Elstra

Basic data
State :	Saxony
County :	Bautzen
Height :	200 m above sea level NHN
Area :	32.63 km 2
Residents:	2723 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	83 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	01920
Area code :	035793
License plate :	BZ, BIW, HY, KM
Community key :	14 6 25 130
LOCODE :	DE ELH
City structure:	13 districts
; City administration address :	Am Markt 1 ; 01920 Elstra
Website :	www.elstra.de
Mayor :	Frank Wachholz (Elstra Round Table)
Location of the city of Elstra in the Bautzen district

Aerial panorama

Elsterquelle at Kindisch

Elstra , in Upper Sorbian Halštrow , is a country town in the Saxon Upper Lusatia in the Bautzen district . The name of the city is derived from the Black Elster , which rises south of the city , near the district of Kindisch.

The actual city has only about 2,000 inhabitants and is one of the smallest cities in Germany. Due to the recent incorporation of the neighboring villages, the population is 2723 (2019).

geography

Geographical location

Elstra is located about 50 km northeast of Dresden in the West Lusatian hill country at the eastern foot of a mountain range up to 448 m ( Hochstein ) high.

City structure

Elstra is divided into 13 districts (Sorbian place names in brackets; population figures as of June 30, 2015):

Boderitz ( Bódricy ), 48 inhabitants
Dobrig ( Dobrik ), 49 Ew.
Elstra ( Halštrow ), 1386 Ew.
Gödlau ( Jědlow ), 116 Ew.
Childish ( Kinč ), 211 Ew.

Kriepitz ( Krěpjecy ), 206 Ew.

Ossel ( Wóslin ), 38 Ew.

Prietitz ( Protecy ), 301 Ew.
Rauschwitz ( Rušica ), 297 Ew.
Rehnsdorf ( Hrańčik ), 50 Ew.
Talpenberg, 69 Ew.
Welka ( Wjelkow ), 27 Ew.
Wohla ( Walow ), 54 Ew.

The formerly independent communities Rauschwitz (with the districts Gödlau and Kindisch) and Prietitz were incorporated into Elstra during the municipal reform in 1994. The district of Kriepitz is the only one that belongs to the official Sorbian settlement area .

history

Elstra was first mentioned in a document in 1248 , and in 1383 the town was granted city rights. The name of the city means place in the Elsteraue.

On July 1, 1950, the previously independent communities of Kriepitz and Ländchen Wohla were incorporated.

politics

Elstra town hall

City council election 2014

Turnout: 60.0%

%

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

41.8%

26.2%

4.6%

7.2%

7.6%

12.6%

RT

CDU

With ^c

left

SPD

ZGG

Remarks:

^c Have a say instead of stepping quietly

City council

Since the municipal council election on May 26, 2019 , the 12 seats of the city council have been distributed among the individual groups as follows:

Citizens' Movement Round Table Elstra (RT): 5 seats
CDU : 2 seats
FDP : 2 seats
Shaping the future together (ZGG): 1 seat
LEFT : 1 seat
Free community of voters: 1 seat

Town twinning

Elstra maintains a town partnership with the Czech town of Rtyně v Podkrkonoší .

Culture and sights

Attractions

Elstra Castle

Listed old town
Large historical market square with an ancient linden tree
Replica of the Saxon distance column from 1725 on the market (original coat of arms in the town hall and parts of the first replica on Hainmühlenweg)
Baroque St. Michaelis Church with Abraham Strohbach organ from 1755
Castle with garden (private property)
Prietitzer Schanze (about 4000 years old Bronze Age ramparts / escape castle in the Prietitz district)
Picturesque wooded landscape (Schwarzenberg (413 meters), NSG Hochstein (448 meters) etc.)

Sports

On the Schwarzenberg there is a downhill ski run with a ski lift and 4 downhill runs.
Elstra sports center with gym, bowling alley, artificial turf, etc.

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

Elstra is about 5 km from the Burkau junction to the A 4 Dresden - Görlitz . There is a bus line from Hoyerswerda via Kamenz to Elstra and on to Bischofswerda . Elstra station was on the Bischofswerda – Kamenz railway line and has been without passenger traffic since 1968, the last freight train ran in 1994 and the line was finally closed in 1998. The Dresden Airport can be reached via the A4 motorway in about 30 minutes. The Kamenz airfield is approx. 10 km from Elstra and offers sightseeing flights over Upper Lusatia.

economy

Various trades, service companies and small craft businesses characterize the city's economy. The numerous pottery companies, which have a long tradition, should be emphasized. A lot of agriculture is practiced in the incorporated communities. Mining was and is done by extracting granite. The Elstra industrial park in the Rauschwitz district is located near the A4 motorway exit Burkau. The automotive supplier Linde + Wiemann has a location in Elstra-Rauschwitz .

education

The city of Elstra has a primary and a high school.

Personalities

Karl Eberhard (1820–1907), architect, born in Elstra
Heinrich Friedrich Gretschel (1830-1892), mathematician (born in the Prietitz district)
Ernst Hager (1847–1895), philologist, born in Elstra (called himself Elstrano-Lusaticus on his dissertation )
Paul Johannes Beger (1886–1970), mineralogist
Georg Derlitzki (1889–1958), agricultural scientist, business economist and labor economist, resident in the Kindisch district after being banned from working by the Nazis, buried in Elstra
Otto Garten (1902–2000), painter, born in Elstra
Karl Schön (1923–1994), politician (SPD), born in Elstra
Ullrich Holland (1950–2001), sculptor

literature

Cornelius Gurlitt : Elstra. In: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. 35. Issue: Amtshauptmannschaft Kamenz (Land) . CC Meinhold, Dresden 1912, p. 24.