Görlitz, Polish: Zgorzelec

Czech: Zhořelec; Latin: Gorlicium, civitas Gorlicense

The town’s name is derived from the Old Upper Sorbian *Zgorelc (= settlement on a burnt-out stretch of woodland, a slash-and-burn settlement).

Görlitz is situated at 51° 1' north, 15° 0' east, about 100 km east of Dresden on the German-Polish border.

Upper Lusatia

Federal Republic of Germany, Free State of Saxony, administrative centre of the Görlitz district. The town is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Görlitz. – Görlitz-Ost/Zgorzelec: Republic of Poland, Lower Silesian Voivodeship (Województwo Dolnośląskie), Zgorzelec District (Powiat Zgorzelecki).

The coat of arms was granted by Emperor Charles IV (1316–1378) and renewed in 1433 by Emperor Sigismund (1368–1437). The current coat of arms of the German town of Görlitz is based on the historical model and depicts, on a divided shield, on the right, the black double-headed imperial eagle (representing the Emperor and the King) on a gold field, and on the left, a standing silver lion with two tails, striding to the right and wearing a golden crown on a red field (signifying the town’s affiliation with the Bohemian Crown). The lion and the eagle each hold a golden imperial crown in their right paw and beak respectively, which was intended to symbolise imperial immediacy.

The coat of arms of the town of Zgorzelec has been in use since 1960 and refers to the first Görlitz town seal (1298). Between two defensive towers, beneath a pot helmet with a flying eagle, there is a triangular shield leaning to the right bearing the Silesian eagle.

In 1981–1984, during work on the parish church of St Peter and Paul, the ground plan of the late Romanesque predecessor building was uncovered. Excavations on Görlitz’s local hill, the Landeskrone (in 1909, 1929, 1937–1938 and 1969–1970) revealed evidence of settlement dating back to the 10th century, as well as a later fortification.

The earliest recorded mention dates from 1071 as ‘villa Goreliz’ in a charter issued by Emperor Henry IV (1050–1106). In the 12th century, a merchant settlement had developed along the Lunitz stream at the foot of a castle overlooking the banks of the Neisse. At the beginning of the 13th century, the settlement was relocated to the high plateau above the western bank of the Lusatian Neisse. The settlement prospered thanks to its favourable location on the via regia, the ancient transcontinental east-west long-distance trade route; this was accompanied by the first development of the bridgehead on the eastern bank. The town, which had been part of the Kingdom of Bohemia since 1329, was granted numerous privileges. After 1469, Görlitz fell within the sphere of influence of the Hungarian and Bohemian King Matthias Corvinus (1443–1490).

The Thirty Years’ War had devastating consequences for Görlitz. Following the Peace of Prague (1635), the town, together with Upper Lusatia, came under Saxon rule.

During the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) and the Napoleonic period between 1807 and 1813, the town became a transit route for armies and suffered from constant billeting. Following the Treaty of Vienna in 1815, it, along with the north-eastern part of Upper Lusatia, became part of Prussia and was assigned to the Liegnitz/Legnica district of the Province of Silesia. From the 1830s onwards, Görlitz experienced an economic and cultural heyday. From 1875, development spread to the eastern bank.

The greatest turning point in the town’s recent history was the establishment of the Oder–Neisse line as the new border following the Second World War in 1945. The western part, including the historic old town, became part of the Soviet Occupation Zone, later the GDR (Dresden District); the eastern part came under Polish administration and was initially called Zgorzelice, and from 1946 Zgorzelec. With the expulsion of the German population, the first Polish settlers arrived in the eastern part of the town. The centralised political and economic system of the GDR pushed the city of Görlitz to the brink of insignificance. On 17 June 1953, it was one of the most important regional centres of the uprising against the state authorities. After 1989, new political and administrative structures transformed life in Görlitz.

Since the end of the 13th century, the development of a civic self-government in Görlitz has been evident. In 1346, Bautzen, Görlitz, Kamenz, Lauban/Lubań Śląski, Löbau and Zittau joined together to form the Upper Lusatian League of Six Towns. The cities’ political influence grew following imperial confirmation and the conferral of judicial authority over the nobility, burghers and peasants. Following the introduction of local self-government in 1833, a municipal council modelled on the Prussian system was established, headed by a mayor.

The population remained stable for a long time; as late as 1800, the population was recorded as approximately 9,000.^[1] From 1820 onwards, a steady increase can be observed; in 1900, 80,932 people lived in Görlitz.^[2] The highest population figures were recorded in 1939 (93,823) and in 1949 (101,742), due to the influx of refugees. Since then, Görlitz – situated west of the Lusatian Neisse – has experienced a steady, accelerating decline in population, which only recently appears to have bottomed out: 77,609 inhabitants in 1988, 54,956 in 2012.^[3] Today, 32,000 people live in Zgorzelec, Poland.^[4]

From time immemorial, the merchant class – often organised into trading companies with extensive networks of contacts – relied primarily on the fur trade, cloth production and the cloth trade, which remained of considerable importance to Görlitz well into the 19th century.

The introduction of the Prussian Trade Regulations in 1845 gave fresh impetus to the pioneering spirit and entrepreneurial drive of the middle classes. Among the pioneers of Görlitz’s industrialisation was Christoph Lüders (1803–1872), whose company caused a worldwide sensation with the development of a high-speed railcar, the so-called ‘Flying Hamburger’. Another important company was the Mechanical Engineering Works and Iron Foundry, founded in 1852, whose products – primarily turbines, steam engines and generators – enjoyed an excellent reputation. The two companies merged in 1923 to form WUMAG. During the Nazi era, the company benefited from forced labourers from the concentration camp satellite camp in Biesnitz near Görlitz.

Today, the railway carriage manufacturing division belongs to the Canadian company Bombardier; Siemens operates its turbine manufacturing division in the former mechanical engineering works.

With the introduction of Protestant sermons, the Reformation took hold in Görlitz from 1521 onwards, leading to the decline of the Catholic Church. From 1825, Görlitz came under the authority of the Breslau Constitutorium (from 1934, the Bishop). In 2004, the parish joined the Regional Church of Berlin-Brandenburg. It was not until 1829 that a Catholic service was celebrated again in Görlitz. The proportion of Catholic believers grew only slowly. After 1945, the bishop’s seat was moved to Görlitz. Formerly part of the Diocese of Breslau, an archiepiscopal see was first established there in 1945, followed by a separate diocese in 1994.

In Zgorzelec today, the majority of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church (Diocese of Liegnitz). Furthermore, Greek refugees have played a role in the town’s history; since 2002, the parish has had a Greek Orthodox church – the Church ofSaints Constantine and Helena (Cerkiew Świętych Konstantyna i Heleny).

There is evidence of a Jewish quarter and a Jewish population up until their expulsion in the 14th century. A new settlement was established after 1847. Until the Nazi policies of persecution and extermination began in 1933, a strong Jewish community developed, which had a significant influence on cultural life in Görlitz.

The Museum of Antiquities and Art has existed since 1872; since 1902, the Upper Lusatian Memorial Hall has provided premises for the Kaiser Friedrich Museum (now the Dom Kultury in Zgorzelec). In 1932, following a refurbishment, the Kaisertrutz was incorporated into the Görlitz museum landscape. From 1951 onwards, the municipal collections moved into the former building of the Upper Lusatian Society of Sciences, founded in 1779. With its fully preserved library, this society building, under the motto ‘in uno museum’, combines a private scholarly collection in the spirit of Enlightenment encyclopaedism with the town’s exhibits. The Physics Cabinet in the so-called Baroque House showcases experiments into the study of electricity conducted by Adolf Traugott von Gersdorff (1744–1807), one of the co-founders of the scientific society. The Alpine models on display here are among the oldest of their kind. One of the most important scientific institutions is the Senckenberg Museum, which grew out of the Natural History Society (focusing on zoology, botany and mineralogy). Since 2001, the Silesian Museum in Schönhof has been open to the public and preserves the heritage of the rich Silesian province through its collection and research activities. The Lusatian Museum (Polish: Muzeum Łużyckie) is located in Zgorzelec.

Görlitz gained prominence in the field of scholarship during the 16th century. Among the leading thinkers of the early 17th century was Jacob Böhme (1575–1624), who was once based in Görlitz; his former home is now located in Zgorzelec, Poland (ul. Daszyńskiego 12). With his major theosophical work *Aurora, or The Dawn Breaking*, he laid the foundations for classical German philosophy. Research into the work of this great thinker is now carried out by the International Jacob Böhme Institute in Görlitz

In 1779, representatives of the town’s bourgeoisie, together with enlightened nobles, founded the Upper Lusatian Society of Sciences (see above).

Görlitz boasts over 4,000 individual architectural and urban heritage sites, some of which are of exceptional quality, and is sometimes described as Germany’s largest ‘heritage area’. As a model city for heritage conservation, it has been undergoing gradual restoration since the early 1990s.

St Nicholas’ Church, the oldest church in the town, was first mentioned in 1298. St Peter and St Paul’s Church was built between 1225 and 1235 as a three-aisled basilica. Its reconstruction as the most spacious hall church in Upper Saxony was completed in 1497. The Church of the Holy Trinity was originally part of the Franciscan monastery, which was dissolved in 1563 during the Reformation.

As early as the early modern period, Görlitz enjoyed a vibrant musical culture, particularly through the choir of the main parish church of St Peter and Paul, the town council’s musical ensemble, and the town grammar school. In 1570, the mayor of Görlitz, Bartholomäus Scultetus (1540–1614), founded the Convivium musicum; this musical society existed until the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War.

There is evidence of regular concerts by the town band dating back to 1803. From 1889 onwards, the Silesian Music Festivals were closely linked to the city’s cultural life. Every two to three years, choirs and orchestras from all over Germany gathered here to stage highly acclaimed performances together with local artists. In 1910, a concert hall with 2,000 seats was built for the music festivals, based on plans by the Berlin architect Bernhard Sehring (1855–1941).

The town’s first documented printing works was established in 1553 by Crispin Scharffenberg, a native of Lauban, and evidence of a permanent printing works can be traced back to 1565. With the *Lausitzisches Magazin* , first published in 1768 by Friedrich Fickelscherer, a periodical was established which is still published today by the Upper Lusatian Society of Sciences.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Görlitz became a meeting place for numerous artists and writers. The lawyer Paul Mühsam (1876–1960) demonstrated a talent for poetry with works such as *Sonett aus der Einsamkeit* (1926) and *Stufen zum Licht* (1933). Also worthy of mention is Arno Schmidt (1914–1979), who grew up in Görlitz. The copperplate engraver and journalist Johannes Wüsten experienced his most productive creative period in Görlitz. He was friends with Ludwig Kunz (1900–1976) from Görlitz, who founded the ‘Freie Gruppe: Die Lebenden’ here.

In 1830, Görlitz became a garrison town. Between 1854 and 1858, a barracks was built on the highest point of the old town. Later, the ‘New Barracks’ (‘Red Barracks’) were built in the Oststadt district. In 1935, the Kleist Barracks were built on Hermsdorfer Straße, followed a year later by the Winterfeldt Barracks in the Moys district.

In 1862, the people of Görlitz erected a monument on Marienplatz, created by the Dresden sculptor Johannes Schilling (1828–1910) on Marienplatz, having renamed the old Rademarkt in front of the gates to the Old Town ‘Demianiplatz’ in his honour shortly after his death. Frankfurt’s Director of Urban Planning, Martin Elsaesser (1884–1957), designed a memorial to those who fell in the First World War in St Nicholas’ Church, one of the most interesting examples of Expressionist art in Görlitz.

In Zgorzelec, the STALAG VIII A memorial commemorates the prisoner-of-war camp that existed from 1940 to 1944, which held up to 47,000 captured soldiers. The cemetery on Ulica Bohaterów II Armii Wojska Polskiego commemorates the more than 3,000 soldiers of the Second Polish Army who fell here in the spring of 1945.

One of the major controversies of the last two decades has been the struggle over the cultural identity of the people of Görlitz. Two camps stand opposed to one another: the representatives of Upper Lusatia and those of Silesia. The starting point is the partition of Upper Lusatia in 1815. For centuries, Upper Lusatia had been a unified cultural region, which was subsequently divided into a Saxon and a Prussian sphere of influence. Upper Lusatia had become part of the Prussian province of Silesia and, after 1945, was the only remaining part of Silesia on German soil. This led to fierce debates over identity, particularly after 1990. A wide range of arguments in favour of both Silesian and Upper Lusatian identities were put forward; each of these excludes others rather than reconciling them and, as such, offers no satisfactory solution.^[5] Similarly,‘flight and expulsion’is a theme in Görlitz. After 1945, the expulsion of the German population began in the territories east of the Neisse River that had been ceded to Poland. Many initially settled in Görlitz, west of the Neisse, in the hope of a speedy return. However, the decreed ‘German-Polish friendship’ (the Görlitz Agreement of 1950) had no basis in Görlitz given the socio-demographic developments of the post-war years. It was not until after 1990 that Görlitz and Zgorzelec began to draw closer and agreed to establish a partnership under the banner of a ‘European City’; since 2004, the Old Town Bridge – rebuilt as a pedestrian bridge – has, amongst other things, linked the two halves of the city. The driving force behind this development is, in particular, the post-war generation.

• Ines Anders, Peter Wolfrum: Görlitz. Historical Views across Four Centuries. Würzburg 1997.
• Joachim Bahlcke (ed.): History of Upper Lusatia. Rule, Society and Culture from the Middle Ages to the End of the 20th Century. Leipzig 2001.
• Andreas Bednarek: The Urban Development of Görlitz in the 19th Century. Görlitz 1991 (Publication Series of the City of Görlitz Council Archives 15).
• Andreas Bednarek: Görlitz, as it once was. Düsseldorf 1993.
• Michael Guggenheimer: Görlitz. Layer by Layer. Traces of a Future. Bautzen 2004.
• Peter Haslinger (ed.): Historical-Topographical Atlas of Silesian Towns / Historyczno-topograficzny atlas miast śląskich. Vol. 1: Görlitz/Zgorzelec. Edited by Christoph Waack, translated by Dariusz Gierczak. Marburg/L., Wrocław 2010.
• Maritta Iseler: Building and Architecture in the City of Görlitz. Forms of Representation on the Threshold of the Early Modern Period. Bernstadt 2014.
• Richard Jecht: History of the City of Görlitz. 2 vols. Görlitz 1927–1934.
• Ernst-Heinz Lemper: Görlitz. A Historical Topography. 2nd, revised edition. Görlitz 2009.
• Wilfried Rettig: The Görlitz Railway Junction. Egglham 1994.

• Görlitz Magazine. The History and Present Day of the City of Görlitz and its Surroundings (1987 onwards)
• New Lusatian Magazine. Journal of the Upper Lusatian Society of Sciences in Görlitz (1822–1926).

• www.goerlitz.de (the town’s website)
• www.unser-goerlitz.de (Via Regia bookshop’s website)
• www.zgorzelec.eu/ (Zgorzelec town website in Polish)
• www.schlesisches-museum.de/ (website of the Silesian Museum in Görlitz)
• www.herder-institut.de/staedteatlas-schlesien (Historical-topographical atlas of Silesian towns [including a section on Görlitz/Zgorzelec], edited by Peter Haslinger, Wolfgang Kreft, Grzegorz Strauchold and Rościsław Żerelik)
• www.herder-institut.de/bildkatalog/wikidata/Q4077 (Images relating to Görlitz/Zgorzelec in the image archive of the Herder Institute, Marburg)

[1] Richard Jecht: The Economic Conditions of the Town of Görlitz in the First Third of the 19th Century. Görlitz 1916, p. 18.

[2] Administrative Report of the City of Görlitz 1900 (Görlitz City Council Archives).

[3] Görlitz City Council (ed.): The City of Görlitz. Facts and Figures. Görlitz 2012.

[4] Central Statistical Office: demografia.stat.gov.pl/BazaDemografia/StartIntro.aspx (accessed 13 August 2021).

[5] One organisation representing such views is the ‘board of trustees of Some Oberlausitz e.V.’, which submitted a petition to the Saxon State Parliament. See: www.unsere-oberlausitz.de (accessed 19 November 2014).

Andreas Bednarek: Görlitz/Zgorzelec. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2014. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32386 (as at 30 July 2021).