Neuzelle

Neuzelle

Neuzelle brewery (left) and abbey church

Coat of arms
Neuzelle

Coordinates: 52°04′59″N 14°37′59″E / 52.08306°N 14.63306°E / 52.08306; 14.63306Coordinates: 52°04′59″N 14°37′59″E / 52.08306°N 14.63306°E / 52.08306; 14.63306
Country Germany
State Brandenburg
District Oder-Spree
Municipal assoc. Neuzelle
Government
  Mayor Dietmar Baesler (FDP)
Area
  Total 135.00 km2 (52.12 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
  Total 4,302
  Density 32/km2 (83/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 15898
Dialling codes 033652
Vehicle registration LOS
Website www.neuzelle.de

Neuzelle (Lower Sorbian: Nowa Cala, Polish Sławin) is a municipality in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Amt (municipal federation) Neuzelle. It is best known for Cistercian Neuzelle Abbey and its Neuzeller Kloster Brewery.

Geography

Neuzelle is situated in the north of the historic Lower Lusatia region near the border with Poland, about 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Eisenhüttenstadt. The municipal area along the Dorche creek, a tributary of the Oder River, since 2001 also comprises the villages of Bahro (Barow), Bomsdorf (Bogum), Göhlen (Gólin), Henzendorf (Wjesłow), Kobbeln (Kobjeł), Möbiskruge (Łaski), Ossendorf, Schwerzko (Šwjerckow), Steinsdorf (Šćeńjow), Streichwitz (Dundawa), and Treppeln (Trebuł). In the west, it stretches up to the Schlaube Valley Nature Park.

History

Abbey Church
Abbey Church interior

The abbey was established as Nova Cella on 12 October 1268 by the Wettin margrave Henry III of Lusatia in remembrance of his deceased wife Agnes of Bohemia. Henry had acquired the strip of former Lubusz Land up to Fürstenberg (today's Eisenhüttenstadt) from the Silesian duke Bolesław II Rogatka in turn for his mediation in the duke's conflict with his Piast brother Henry III the White.

Neuzelle was a filial monastery of the Cistercian Altzella Abbey (Cella) near Nossen in Henry's Margraviate of Meissen. A first convent of brothers took residence here in 1281. From about 1300, a monastery complex was laid out, including a Brick Gothic hall church, which soon became the spiritual centre of the region. The monks were granted large estates, up to Fürstenberg am Oder in the north and Szydłów (Schiedlo) beyond the Oder River in the east.

In 1367, Neuzelle with Lower Lusatia was purchased by the Luxembourg Emperor Charles IV in his capacity as King of Bohemia. The premises were devastated during the Hussite Wars in 1429 and the monks killed or abducted. Rebuilt afterwards, the monastery and its extended possessions with the Lands of the Bohemian Crown became part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1526. It remained Catholic during the Protestant Reformation, even after the Lutheran Electorate of Saxony had acquired the Lusatias from the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II by the 1635 Peace of Prague. Heavily demolished in the Thirty Years' War, the church was again rebuilt in a Baroque style including rich interior decorations quite unique in Northern Germany.

By the Final Act of the 1815 Vienna Congress, Lower Lusatia fell to Prussia and was incorporated into the Province of Brandenburg. The abbey was finally securalised by the order of King Frederick William III two years later. The buildings were later used as an orphanage and a teachers' seminary institution. Nevertheless, while the Neuzelle parish church turned Protestant, the abbey church remained Catholic and in 1947 was consecrated as Blessed Virgin Mary pilgrimage church. Today the monastery complex is held by a public foundation run by the State of Brandenburg.

Demography

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)
Neuzelle:
Population development within the current boundaries (2013)
[2]
Year Population
1875 5 271
1890 5 055
1910 4 782
1925 4 625
1933 4 824
1939 4 616
1946 6 296
1950 6 279
1964 5 279
1971 4 758
Year Population
1981 4 355
1985 4 179
1989 4 040
1990 3 975
1991 3 973
1992 4 163
1993 4 344
1994 4 424
1995 4 418
1996 4 488
Year Population
1997 4 552
1998 4 402
1999 4 501
2000 4 662
2001 4 616
2002 4 563
2003 4 623
2004 4 680
2005 4 641
2006 4 592
Year Population
2007 4 582
2008 4 539
2009 4 497
2010 4 471
2011 4 404
2012 4 344
2013 4 319

Twin town

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Neuzelle.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kloster Neuzelle.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.