbian languages in addition to German.-Geography:...

, and 35 kilometres (21.7 mi) southwest of Cottbus

Cottbus

Cottbus is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree. As of , its population was .- History :...

.

History

Senftenberg was first mentioned in a 1279 deed issued by Henry III the Illustrious of Wettin

Henry III, Margrave of Meissen

Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrave of Thuringia.-Life:Born probably at the Albrechtsburg residence in Meissen, Henry was the youngest son of Margrave Theodoric I...

, then Margrave of Lusatia. With Lower Lusatia, the settlement was acquired by the Kingdom of Bohemia

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...

 under Charles IV of Luxembourg

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....

 in 1368. Elector Frederick II of Saxony

Frederick II, Elector of Saxony

Frederick II was Elector of Saxony and was Landgrave of Thuringia .-Biography:...

 acquired Senftenberg in 1448, whereafter the area as a border stronghold of the House of Wettin was separated from Bohemian Lusatia, until in 1635 all Lusatian territories fell to Saxony

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...

 by the 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...

. According to the 1815 Congress of Vienna

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,...

, Lower Lusatia was annexed by 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...

 and incorporated into the Province of Brandenburg

Province of Brandenburg

The Province of Brandenburg was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:The first people who are known to have inhabited Brandenburg were the Suevi. They were succeeded by the Slavonians, whom Henry II conquered and converted to Christianity in...

.

International relations

Senftenberg is twinned

Town twinning

Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 with: Püttlingen

Püttlingen

Püttlingen is a town and a municipality in the district of Saarbrücken, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km northwest of Saarbrücken....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Nowa Sól

Nowa Sól

Nowa Sól is a town on the Oder River in Lubusz Voivodeship, western Poland. It is the capital of Nowa Sól County and had a population of 40,351 as of 2006.-History:...

, Poland

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...

 Senftenberg

Senftenberg, Austria

Senftenberg is a town in the district of Krems-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. The municipality consists of six cadastral subdivisions:* Imbach * Meislingeramt * Priel...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

Saint-Michel-sur-Orge

Saint-Michel-sur-Orge

Saint-Michel-sur-Orge is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Inhabitants of Saint-Michel-sur-Orge are known as Saint-Michellois.-Transport:...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Veszprém

Veszprém

Veszprém is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county of the same name.-Location:...

, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 Žamberk

Žamberk

Žamberk is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,100 inhabitants.-Museums and Historic Sites:* Municipal Museum – Československé armády 472* House of Prokop Diviš – Helvíkovice 326* Litice - ancient castle...

, 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....

 Fresagrandinaria

Fresagrandinaria

Fresagrandinaria is a comune and town in the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region of Italy...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

Demography

After the second half of the 19th century the inhabitants increased because of workers coming to Senftenberg to work in the coal mines. After the German Reunion, many inhabitants moved to the western part of Germany.

Developing of the number of inhabitants in Senftenberg from 1300 to 2007
Year	Inhabitants		Year	Inhabitants		Year	Inhabitants		Year	Inhabitants		Year	Inhabitants		Year	Inhabitants
1300	400		1858	1.517		1939	17.566		1989	31.580		1996	26.647		2003	29.474
1474	600		1867	1.638		1946	17.783		1990	29.622		1997	27.109		2004	29.136
1555	900		1875	2.847		1950	18.260		1991	28.840		1998	26.424		2005	28.774
1575	918		1890	5.134		1964	24.053		1992	28.470		1999	25.576		2006	28.071
1680	1.150		1910	13.742		1971	24.367		1993	28.123		2000	24.740		2007	27.515
1806	979		1925	17.472		1981	32.005		1994	27.637		2001	30.539
1818	819		1933	17.803		1985	32.278		1995	27.336		2002	29.957

External links

• Official Site