Saxon WarsThe Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fought, primarily in what is now northern Germany. They resulted in the incorporation of Saxony into the Frankish realm and their forcible conversion from Germanic paganism to Christianity. The Saxons were divided into four subgroups in four regions.
Politics of GermanyGermany is a democratic and federal parliamentary republic, where federal legislative power is vested in the Bundestag (the parliament of Germany) and the Bundesrat (the representative body of the Länder, Germany's regional states). The federal system has, since 1949, been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislature, while it is common for leading members of the executive to be members of the legislature as well.
ZittauZittau (Žitawa; Žytawa; Żytawa; Žitava; Upper Lusatian dialect: Sitte) is the southeasternmost city in the German state of Saxony, and is located in the district of Görlitz, Germany's easternmost district. It has a population of around 25,000, and is one of the most important cities in the region of Lusatia (Upper Lusatia). The inner city of Zittau still shows its original beauty with many houses from several architectural periods: the famous town hall built in an Italian style, the church of St John and the stables (Salzhaus) with its medieval heritage.
OstpolitikNeue Ostpolitik (German for "new eastern policy"), or Ostpolitik for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) beginning in 1969. Influenced by Egon Bahr, who proposed "change through rapprochement" in a 1963 speech at the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing, the policies were implemented beginning with Willy Brandt, fourth Chancellor of the FRG from 1969 to 1974, and winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize for Peace for his efforts to place this policy at the acme of the FRG.
PirnaPirna (ˈpɪʁna; Pěrno; pjer'no) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt. Pirna is located in the vicinity of the Sandstone Mountains in the upper Elbe valley, where two nearby tributaries, Wesenitz from the north and Gottleuba from the south, flow into the Elbe. It is also called the "gate to the Saxon Switzerland" (Ger: Tor zur Sächsischen Schweiz).
PlauenPlauen (ˈplaʊən; Czech: Plavno) is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in the Saxon Vogtland (German: Sächsisches Vogtland). The city lies on the river White Elster (Weiße Elster; a tributary of the Saale), in the Central Vogtlandian Hill Country.
AltmarkSee German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German. The Altmark (English: Old March) is a historic region in Germany, comprising the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt. As the initial territory of the March of Brandenburg, it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as by Otto von Bismarck, a native from Schönhausen near Stendal. The Altmark is located west of the Elbe river between the cities of Hamburg and Magdeburg, mostly included in the districts of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel and Stendal.
EislebenEisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century, Eisleben is divided into old and new towns (Altstadt and Neustadt), the latter of which was created for Eisleben's miners in the 14th century. As of 2020, Eisleben had a population of 22,668. It lies on the Halle–Kassel railway.
HoyerswerdaHoyerswerda (hɔʏɐsˈvɛʁda) or Wojerecy (ˈβɔjɛʀɛtsɪ) is a major district town in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in the Sorbian settlement area of Upper Lusatia, in which the Upper Sorbian language is spoken in addition to German. Hoyerswerda is divided into the Old Town and the New Town, surrounded by village areas. The Old Town is the historical centre with many old houses and sight-seeing attractions, the New Town is more modern and varicoloured.
KwisaThe Kwisa 'kfJisa (Queis, Hwizdź) is a river in south-western Poland, a left tributary of the Bóbr, which itself is a left tributary of the Oder river. It rises in the Izera Mountains, part of the Western Sudetes range, where it runs along the border with the Czech Republic. At the slope of the Smrk massif it turns northwards, flowing along the towns of Świeradów-Zdrój, Mirsk, Gryfów Śląski, Leśna, where it is dammed at the Lake Leśnia reservoir, to Lubań, Nowogrodziec and Kliczków.
