Görlitz

Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after Cottbus, and the largest town in the German part of the region of Silesia. Görlitz is the easternmost town in Germany (the easternmost village being Zentendorf (Šćeńc)) and lies opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was the eastern part of Görlitz until 1945. The town has approximately 56,000 inhabitants, which make Görlitz the sixth-largest town in Saxony. It is the seat of the district of Görlitz. Together with Zgorzelec it forms the Euro City of Görlitz/Zgorzelec, which has a combined population of around 86,000.

The town's recorded history began in the 11th century as a Sorbian settlement. Through its history it has been under German, Polish, Czech (Bohemian) and Hungarian rule. From 1815 until 1918 Görlitz belonged to the Province of Silesia in the Kingdom of Prussia and later to the Province of Lower Silesia in the Free State of Prussia. Being west of the Oder-Neisse line, Görlitz became part of East Germany from 1949 until German reunification in 1990.

Görlitz is culturally diverse. Immediately to the west of Görlitz lie Sorbian-speaking parts of Lusatia, and Görlitz was founded and first settled by the Sorbs, a Slavic people. This is evidenced by the name of the town and the etymology of some of its surrounding villages and geographical features being of Slavic origin. Görlitz itself speaks the East Lusatian dialect of German ('), which is related to Silesian German dialects and differs from the Upper Saxon dialects spoken in most parts of Saxony. It is home to the ' and ', a Silesian Museum (), and the Silesian Christmas Market (').

Spared from the destruction of World War II, the town also has a rich architectural heritage. Many movie-makers have used the various sites as filming locations. Provided by Wikipedia