Guben
Encyclopedia
Guben is a town
on the Lusatian Neisse
river in the state
of Brandenburg
, Germany
. Located in the Spree-Neiße
district
, Guben has a population of 20,049. Along with Frankfurt (Oder)
and Görlitz
, Guben is a divided city
on the border between Germany and Poland
, having been separated into Guben and Gubin in 1945.
of Lower Lusatia
. Guben's position on the banks of the Lusatian Neisse between two plateaus was advantageous in its early economic development. These plateaus developed from ground moraine
s of the Wisconsin glaciation
period. Both the western (Kaltenborner Berge = Kaltenborn Hills) and eastern (Gubener Berge = Guben Hills) ended up as terminal moraines. The surrounding land is covered with pine forests and lakes.
Guben is divided into the official districts (with district mayors) of:
of Guben depicts a red wall with three gates (Klostertor, Crossener Tor, Werdertor) and three towers. The three inescutcheons depict the arms of the historic rulers: the Kings of Prussia
, the Kings of Bohemia
, and the Electors of Saxony
. The coat of arms of the Polish sister city Gubin features a Piast Eagle
inescutcheon instead.
and Poznań
and between Görlitz and Frankfurt (Oder). A settlement on the eastern shore of the Lusatian Neisse was protected from swamps to the south and by the Lubst, a tributary of the Neisse, to the north and the east. Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
, granted this settlement Magdeburg rights
on June 1, 1235 and declared it an oppidum (town)
. On the western shore of the river, a cloister
of Benedictine
nuns began developing as an outlying suburb of the town on the eastern shore of the river. In a charter of 1312 Guben received its coat of arms
displaying three towers.
Until 1815, Guben belonged uninterruptedly to the Margravate of Lower Lusatia. Between 1367 and 1635 the margravate belonged to the crown of Bohemia
. The city was fortified in the 14th century with earthworks, trenches, and wooden planking, and then refortified from 1523–1544. In 1635 Elector John George I
of Saxony
received Lower Lusatia and Guben in the Peace of Prague
.
s in 1849. Beginning in 1822, Guben's production of hats covered 65% of German demand. Later industrialization led to the production of rugs and shoes. Lignite
processing began in the eastern half of the city in 1847. The tradition for weaving is still prevalent in modern times as the textile company Trevira maintains a manufacturing plant in the city.
Guben became a rail connection between Frankfurt (Oder) and Breslau (Wrocław) in 1846 and between Cottbus
and Crossen an der Oder (Krosno Odrzańskie)
in 1871. A direct line to Forst (Lausitz) was finished in 1904, and a tram
line ran in the city from February 24, 1904 until June 8, 1938.
In 1815 the Margravate of Lower Lusatia was abolished and replaced with the district system. Guben became the capital of a district within the Province of Brandenburg
. On April 1, 1884, the city of Guben separated from the district of Guben and became its own urban district. On December 1, 1928 the region of Mückenberg was incorporated from the district of Guben into the city of Guben.
Most recently the Anatomist Doctor Gunther von Hagens
, from Heidelberg University where he developed many of his cadaver plastinating techniques, has purchased a disused woolens manufacturing factory. This has been renovated and converted into a museum-cum-work centre. He expects to employ approximately 200 people, which will have some impact on the local unemployment figures currently running at close to 20%
There have been some objections to this development on moral grounds, but the majority of the Guben's population see this development as a good thing for the future prosperity of Guben.
at the end of World War II
in 1945, the boundary between Germany and Poland was fixed as the Oder-Neisse Line
. Because Guben was on the Lusatian Neisse, the city was separated into German Guben and Polish Gubin.
Because the historical center of Guben became Gubin, the western suburbs which grew from the Benedictine cloister remained in Guben. Although underdeveloped compared to the town across the river, the remaining Guben began to grow extensively after 1945, especially through the construction of a chemical plant and additional residential areas. From 1961–1990 Guben was officially named "Wilhelm-Pieck-Stadt Guben" by East Germany after its first and only State President
Wilhelm Pieck
, who was born in the eastern half of the city (today's Gubin) in 1876. From June 1950 until July 23, 1952 Guben was part of the district of Cottbus.
in 1990 brought economic depression and unemployment to the city. When the district of Guben was abolished on December 6, 1993, Guben became part of the district of Spree-Neiße. In recent years the city has begun developing closer ties with Gubin across the river.
(¹) or official administrative documents.
¹ census results
.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
on the Lusatian Neisse
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse is a long river in Central Europe. The river has its source in the Jizera Mountains near Nová Ves nad Nisou, Czech Republic, reaching the tripoint with Poland and Germany at Zittau after , and later forms the Polish-German border on a length of...
river in the state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
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...
, 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...
. Located in the Spree-Neiße
Spree-Neiße
Spree-Neiße is a Kreis in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are the districts Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis and Kamenz in Saxony, the districts Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Dahme-Spreewald and Oder-Spree. The district-free city Cottbus is completely surrounded by...
district
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....
, Guben has a population of 20,049. Along with Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Oder River, on the German-Polish border directly opposite the town of Słubice which was a part of Frankfurt until 1945. At the end of the 1980s it reached a population peak with more than 87,000 inhabitants...
and Görlitz
Görlitz
Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
, Guben is a divided city
Divided cities
A divided city is one which, as a consequence of political changes or border shifts, presently constitutes two separate entities. Listed are the localities and the state they belonged to at the time of division...
on the border between Germany and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, having been separated into Guben and Gubin in 1945.
Environment
Guben is located in the district (Landkreis) of Spree-Neiße in the southeast of the state of Brandenburg. It is in the historical regionHistorical regions of Central Europe
There are many historical regions of Central Europe. For the purpose of this list, Central Europe is defined as the area contained roughly within the south coast of the Baltic Sea, the Elbe River, the Alps, the Danube River, the Black Sea and the Dnepr River. Note that these regions come from...
of Lower 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...
. Guben's position on the banks of the Lusatian Neisse between two plateaus was advantageous in its early economic development. These plateaus developed from ground moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
s of the Wisconsin glaciation
Wisconsin glaciation
The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....
period. Both the western (Kaltenborner Berge = Kaltenborn Hills) and eastern (Gubener Berge = Guben Hills) ended up as terminal moraines. The surrounding land is covered with pine forests and lakes.
Districts
Guben is divided into the unofficial sections of:- Altstadt, formerly to 1945 Klostervorstadt (developed from the early Benedictine cloister area, which developed into the industrial suburb of pre-division Guben)
- Sprucke (originally Vorwerk Altsprucke, added after 1920 with quarter Neusprucke and after 1963 with quarter Obersprucke)
- Reichenbach
Guben is divided into the official districts (with district mayors) of:
- Bresinchen
- Deulowitz
- Groß Breesen (with Grunewald)
- Kaltenborn
- Schlagsdorf
Coat of arms
The coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of Guben depicts a red wall with three gates (Klostertor, Crossener Tor, Werdertor) and three towers. The three inescutcheons depict the arms of the historic rulers: the Kings of Prussia
Coat of arms of Prussia
The state of Prussia developed from the State of the Teutonic Order. The original flag of the Teutonic Knights had been a black cross on a white flag.Emperor Frederick II in 1229 granted them the right to use the black Eagle of the Holy Roman Empire....
, the Kings of Bohemia
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
, and the Electors of Saxony
Coat of arms of Saxony
-See also:*Royal Arms of England*Coat of arms of Portugal*Coat of arms of Belgium*Coat of arms of Bulgaria...
. The coat of arms of the Polish sister city Gubin features a Piast Eagle
Coat of arms of Poland
The White Eagle is the national coat of arms of Poland. It is a stylized white eagle with a golden beak and talons, and wearing a golden crown, in a red shield.- Legal basis :...
inescutcheon instead.
Medieval Guben
Guben began to develop around 1200 as a trade and marketplace on the roads between LeipzigLeipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
and Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
and between Görlitz and Frankfurt (Oder). A settlement on the eastern shore of the Lusatian Neisse was protected from swamps to the south and by the Lubst, a tributary of the Neisse, to the north and the east. Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrave of Thuringia.-Life:Born probably at the Albrechtsburg residence in Meissen, Henry was the youngest son of Margrave Theodoric I...
, granted this settlement Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...
on June 1, 1235 and declared it an oppidum (town)
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
. On the western shore of the river, a cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
of Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
nuns began developing as an outlying suburb of the town on the eastern shore of the river. In a charter of 1312 Guben received its coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
displaying three towers.
Until 1815, Guben belonged uninterruptedly to the Margravate of Lower Lusatia. Between 1367 and 1635 the margravate belonged to the crown of Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
. The city was fortified in the 14th century with earthworks, trenches, and wooden planking, and then refortified from 1523–1544. In 1635 Elector John George I
John George I, Elector of Saxony
John George I was Elector of Saxony from 1611 to 1656.-Biography:Born in Dresden, he was the second son of the Elector Christian I and Sophie of Brandenburg....
of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
received Lower Lusatia and Guben in the Peace of Prague
Peace of Prague (1635)
The Peace of Prague of 30 May 1635 was a treaty between the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II and the Electorate of Saxony representing most of the Protestant states of the Holy Roman Empire...
.
Growth of economy and infrastructure
Guben's textile industry began to develop in the 16th century, although it began to flourish in the 19th century, especially with leather gloveLeather glove
A leather glove is a fitted covering for the hand with a separate sheath for each finger and the thumb. This covering is composed of the tanned hide of an animal , though it is not uncommon in recent years for the leather to be synthetic.- Common uses :A common use for leather gloves is sporting...
s in 1849. Beginning in 1822, Guben's production of hats covered 65% of German demand. Later industrialization led to the production of rugs and shoes. Lignite
Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
processing began in the eastern half of the city in 1847. The tradition for weaving is still prevalent in modern times as the textile company Trevira maintains a manufacturing plant in the city.
Guben became a rail connection between Frankfurt (Oder) and Breslau (Wrocław) in 1846 and between Cottbus
Cottbus
Cottbus is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree. As of , its population was .- History :...
and Crossen an der Oder (Krosno Odrzańskie)
Krosno Odrzanskie
Krosno Odrzańskie is a city on the east bank of Oder River, at the confluence with the Bóbr. The town in Western Poland with 12,500 inhabitants is the capital of Krosno County...
in 1871. A direct line to Forst (Lausitz) was finished in 1904, and a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
line ran in the city from February 24, 1904 until June 8, 1938.
In 1815 the Margravate of Lower Lusatia was abolished and replaced with the district system. Guben became the capital of a district within the Province of Brandenburg
Province of Brandenburg
The Province of Brandenburg was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:The first people who are known to have inhabited Brandenburg were the Suevi. They were succeeded by the Slavonians, whom Henry II conquered and converted to Christianity in...
. On April 1, 1884, the city of Guben separated from the district of Guben and became its own urban district. On December 1, 1928 the region of Mückenberg was incorporated from the district of Guben into the city of Guben.
Most recently the Anatomist Doctor Gunther von Hagens
Gunther von Hagens
Gunther von Hagens is a controversial German anatomist who invented the technique for preserving biological tissue specimens called plastination.-Early life:...
, from Heidelberg University where he developed many of his cadaver plastinating techniques, has purchased a disused woolens manufacturing factory. This has been renovated and converted into a museum-cum-work centre. He expects to employ approximately 200 people, which will have some impact on the local unemployment figures currently running at close to 20%
There have been some objections to this development on moral grounds, but the majority of the Guben's population see this development as a good thing for the future prosperity of Guben.
After World War II
At the Potsdam ConferencePotsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1945, the boundary between Germany and Poland was fixed as the Oder-Neisse Line
Oder-Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line is the border between Germany and Poland which was drawn in the aftermath of World War II. The line is formed primarily by the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and meets the Baltic Sea west of the seaport cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście...
. Because Guben was on the Lusatian Neisse, the city was separated into German Guben and Polish Gubin.
Because the historical center of Guben became Gubin, the western suburbs which grew from the Benedictine cloister remained in Guben. Although underdeveloped compared to the town across the river, the remaining Guben began to grow extensively after 1945, especially through the construction of a chemical plant and additional residential areas. From 1961–1990 Guben was officially named "Wilhelm-Pieck-Stadt Guben" by East Germany after its first and only State President
Leaders of East Germany
The political leadership of East Germany was in the hands of several offices.Prior the proclamation of an East German state, the Soviets established in 1948 the German Economic Commission as a de facto government in their occupation zone...
Wilhelm Pieck
Wilhelm Pieck
Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck was a German politician and a Communist. In 1949, he became the first President of the German Democratic Republic, an office abolished upon his death. He was succeeded by Walter Ulbricht, who served as Chairman of the Council of States.-Biography:Pieck was born to...
, who was born in the eastern half of the city (today's Gubin) in 1876. From June 1950 until July 23, 1952 Guben was part of the district of Cottbus.
Reunification
The German reunificationGerman reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990 brought economic depression and unemployment to the city. When the district of Guben was abolished on December 6, 1993, Guben became part of the district of Spree-Neiße. In recent years the city has begun developing closer ties with Gubin across the river.
Population growth
The following is an overview of Guben's population until 2005. Until 1844 the population was mostly estimated, while afterwards the figures are from census results(¹) or official administrative documents.
|
|
¹ census results
External links
All links are in GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.