Großräschen is a town in Lower Lusatia

Lower Lusatia

Lower Lusatia is a historical region stretching from the southeast of the Brandenburg state of Germany to the southwest of the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Important towns beside the historic capital Lübben include Calau, Cottbus, Guben , Luckau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg and Żary...

, in Germany

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...

. Administratively, it is part of the district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz

Oberspreewald-Lausitz

Oberspreewald-Lausitz is a Kreis in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Dahme-Spreewald, Spree-Neiße, the districts Kamenz and Riesa-Großenhain in Saxony, and the district Elbe-Elster....

, in the state of Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

.

Geographical situation

Großräschen is situated south of the Niederlausitzer Landrücken, a sandy stretch of land grown with pine forests in the centre of Lusatia

Lusatia

Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...

. The small river Rainitza used to take its source in meadows north of the town centre. South of the town, Lake Ilse (now an open-cast lignite mine) will be completed around 2020. The town proper comprises the historical core, Kleinräschen, as well as Großräschen. The southernmost quarter, Bückgen, was pulled down due to mining. Outside the town proper, the villages of Freienhufen (historically Dobristroh) with Bulldorf, Dörrwalde, Wormlage, Saalhausen, Woschkow, and Schmogro (Großräschen-Ost).

History

Both Großräschen and Kleinräschen were first mentioned in an official document in 1370. Form of settlement and the name suggest that Kleinräschen is older than Großräschen. The villages developed slowly; the Wendish population depended almost entirely on agriculture. From the middle of the 19th century onwards, heavy industry developed, and the villages grew rapidly. In 1965, they were granted the status of a town, having been incorporated into one community in 1925. The 1980s brought the destruction of Bückgen, whose inhabitants (4000 of them had to leave their homes) were moved into blocks of flats. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the decline of the industries (glass manufacturing, brick production, mining and agriculture used to be presented in the town's coat of arms) caused heavy unemployment.

Sights

• Protestant Church
• Catholic Church with interior decoration by Friedrich Preß
• Medieval village church in Freienhufen
• open-cast mine lookout
• Historic village structures in Kleinräschen, Dörrwalde, Wormlage, Saalhausen (farm type of Senftenberger Vierseitenhof)

Infrastructure

• Rail links to Berlin, Senftenberg, Stralsund (slow trains)
• Federal road B 96
• Motorway A 13/E 66

External links

• http://www.grossraeschen.de/ (official)