Crostwitz, in Sorbian Chrósćicy, is a village and municipality in the center of the German

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...

 district of Bautzen

Bautzen (district)

Bautzen is a district in the Free State of Saxony in Germany including the former districts of Bischofswerda and Kamenz. It is bounded by the Czech Republic, the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, the district-free city Dresden and the districts of Meißen and Görlitz...

 in 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....

. It belongs to Upper Lusatia

Upper Lusatia

Upper Lusatia is a region a biggest part of which belongs to Saxony, a small eastern part belongs to Poland, the northern part to Brandenburg. In Saxony, Upper Lusatia comprises roughly the districts of Bautzen and Görlitz , in Brandenburg the southern part of district Oberspreewald-Lausitz...

 and is one of the centres of the Sorbian

Sorbs

Sorbs are a Western Slavic people of Central Europe living predominantly in Lusatia, a region on the territory of Germany and Poland. In Germany they live in the states of Brandenburg and Saxony. They speak the Sorbian languages - closely related to Polish and Czech - officially recognized and...

 area in Saxony.

Geography

The village of Crostwitz is situated at between 160 up to 180 metres above sea level on both sides of Satkula brook, which flows into the Klosterwasser

Klosterwasser

Klosterwasser is a river of Saxony, Germany.-See also:*List of rivers of Saxony...

 not far from the place. The eastern part of the settlement is dominated by the Church's hill, which is bordered by the brook in the south and the west. The larger part of Crostwitz stretches at the west side of Satkula, direction Panschwitz-Kuckau

Panschwitz-Kuckau

Panschwitz-Kuckau, in Sorbian Pančicy-Kukow, is a municipality in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. It is the site of the well-known monastery Sankt Marienstern.The place is located at both sides of the Klosterwasser stream....

.

History

Crostwitz was first mentioned in 1225 as seat of Henricus de Crostiz. In 1945, the Sorbian Domowina

Domowina

Domowina is a political independent league of the Sorbian and Wendish people and umbrella organization of Sorbian societies in Lower and Upper Lusatia, Germany...

was refounded here only 5 days after the war in this part of Germany ended.

Population

Crostwitz is situated in the south-west of the Sorbian heartland and is one of its centres. The major part of the population speaks Sorbian as first language and is of catholic denomination.