Neuzelle

Neuzelle
Neuzelle brewery (left) and abbey church
Coat of arms
Neuzelle
Location of Neuzelle within Oder-Spree district
Coordinates: 52°04′59″N 14°37′59″E / 52.08306°N 14.63306°ECoordinates: 52°04′59″N 14°37′59″E / 52.08306°N 14.63306°E
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Oder-Spree
Municipal assoc.	Neuzelle
Government
• Mayor	Dietmar Baesler (FDP)
Area
• Total	135.00 km^2 (52.12 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
• Total	4,302
• Density	32/km^2 (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

• Langenberg, Westphalia, Germany

References

1. "Bevölkerung im Land Brandenburg nach amtsfreien Gemeinden, Ämtern und Gemeinden 31. Dezember 2015 (Fortgeschriebene amtliche Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011)". Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 2016.
2. Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.Population Projection Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons