Cottbus/Chóśebuz
From top: View of Cottbus at sunset, The Art-Nouveau façade of the State Theater (1905), The 14th cent. Spremberger Tower, View on the Karl-Liebknecht Str, The library of the Brandenburg University of Technology
Coat of arms
Location of Cottbus/Chóśebuz
Cottbus/Chóśebuz Show map of Germany Cottbus/Chóśebuz Show map of Brandenburg
Coordinates: 51°45′38″N 14°20′03″E / 51.76056°N 14.33417°E / 51.76056; 14.33417Coordinates: 51°45′38″N 14°20′03″E / 51.76056°N 14.33417°E / 51.76056; 14.33417
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Urban district
Government
• Lord mayor	Holger Kelch (CDU)
Area
• Total	164.28 km2 (63.43 sq mi)
Elevation	70 m (230 ft)
Population  (2019-12-31)[1]
• Total	99,678
• Density	610/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	03042-03055
Dialling codes	0355
Vehicle registration	CB
Website	www.cottbus.de

Cottbus (German pronunciation: [ˈkɔtbʊs] (listen); Lower Sorbian: Chóśebuz, pronounced [ˈxɨɕɛbus]) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around 125 km (78 mi) southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with extensive sidings/depots. Although only a small Sorbian minority lives in Cottbus itself, the city is considered as the political and cultural center of the Sorbs in Lower Lusatia.

Spelling

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the spelling of the city's name was disputed. In Berlin, the spelling "Kottbus" was preferred, and it is still used for the capital's Kottbusser Tor ("Cottbus Gate"), but locally the traditional spelling "Cottbus" (which defies standard German-language rules) was preferred, and it is now used in most circumstances. Because the official spelling used locally before the spelling reforms of 1996 had contravened even the standardized spelling rules already in place, the Standing Committee for Geographical Names stress their urgent recommendation that geographical names should respect the national spelling standards. A citizen of the city may be identified as either a "Cottbuser" or a "Cottbusser".

Names in different languages:

• Czech: Chotěbuz
• German: Cottbus
• Latin: Cotbusium
• Polish: Chociebuż
• Lower Sorbian: Chóśebuz
• Upper Sorbian: Choćebuz
• Yiddish: קוטבוס‎, romanized: Kotbus

History

Historical affiliations

March of Lusatia 965–1002

Duchy of Poland 1002–1025
Kingdom of Poland 1025–1032
March of Lusatia 1032–1367
Lands of the Bohemian Crown 1367–1445
Margraviate of Brandenburg 1445–1618
Brandenburg-Prussia 1618–1701
 Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1807
Kingdom of Saxony 1807–1815
 Kingdom of Prussia 1815–1871
 German Empire 1871–1918
 Weimar Republic 1918–1933
 Nazi Germany 1933–1945
 Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949
 German Democratic Republic 1949–1990

 Federal Republic of Germany 1990–present

The settlement was established in the 10th century, when Sorbs erected a castle on a sandy island in the River Spree. The first recorded mention of the town's name was in 1156. In the 13th century German settlers came to the town and thereafter lived side by side with the Sorbs. In the Middle Ages Cottbus was known for wool, and the town's drapery was exported throughout Brandenburg, Bohemia and Saxony. In 1445 Cottbus was acquired by the Margraviate of Brandenburg from Bohemia. In 1514 Jan Rak founded the Universitas Serborum, a Sorbian gymnasium, in the city. In 1701 the city became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was also ruled by Saxony between 1807 and 1813. In 1815 the surrounding districts of Upper and Lower Lusatia were ceded by the Kingdom of Saxony to Prussia. According to the Prussian census of 1905, the city of Cottbus had a population of 46,270, of which 97% were Germans, 2% were Sorbs and 1% were Poles.^[2]

In interwar Germany, the town was the site of a concentration camp for unwanted Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.^[3]

During World War II, Cottbus was taken by the Red Army on 22 April 1945. From 1949 until German reunification in 1990, Cottbus was part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

Demography

Culture and education

The Lower Sorbian Gymnasium

The Brandenburg University of Technology Library

Cottbus is the cultural centre of the Lower Sorbian minority. Many signs in the town are bilingual, and there is a Lower Sorbian-medium Gymnasium and a Sorbian Quarter, but Sorbian is rarely spoken on the streets.

Next to Cottbus is the famous Branitz Park, created by Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau after 1845. Schloss Branitz (Branitz Castle) was rebuilt by Gottfried Semper in a late Baroque style between 1846 and 1852, and the gardens Prince Hermann laid feature two pyramids. One of these, the Seepyramide, is in the middle of an artificial lake and serves as his mausoleum.^[5]

Cottbus is also home to the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) and the maths/science-oriented Max-Steenbeck-Gymnasium, named after the physicist Max Steenbeck.

Every year Cottbus hosts the East Europe International Film Festival.

Cottbus has a football team, Energie Cottbus, that plays in the Regionalliga Nordost. Their home matches are played at the city's Stadion der Freundschaft.

Economy

Transportation

Cottbus is served by Cottbus Hauptbahnhof main railway station.

Power generation

There are several lignite-fired power stations in the area around Cottbus (Lausitz) fed through local open pit mining. The biggest stations are "Schwarze Pumpe" (1600 MW), "Boxberg" (1900 MW) and "Jänschwalde" (3000 MW). Some of the open-pit mines have already been shut down with the former de:Tagebau Cottbus Nord being converted into an artificial lake with 19 km² surface area called Cottbuser Ostsee (Cottbus eastern lake).

Twin towns – sister cities

Cottbus is twinned with:^[6]

Notable people

Carl Blechen - Self-Portrait

• Carl Blechen (1798–1840), landscape painter
• Gustav Theodor Fritsch (1838–1927), anatomist, anthropologist and physiologist
• Otto Hugo Paul Grottkau (1846–1898), socialist and trade unionist and American journalist
• Reinhold Platz (1886–1966), aircraft designer and manufacturer at Fokker
• Viktoria Schmidt-Linsenhoff (1944–2013), art historian and professor
• Rudi Fink (born 1958), amateur boxer and boxing coach
• Gabriele Reinsch (born 1963), world record holder discus throwing
• Jens Melzig (born 1965), footballer
• Marco Geisler (born 1974), rower
• Janice Behrendt (born 1983), beauty queen and model
• Daniel Musiol (born 1983), cyclist
• Robert Harting (born 1984), discus thrower
• Tony Martin (born 1985), cyclist
• Heiko Schwarz (born 1989), footballer