Lusatia (
German Lausitz,
Upper Sorbian Lužica,
Lower Sorbian Lužyca,
Polish Luzyce,
Czech Lužice) is a historical region between the
Bóbr and
Kwisa rivers and the
Elbe river in the eastern German states of
Saxony and
Brandenburg and south-western
Poland (
Lower Silesian Voivodeship).
The name derives from a Sorbian word meaning "swamps" or "water-hole".
Upper Lusatia is characterised by fertile soil and undulating hills as well as by historic towns and cities such as Bautzen, Görlitz, Zittau, Löbau, Kamenz, Luban, Bischofswerda, Herrnhut, Hoyerswerda, Bad Muskau. Many villages in the very south of Upper Lusatia contain a typical attraction of the region, the so-called Umgebindehäuser, half-timbered-houses representing a combination of Franconian and Slavic style. Among those villages are Niedercunnersdorf, Obercunnersdorf, Wehrsdorf, Jonsdorf, Sohland an der Spree, Taubenheim, Oppach, Varnsdorf or Ebersbach.
Most of the area belonging to the German state of Brandenburg today is called Lower Lusatia (Niederlausitz or Dolna Lužyca) and is characterised by forests and meadows. In the course of much of the 19th and the entire 20th century, it was shaped by the lignite industry and extensive open-pit mining. Important towns include Cottbus, Lübben, Lübbenau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, and Senftenberg - Zly Komorow.
