Niesky

Niesky [ˈniːski] (listen) (Sorbian and Polish: Niska, Czech: Nízké) is a small town in Upper Lusatia in eastern the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 11,000 and is part of the district of Görlitz.

For the community in the United States also known as Niesky, see Hollo, Pennsylvania.
Niesky

Niska
Zinzendorf Square with Moravian Church
Coat of arms
Location of Niesky within Görlitz district
Niesky
Niesky
Coordinates: 51°18′N 14°49′E
CountryGermany
StateSaxony
DistrictGörlitz
Government
 • MayorBeate Hoffmann (previously : W.Rückert)
Area
 • Total53.61 km2 (20.70 sq mi)
Elevation
172 m (564 ft)
Population
 (2019-12-31)[1]
 • Total9,343
 • Density170/km2 (450/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
02906
Dialling codes03588
Vehicle registrationGR, LÖB, NOL, NY, WSW, ZI
Websitewww.niesky.de

Historically considered part of Upper Lusatia, it was also part of Lower Silesia from 1815 to 1945.

History

The town was founded in 1742 by Moravian immigrants. As members of the Moravian Church, they fled from persecution in their Catholic homeland. The name Niesky is the Germanised version of the Czech word nízký ("low").

In 1776, at the age of 12, Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe, future designer of the United States Capitol, as well as of the Baltimore Basilica, was sent to the Moravian School at Niesky.

Niesky was administered by the Moravian Church until 1892, when a separate civil administration was established.[2] In 1931 it obtained a coat of arms, and in 1935 it was granted town rights.[2] In 1935 a Catholic church was opened.[2]

In 1926 the architect Konrad Wachsmann worked in the timber construction firm Christoph & Unmack AG.

During World War II, the Germans established and operated the AL Niesky subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, whose prisoners were mostly Poles, Russians, Jews and Yugoslavs, but also Czechs and Frenchmen, and hundreds of whom died.[3] The Germans evacuated the prisoners in February 1945, leaving only those unable to walk in the camp. During the march, weak prisoners and those unable to continue walking were murdered by the Germans and buried in forests along the way.[3] The prisoners remaining in the camp were liberated by the Polish Second Army which captured the town on April 18, 1945.[3]

Localities

Localities of Niesky are Neuhof, Neusärchen, Neuödernitz, Ödernitz, See, Zeche-Moholz, Kosel, Zedlig and Sandschänke.

Twin town

Niesky is twinned with the French town of Albert.

  • Town hall
  • Public library
  • Raschke's house
  • Wooden house (by Christoph & Unmack AG)

References
  1. "Bevölkerung des Freistaates Sachsen nach Gemeinden am 31. Dezember 2019". Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen (in German). July 2020.
  2. "Stadtgeschichte Niesky". Niesky.de. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  3. "Subcamps of KL Gross- Rosen". Gross-Rosen Museum in Rogoźnica. Retrieved 13 June 2020.


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