Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis
The
Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis (German for
district of Lower Silesian Upper Lusatia) is the eastermost
Kreis (
district) of
Saxony and
Germany. Neighboring districts are (from south clockwise)
Löbau-Zittau,
Bautzen,
Kamenz and the district
Spree-Neiße in
Brandenburg. The district-free city
Görlitz is in the east, at the boundary to
Poland.
The territory of this district was not part of Saxony before
World War II; rather, it, along with the city of Görlitz, was a part of German
Silesia. When most of Silesia was assigned to
Poland after the war, the tiny rump of the Silesian province was integrated into Saxony.
The current district was formed in
1994 by merging the previous districts Niesky and Weißwasser, and most part of the district Görlitz.
The main river in the district is the
Neisse, which also forms the boundary to Poland. The terrain is mostly hilly, with broad valleys. In the past many swamps covered the area, which is now
heath areas and many ponds.
*
Neustadt (Waldnaab)*
Schwandorf*
Zarski (
Poland)
*
Semily (
Czech Republic)
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Coat of arms |
|The stone wall in the bottom of the coat of arms is the symbol of the Oberlausitz region, with its three tops symbolizing the three districts which were merged together. The linden leaves symbolize the
Sorbs slavic minority. The shield above the wall is the old coat of arms of the
Prussian province Lower Silesia (Niederschlesien).
