Kamenz

Kamenz
Coat of arms
Kamenz
Location of Kamenz within Bautzen district
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Bautzen
Municipal assoc.	Kamenz-Schönteichen
Government
• Mayor	Roland Dantz (Ind.)
Area
• Total	53.15 km2 (20.52 sq mi)
Population (2014-12-31)
• Total	15,158
• Density	290/km2 (740/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	01917
Dialling codes	03578
Vehicle registration	BZ, BIW, HY, KM
Website	www.kamenz.de

Kamenz (Sorbian Kamjenc) is a Lusatian town in eastern Saxony, Germany, with a population of 18,243, and is part of the Bautzen district. The town is located about 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Dresden and about 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Bautzen. The philosopher and poet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was born in Kamenz, as was Bruno Hauptmann - the convicted kidnapper of the son of Charles Lindbergh.

History

At the end of the 12th century at the location of today's old town a castle stood to secure the junction of the route Via Regia and the river Schwarze Elster. (The Via Regia offered an important trade route between Belgium and Silesia.)

In 1225 written records first mentioned the town, and in 1319 it became independent. Kamenz and five other Lusatian towns founded the League of six towns of Upper Lusatia for protection against robber barons in 1346. In 1707 a fire destroyed large parts of the old town.

Theater

• Stadttheater (City theater)
• Hutbergbühne Kamenz (an open-air stage for up to 10,000 visitors)

Museums

• Museum der Westlausitz (Museum of Western Lusatia)
• Lessingmuseum (Museum of Lessing)

Buildings

Town hall and Andreasbrunnen

• Town hall of Kamenz (build 1848 to 1849, Italian Neorenaissance)
• Andreasbrunnen (Andreas Fountain), on the market square
• Red Tower, Mönchsmauer (monk wall), Pichschuppen (parts of the medieval town battlement)
• Protestant main church St. Marien (build 1275 - 1479, late gothic architecture)
• minster St. Annen (1499)
• catechism church (1358)
• Lessing memorial (place where birth house of Lessing was situated)
• Lessing-Haus

Nature

• Hutberg (294 m) - mountain with park, with Rhododendron
• about 32% of the nature of the District is under protection
• there is a good network of routes for riding by bicycle and hiking

Events

• Blütenlauf auf dem Hutberg (Run on the Hutberg)
• Lessing Days (every year, January and February)
• Fête de la Musique every year on June 21
• Forstfest (Forest Festival), every year in the week of August 24 (St Bartholomew's Day)
• Kamenzer Nasenfest (Nose Festival), Festival with the so-called nose market every year on October 3
• carnival
• Popular German band Silbermond, originally from the nearby town of Bautzen, have made it a personal tradition to play the final concert of their album tours at Kamenz's Hutbergbühne stadium.

Personalities

• Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) born in Kamenz, philosopher and poet
• Richard Hauptmann (1899-1936), convicted kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

External links

• Museum of Western Lusatia
• Museum of Lessing