Bernsdorf (Upper Lusatia)

Basic data
State :	Saxony
County :	Bautzen
Height :	152 m above sea level NHN
Area :	59.87 km 2
Residents:	6422 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	107 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	02994
Area code :	035723
License plate :	BZ, BIW, HY, KM
Community key :	14 6 25 030
City structure:	4 districts
; City administration address :	Rathausallee 2 ; 02994 Bernsdorf
Website :	www.bernsdorf.de
Mayor :	Harry Habel (CDU)
Location of the city of Bernsdorf in the Bautzen district

Large Bernsdorf coat of arms

Aerial view (in the foreground the melt pond)

Bernsdorf ( Upper Sorbian Njedźichow ) is a small Saxon town in the Bautzen district on the northern edge of Upper Lusatia .

geography

Geographical location

The city is located within extensive forests on the outermost edge of the Upper Lusatian pond landscape about 11 km north of Kamenz , 14 km southwest of Hoyerswerda and 17 km south of Senftenberg . In the north and northeast, lignite mining used to be practiced. The place is immediately surrounded by an almost flat, large-scale heathland .

In terms of urban planning, Bernsdorf is still more of a rapidly growing industrial village than a city with a fixed, planned city center.

City structure

The districts of Waldhof , Zeißholz ( Upper Sorbian Ćisow ) , Großgrabe (Hrabowa) , Straßgräbchen (Nadrózna Hrabowka) and Wiednitz (Wětnica) belong to Bernsdorf .

history

Bernsdorf OL Castle, today city administration

Bernsdorf was first mentioned in a document in 1438. The name is likely to come from the town's founder, "a Bernhard von Kamenz" . In 1438 the place belonged to the Bohemian crown. Gangolf von Lüttichau acquired the manor in 1534. In 1578 the estate was enfeoffed with a brewing and malt house. Melchior von Loeben bought the land in 1613, which he sold to the city of Kamenz in 1615 for 13,450 thalers . In 1639 the Saxon electors became sovereigns. In 1653 Ludwig d. J. von Kahle Bernsdorf from the city of Kamenz in order to bequeath it to his son Georg Christoph in 1695. 1672 when the Turks Poland raided lived in Bernsdorf eight Grenzhüfner , a Halbhüfner, two gardeners and four Häusler . In 1695, the Elector of Saxony , interested in buying Bernsdorf, had the estate estimated at 11,737 thalers and 17 silver groschen. In 1731, when the Reichsgewerbegesetz put the guilds under state supervision, Bernsdorf received its own post. In 1773 Johann Gottlob Raum founded the local school system.

In 1788, Sigismund Ehrenreich von Redern , who had been the landlord of Bernsdorf since 1771, built a blast furnace for lawn iron ore , thus laying the foundation for the first Bernsdorf company. In 1815, Bernsdorf was incorporated into Prussia by resolution of the Congress of Vienna . In 1839 Bernsdorf had 308 inhabitants. In 1845 Heinrich Friedrich Moritz Beyer, who has been a landlord in Bernsdorf since 1816, laid the foundation stone for the glass industry in Bernsdorf with glass production . In 1848 his factory was named "Ludwigshütte". In 1853, the Bernsdorfer Eisenwerker produced over 70 tons of cast parts for the Löbauer König-Friedrich-August-Turm , which they then assembled in nine months. In 1863, the Hoffmann brothers started glass production in the “Alte Hütte”.

Former zinc white smelter before the demolition planned for 2018

In 1870, metallurgical engineer Dudek founded the zinc-white steelworks in Bernsdorf in the former "Ludwigshütte" glass factory , which later became the sole producer in the GDR . In 1874 the new Kamenz – Senftenberg railway extended the local infrastructure. In 1886, Uhlich bought the ironworks as the penultimate owner, before it became public-owned 60 years later, which it remained for 44 years. After the fall of the Wall in 1990, it was gradually privatized.

For his statistics on the Sorbian population in Upper Lusatia, Arnošt Muka determined a population of 270 inhabitants in the 1880s; 150 of them were Sorbs (56%) and 120 were Germans.

In 1891, an innovative glass technology was introduced in Bernsdorf with the tub melting process . In 1922, the industrialist Hugo Stinnes, the last landlord of the 388-year-old manor, sold part of the Bernsdorf estate for 1.5 million paper marks to the Bernsdorf community. Stinnes had acquired the property for 1.2 million, but before this sale sold the capital-rich coal fields to the Clara III mine (Zeißholz). At the end of the Second World War , the army administration acquired large areas of land in the clay forest north of Bernsdorf, on which, in addition to a branch of the Speer transport corps , a settlement (transit camp ) for the return of Mennonites to Germany with a capacity of 4,000 residents was to be built.

In 1954 construction began on the waterworks and the expansion of the drinking water network. The forest pool was expanded to become a local recreation area. In 1955 social housing began. Bernsdorf developed into an important industrial location in 1960. On September 18, 1968, Bernsdorf received city rights. In 1991 the administrative community was formed with Straßgräbchen, Wiednitz, Großgrabe and Zeißholz. It was dissolved on January 1, 2012 with the incorporation of the last affiliated community.

Incorporations

In 1950, the Neu Wiednitz and Waldhof settlements immediately adjacent to Bernsdorf were incorporated . On January 1, 1994, Zeißholz was incorporated into Bernsdorf. Großgrabe followed on January 1, 1997 . Straßgräbchen was added on January 1, 2007. On January 1, 2012, Wiednitz was finally incorporated .

politics

City council

City council election 2014

Turnout: 50.5%

%

40

30th

20th

10

0

38.6%

9.7%

22.7%

13.4%

3.5%

9.0%

3.1%

CDU

FDP

left

BKC

AFV ^e

BIB

SPD

Remarks:

^e Alliance "Work, Family, Fatherland"

Since the municipal council election on May 25, 2014 , the 18 seats of the city council have been distributed among the individual groups as follows:

CDU : 8 seats
LEFT : 5 seats
Free voters / Bernsdorfer Karnevalsclub (BKC): 2 seats
FDP : 2 seats
Citizens' initiative PRO Bernsdorf (BIB): 1 seat

mayor

Harry Habel was re-elected in 2012.

coat of arms

Description : Divided into blue and gold; Above a stylized golden eagle's wing adorned with shamrocks , below a black running bear with a knocked out tongue.

Town twinning

There has been an official town twinning with Steinenbronn in Baden-Württemberg since 1990 . This municipality is in turn sibling with Polla in Italy , with Le Roeulx in Belgium and with Quinsac (near Bordeaux in France ). Some activities take place with all of these communities, including an annual youth meeting in Polla.

Culture and sights

The Johanneskirche in Bernsdorf

The Protestant Johanneskirche was built in 1905 in the neo-Gothic style.

The Straßgräbchen-Bernsdorf (Oberlausitz) station on the Lübbenau – Kamenz railway line

The local sports club is the Bernsdorf Gymnastics and Sports Association (TSG Bernsdorf).

Economy and Infrastructure

Companies

The company Aluform System GmbH & Co. KG , based in Bernsdorf provides aluminum profile plates ago. Leichtform GmbH , founded in 2009, processes PUR foams at the Bernsdorf site.

The glassworks founded by the Hoffmann brothers has been located in Bernsdorf since 1872. During the GDR era, the glassworks was known under the Ankerglas brand . After the reunification, the company went to Gerresheimer in 1991 and to BSN Glasspack in 2000. Owens-Illinois has owned the cabin since 2004 . Today the factory mainly produces bottles for spirits.

education

The city of Bernsdorf has a primary school and a free high school called "WIR". Foundation: 2009

traffic

The federal highway 97 crosses Bernsdorf from northeast to southwest. The federal autobahn 4 and thus the European route 40 run 30 km south of Bernsdorf. The Straßgräbchen-Bernsdorf (Upper Lusatia) station is on the Lübbenau – Kamenz railway line . The Dresden airport is located 40 km southwest.

Personalities

Gotthold Anders (1857–1936), politician (NLP, DVP), MdL
Karl Bettin (* 1930), politician (SED), Minister for Glass and Ceramics Industry and Minister for Light Industry of the GDR
Horst Kosel (1927–2012), German sports scientist and university professor
Heinz-Karl Kummer (1920–1987), painter and graphic artist
Gerhard Möhwald (1920–2012), former mayor and honorary citizen
Christian Rudolph (* 1949), athlete
Wilfried Seibicke (1931–2009), Germanist, onomatologist
Rosemarie Will (* 1949), legal scholar
Gerhard Zschieschang (1931–2012), mycologist

literature

Deutschmann: From the history of the industrial village of Bernsdorf. in: Scholz: Heimatbuch des Kreis Hoyerswerda. Verlag Ziehlke, Bad Liebenwerda 1925, pp. 259-261 ( digitized version ).
Georg Uhlich: History of the Bernsdorfer Eisenhüttenwerk. in: Scholz: Heimatbuch des Kreis Hoyerswerda. Verlag Ziehlke, Bad Liebenwerda 1925, pp. 136-141 ( digitized version ).