Forst (Lausitz)

Forst (Lausitz) (Lower Sorbian: Baršć) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It lies east of Cottbus, on the river Lausitzer Neiße which is also the German-Polish border, the Oder-Neisse line. It is the capital of the Spree-Neiße district. It is known for its rose garden and textile museum. The town's population is 20,618. In Forst, there is a railway bridge across the Neiße belonging to the line Cottbus–Żary which is serviced by regional trains and a EuroCity train between Hamburg and Kraków (2011). There is also a road bridge across the river north of Forst.

Overview

Part of the region of Lusatia, Forst was awarded to the Kingdom of Prussia in the 1815 Congress of Vienna. The town was subsequently administered within the Province of Brandenburg. After World War II it became part of the German Democratic Republic.

Forst has experienced severe problems as a result of the 1990 German reunification, most notably from extreme unemployment. In the past, the town was known for textile manufacturing, but all of the textile plants and factories have closed down in recent years.

History

A short distance to the south of the old Sorbish village of Altforst, the town probably originated around 1150 at a river crossing point on the important west-east route (known as the Salzstraße / Salt Road) connecting Halle and Głogów. By 1265 it was developing into a permanent trading settlement round the Church of St Nicholas. The commercial importance of Forst increased with the development of a north-south route connecting to Guben, downstream along the Neisse River. In the fourteenth century the council was able to take on responsibility for the lower courts locally. In 1352 of Ileburg took over the overlordship of Forst from Frederick III of Meißen.

Demography

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  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)

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  Recent Population Development (Blue Line) and Forecasts

Forst (Lausitz):
Population development within the current boundaries

Year Population 1875 19 084 1890 27 494 1910 31 594 1925 32 977 1933 35 112 1939 36 771 1946 32 683 1950 33 339 1964 32 342 1971 31 471

Year Population 1981 28 870 1985 28 031 1989 27 703 1990 27 214 1991 26 363 1992 26 024 1993 26 085 1994 25 961 1995 25 701 1996 25 543

Year Population 1997 25 403 1998 25 164 1999 24 840 2000 24 309 2001 23 839 2002 23 395 2003 23 122 2004 22 781 2005 22 391 2006 22 112

Year Population 2007 21 674 2008 21 304 2009 20 971 2010 20 618 2011 19 576 2012 19 312 2013 19 053

Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.

People

• Hugo Baum (1867 - 1950), botanist
• Georg Thomas (1890–1946), general
• Bruno Kastner (1890–1932), actor
• Max Seydewitz (1892–1987), politician
• Brigitte Frank, née Herbst (1895–1959), wife of Hans Frank
• Erich Neumann (1892–1948), politician
• Werner Heyde (1902–1964), physician
• Georg Bose (1921–2011), German soldier during WWII, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipient
• Günter Nooke (born 1959), politician
• René Rydlewicz (born 1973), footballer
• Ronny Scholz (born 1978), cyclist

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website of Forst (Lausitz) (German)
• Forst's Rose Garden (German)
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