Bautzen

Bautzen

Bautzen (Sorbian-Lusatian Budyšin, Polish - Budziszyn) is a city in the east of Saxony, Germany, and capital of the same-named district. It is located on the Spree River. Population 42.391 (2003).

Bautzen may be regarded as the unofficial capital of Upper Lusatia, and it is a cultural center of the Sorbs, a Slavic minority.

The first written proof of the city was in 1002. In 1018 the Peace of Bautzen was signed between the German king Henry II and the Polish king Boleslaus I. The Treaty left Bautzen under the Polish rule. In 1033 the city passed to the Holy Roman Empire, in 1319 to Bohemia and in 1635 to Saxony. During the Middle Ages it was a member of the Six Cities' Alliance of the Upper Lusatian cities of Görlitz, Zittau, Löbau, Kamenz, Lauban and Bautzen.

During the Nazi era there was a subcamp of the Groß-Rosen concentration camp in Bautzen. Ernst Thälmann was imprisoned there before being deported to Buchenwald.

The East German regime kept a prison for opposition members in Bautzen. The prison was called Gelbes Elend ("Yellow Misery") by the people.

In 2002 the city commemorated its thousandth birthday.

Asteroid (11580) Bautzen is named in honor of the city.

External link

• http://www.bautzen.de Official website