Schwarzheide

Schwarzheide
250px
Coat of arms of Schwarzheide Coat of arms
Schwarzheide
Location of Schwarzheide within Oberspreewald-Lausitz district 250px
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Oberspreewald-Lausitz
Government
• Mayor	Christoph Schmidt (Ind.)
Area
• Total	33.23 km2 (12.83 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	5,743
• Density	170/km2 (450/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	01987
Dialling codes	035752
Vehicle registration	OSL (to 1994 SFB)
Website	www.schwarzheide.de

Schwarzheide is a town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in southern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Schwarze Elster, 11 km southwest of Senftenberg, 110 km south of Berlin and 40 km north of Dresden. The little river Pössnitz runs through the eastern part of Schwarzheide.

Neighbouring communities

Immediate neighbors of the town are the towns Ruhland (south), Lauchhammer (west), Schipkau (north) and Senftenberg with the district Brieske (east).

Districts

Schwarzheide has the following districts

• Schwarzheide-West (former Zschornegosda)
• Wandelhof
• Schwarzheide-Mitte
• Schwarzheide-Ost, consisting of Victoria and Naundorf

History

The town's landmark is the watertower. Today´s industrial town, Schwarzheide, was created on October 1, 1936, from the independent communities, Zschornegosda (today Schwarzheide-West) and Naundorf (now part of Schwarzheide-Ost). The name was translated from the Sorbian name, "Zschornegosda", (corny = black, gozd = heath, wood). The date of foundation of this community is unknown. Zschornegosda and Naundorf were founded in the 12th or the 13th century after the Christianization of the Sorbs.

The first written evidence of Naundorf (as Nuwendorff) came from a pledge deed from 1421. Zschornegosda was first written in 1449 (as Cschörnegast) in feudal deed of Duke Frederick II, Elector of Saxony. Naundorf is a typical street village. Zschornegosda is a rotunde called okolnica. The chapel was on the highest point of a sandy knoll.

The development of both villages was retarded by wars, fires, and epidemics. Until the 18th century, the villages had no more than 100 inhabitants.

In 1780, the discovery of lignite coal west of Zschornegosda in Bockwitz lead to mining and the foundation of briquette factories (Ferdinand, Victoria, Victoria II). The river, Schwarze Elster, was drained and converted to a canal, so it was no longer possible to live from fishing. Highway A13 was built in 1936.

World War II

In 1937, Brabag (German: Braunkohlen Benzin AG) completed the Brabag II facility in Ruhland-Schwarlheide (the 4th Nazi Germany Fischer-Tropsch plant) to produce gasoline and diesel fuel from lignite coal. The plant was a target of the Oil Campaign of World War II, used Sachsenhausen concentration camp forced labor, and became a post-war Soviet Joint Stock Company. The factory became VEB Synthesewerk Schwarzheide on January 1, 1954.

When the village's population reached eight-thousand inhabitants, the village became a town on January 11, 1967.

After 1990, Synthesewerk Schwarzheide became a part of BASF AG, which manufactures polyurethane.

Political affinity

The river, Schwarze Elster, forms the border between lower and upper Lusatia. From 1635, both Zschornegosda and Naundorf were part of Saxony. In 1815 both villages came to Prussia because of the Congress of Vienna. Between 1818 and 1952, Zschornegosda and Naundorf were part of Kreis Calau. From 1952 to 1990, Schwarzheide was a part of Kreis Senftenberg in Bezirk Cottbus.

In 1990, town was annexed to Brandenburg, and, on December 6, 1993, to Oberspreewald-Lausitz.

Demography

• Bevölkerungsentwicklung Schwarzheide.pdf

  Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of Nazi rule; Red Background: Time of Communist rule)

• Bevölkerungsprognosen Schwarzheide.pdf

  Recent Population Development (Blue Line) and Forecasts

Schwarzheide:
Population development within the current boundaries

Year Population 1875 983 1890 1 175 1910 2 145 1925 3 638 1933 4 095 1939 5 898 1946 7 449 1950 8 287 1964 8 169 1971 8 570

Year Population 1981 9 920 1985 9 262 1989 9 198 1990 8 936 1991 8 377 1992 8 286 1993 8 153 1994 7 995 1995 7 881 1996 7 699

Year Population 1997 7 540 1998 7 323 1999 7 298 2000 7 203 2001 7 107 2002 6 941 2003 6 793 2004 6 676 2005 6 555 2006 6 510

Year Population 2007 6 451 2008 6 344 2009 6 211 2010 6 053 2011 5 893 2012 5 855

Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.

Parliament

The town parliament of Schwarzheide comprises the mayor and 18 members.

• CDU 5 seats (27,3%)
• FWS 4 seats (22,3%)
• SPD 3 Sitze (18,2%)
• the Left (Germany) 3 seats (17,0%)
• FDP 3 Sitze (15,2%)

The turnout stood at 56,9 percent.

Partnerships

• Krosno Odrzańskie (Poland)
• Karcag (Hungary)
• Piano di Sorrento (Italy)

Culture and art

File:Evangelische Lutherkirche.JPG

Die denkmalgeschützte Lutherkirche

Symbol is the 36 m high watertower built in 1943/44 by French prisoners of war.Lutherkirche from 1754 is also located in the center. The oldest nightclub in eastern Germany is Freizeitpark Wandelhof and there is also a cinema with four sals and 650 places.

Museums

• Kulturhaus of BASF (Schipkauer Straße)
• Museum of Schwarzheide (Dorfaue)

Historical monuments

• Memorial for the victims of the concentration camp
• Monument from 1965 on cemetery Schwarzheide-West for more than 23 unfree workers Brabagvictims

Buildings

• Evangelical church (1953 first new church in the GDR, Otto-Nuschke-Straße)
• Luther church (Schwarzheide)
• Evangelical chapel (Parkstraße)
• Catholic Holy Cross church (Otto-Nuschke-Straße)

Natur and recreation areas

Pine forests, lakes, meadows, and pastures surround Schwarzheide. The Lusatian Lake District and Spreewald are also near Schwarzheide.

Sports

Eurospeedway Lausitz is near.

Infrastructure

Transport

federal highway 13 Bundesautobahn 13 from Berlin to Dresden, in south B 169. There is a rail way point in Schwarzheide-Ost.

Street

A 13 (E 55): Berlin–Dresden (Anschlussstelle (16) Schwarzheide and Anschlussstelle (17) Ruhland)

Railway

RE 18: Falkenberg (Elster)–Bad Liebenwerda–Lauchhammer–Ruhland–Schwarzheide-Ost–Senftenberg–Drebkau–Cottbus

Companies

The largest employer is BASF Schwarzheide GmbH. Other companies include Fränkische Rohrwerke and PeinigerRöRo.

Media

• Local broadcasting Schwarzheide & Ruhland (LSR)

Education

In Schwarzheide exist a secondary school (Schwarzheide-Wandelhof), a high school(Emil-Fischer), a division of Oberstufenzentrums Lausitz (OSZ) to train laboratory technicians and chemistss, and a music school.

Important persons

Honored

• 2002: Hans-Herman Dehmel (CEO of BASF Schwarzheide from 1990 to 1995)
• 2004: Sokratis Giapapas (chief of Fränkisch Rohrwerke in Schwarzheide)

External links

• Internetseite der Stadt Schwarzheide