Five Community

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A five -community, also written as “5-community”, is a free communal association of originally five, now six neighboring German and Czech communities in the border region of Eastern Saxony (southern Upper Lusatia ) and northern Bohemia ( Bohemian Netherlands or Schluckenauer Zipfel ). Administratively, the German municipalities belong to the district of Görlitz or the district of Bautzen and the Czech ones to the Okres Děčín .

history

Prelude in Neusalza-Spremberg

The roots of the five parish go back to 1992. As part of the festivities for the 750th anniversary of Neusalza-Spremberg , a border town to the Czech Republic in southern Upper Lusatia, which were carried out in June 1992 during the difficult time after the fall of 1989/90, new contacts were established with our Czech neighbors. The "Good Neighbors Treaty" concluded at the highest level between Germany and the Czech Republic on February 27, 1992 proved to be a stable political foundation. The Kultur- und Heimatfreunde Neusalza-Spremberg eV under the direction of their then chairman Gunther Leupolt submitted the suggestion at the time that the opening of the border to the Czech Republic should be the highlight during the festive period. Corresponding activities on both sides enabled successful negotiations between the mayors of Neusalza-Spremberg and Šluknov (Schluckenau). As a result, on May 31, 1992, the border was temporarily released for passenger traffic for twelve hours at boundary stone 22/23 near the Black Pond on Neusalza-Spremberger Flur, in order to close the nearby Bohemian Jüttelberg (Jitrovník, 509 m) A popular destination in the pre-war era - to be able to hike. 853 hikers took advantage of this opportunity. At the end of the 1990s, closer relations gradually developed between the mayors of five German and Czech municipalities and their residents in the border region “Southern Upper Lusatia / Schluckenauer Zipfel”. Günter Hamisch, mayor of the then still independent rural community Friedersdorf (Spree) , became the intellectual originator. The Friedersdorf suggestion fell on fertile ground on both sides of the border. The newly elected mayor of the Czech city of Šluknov, Milan Kořínek, took the initiative and invited the official colleagues of the German border municipalities Günter Paulik, Neusalza-Spremberg; Günter Hamisch, Friedersdorf (Spree); Karl-Heinz David, Oppach and Miroslav Fojta from the neighboring Czech town of Jiříkov (Georgswalde) invited us to the Šluknov cultural center on October 19, 2000 for the first working meeting.

Foundation and first activities of the five-church

The date of the first joint working meeting in Šluknov also marks the emergence of the cross-border five-municipality. The new association of partnership relationships subsequently developed into a special form of German-Czech cooperation. In the interest of getting to know each other better, the five congregation members also saw their goal in building a “cross-border communal information platform.” To commemorate the memorable meeting, a linden tree was opened as the Czech national tree on German territory on November 16, 2000 in the presence of citizens from both sides Hallway, junction from the historical “Thieves' Path” to the “Blockhaus” forest restaurant) planted as a “tree of friendship”. In the coming year, the representatives of the five parish met for the third time on March 19, 2001 in Neusalza-Spremberg for the first time. In the "year of preparations for the first steps" of the five-community, as it was called, the mayors of Neusalza-Spremberg agreed on three basic tasks:

  1. Preparations for the opening of further tourist border crossings,
  2. Organization of regular meetings of the citizens at suitable locations in both countries as a new line of tradition,
  3. Creation of conditions for lively cooperation between interest groups and associations from all five municipalities.

The first German-Czech friendship meeting on Jüttelberg

On the basis of the common tasks and objectives, the new community association was soon able to present the first work results. From the two proposed locations for joint meetings - the location of the former church in the desert of Fukov (Fugau) or the Jüttelberg near Království (Königswalde, district of Šluknov) - the decision was made in favor of the latter. At the initiative of the Mayor of Šluknov, Milan Kořínek, the five parish presented itself on Whit Sunday, May 18, 2002, at the first friendship meeting of its residents on Jüttelberg (Jitrovník) between Neusalza-Spremberg and Šluknov. The then mayors of the young five-year community Günter Paulik (Neusalza-Spremberg), Günter Hamisch (Friedersdorf), Stefan Hornig (Oppach, successor to Karl-Heinz David), Milan Kořínek (Šluknov) and Michál Maják (Jiříkov, successor to Miroslav Fojta) signed the corresponding declaration of intent in the presence of over 600 participants on both sides. The Five Community was able to influence the fact that on this day the authorities of both countries released the three border crossings Friedersdorf (“Blockhaus”), Neusalza-Spremberg (“Black Pond”) and Oppach (Grenzstraße, formerly Fugauerstraße) for a limited period. Since the first friendship meeting of the five parish on the Jüttelberg in 2002, this has been repeated every year at Whitsun on the summit.

The end of German-Czech border controls

In the context of the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union on May 1, 2004, efforts were made by the Five Municipality to festively open the border between the German Neusalza-Spremberg and the Czech Šluknov behind the Black Pond as a hiking trail on April 1, 2006 . On this memorable day, over 100 people from both sides were present, with children from the Neusalza-Spremberg daycare center cutting the symbolic border as bearers of hope. At the same time, the tourist border crossings in Oppach (Grenzstrasse) and Friedersdorf (“Blockhaus”) were opened as cycling and hiking trails. The accession of the Czech Republic to the Schengen Agreement with amendments of March 26, 2005 and the implementation of its stipulations led to the general elimination of border controls within the EU states on December 21, 2007 , including between Germany and the Czech Republic.

When the former rural community Friedersdorf became part of the city of Neusalza-Spremberg on January 1, 2008, the community of Sohland an der Spree under Mayor Matthias Pilz asked for admission. The formalities for this were the subject of the 23rd meeting of the Five Community on March 14 of the same year in Neusalza-Spremberg. On the occasion of the 7th friendship meeting on the Jüttelberg on May 10th, Sohland was accepted and closed the gap in the five-community community. A second declaration of intent was passed for this purpose. In the same year there was a change of mayor in the local elections on June 8, 2008 in Neusalza-Spremberg. Günter Paulik, who was head of the city of Neusalza-Spremberg for 18 years and an active supporter in the five-community community, retired. His successor in office was the 41-year-old authorized signatory Matthias Lehmann from Neusalza-Spremberg, who previously worked in Sohland. He went on the mapped out path in Neusalza-Spremberg and in the five parish. For example, he was the organizer of the Five Community for the implementation of the 2nd People's Hiking Day on September 26, 2009, which took place in the corridors of Neusalza-Spremberg. The city of Ebersbach / Sa. Under its mayor Bernd Noack, during this time, he was also interested in welcoming his community and did a lot of preparatory work. But only after the unification of Ebersbach and Neugersdorf to form the twin town of Ebersbach-Neugersdorf on November 4, 2010 and the mayoral elections on April 10, 2011, the accession of the Spree source city Ebersbach-Neugersdorf under the new mayor Verena Hergenröder could take place on November 4, 2011.

Duties of the five parish

The tasks include advising the mayors of the five municipalities - mostly four a year - as well as the traditional citizens' meetings on the Jüttelberg, for which a different member is responsible in turn. Diverse sporting comparative fights, for example indoor soccer tournaments and the organization of eleven popular hiking days in the years from 2008 to 2018, stimulated the work of the five-community and its citizens. Spiritual and cultural events such as exhibitions, museum and castle visits, vernissages as well as communal anniversaries and ceremonies of the communal association also enriched. At the festive event for the 10th anniversary of the Five Community on October 19, 2010, the mayors of the cross-border community in the renovated Schluckenau Castle drew a positive and trend-setting balance.

The eventful year 2010 was also the year when the tried and tested mayor of Šluknov Milan Kořínek passed on November 12, 2010. Ms. Eva Dzunamova succeeded him in office. The cross-border and bilingual five-church continued on its proven path and was able to show corresponding results in its 15th anniversary year. On May 20, 2018, the 17th “Jüttelsberg Meeting” took place. The city of Šluknov under its mayor Eva Dzunamova was once again the patron. The city of Neusalza-Spremberg under Mayor Matthias Lehmann was responsible for the organization and host of the 8th Volkswandertag of the Fünfgemeinde on September 27, 2015.

Members

Member communities, red dotted the area of ​​the founding members

The eponymous five founding members were:

After incorporation and new admissions, the association now consists of the following six municipalities:

  • Ebersbach-Neugersdorf : 20.42 km², 12,713 inhabitants. (As of December 31, 2014); 12,484 Ew. (St .: December 31, 2016), 12,072 (St .: December 31, 2017)
  • Jiříkov (Georgswalde): 13.31 km², 3.828 inhabitants. (As of Jan. 1, 2015); 3.777 Ew. (As of: Jan. 1, 2016), 3.648 (as of: Jan. 1, 2018)
  • Neusalza-Spremberg : 22.89 km², 3,405 inhabitants, as of March 1, 2015, of which Friedersdorf (Spree) as a district: 10.89 km², 1,289 inhabitants. (Status: Dec. 2011); 3,356 Ew. total (As of December 31, 2015), 3,410 (December 31, 2017)
  • Oppach : 8.01 km², 2,454 inhabitants. (As of December 31, 2014); 2,424 Ew. (Status: December 31, 2015), 2,357 (status: December 31, 2017)
  • Šluknov (Schluckenau): 47.44 km², 5,636 inhabitants. (As of Jan. 1, 2015); 5,614 Ew. (As of January 1, 2016), 5.563 (as of January 1, 2018)
  • Sohland on the Spree : 37.27 km², 6,864 inhabitants. (As of December 31, 2014); 6,876 Ew. (Status: December 31, 2015), 6,769 (status: December 31, 2017)

The cross-border five-municipality therefore covers a total area of ​​146.34 km² with around 34,900 inhabitants (Feb. 2016), which is officially 340 fewer than in the previous year with a total of 35,240 inhabitants. In 2015, there was a further fluctuation in five municipalities in the five-municipality , while in Sohland / Spree there was a slight increase in the number of inhabitants. Since 2015 until today (2019), the member municipalities apart from the city of Neusalza-Spremberg have recorded a slight decrease in their population.

The mayors of the member municipalities (2019)

literature

  • Milan Kořinek: Chronicle of the Five Churches - the first ten years. (German and Czech). German translation: Ingrid Pajerova. Šluknov, undated (2011). Project: European Regional Development Fund - Fund for Small Projects Objective 3 2007-2013 (ERDF)
  • Gunther Leupolt : Border relationships. The German-Czech border after World War II. In: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg , Volume 4. Ed. By Günter Hensel, Kultur- und Heimatfreunde Neusalza-Spremberg e. V. and Interest Group “Local History” (IGO) 2011, pp. 103-108.
  • Gunther Leupolt: Friendship overcomes decades of boundaries. In: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg. Volume 2. Ed .: Kultur- und Heimatfreunde Neusalza-Spremberg e. V. 2004, pp. 81-83.
  • Lutz Mohr : 15 years of the Fünfgemeinde / Petimesti, Germany-Czech Republic, (2000–2015). Contribution in three parts. In: Official journal of the administrative community for the city of Neusalza-Spremberg with the district Friedersdorf and the communities Dürrhennersdorf and Schönbach. Part 1: Vol. 20 2015, No. 9 (September), pp. 5–6; Part 2: Vol. 20 2015, No. 10 (October), pp. 6–7; Part 3: 20 vol. 2015, No. 11 (November), pp. 13–14, several color illus.