10 largest cities in Germany
Berlin
Hamburg
Munich
Cologne
Frankfurt am Main
Hanover
Dusseldorf
Leipzig
Bremen
Dresden
Görlitz (Zgorzelec in Polish, Zhorjelc in Sorbian) is the
easternmost city in Germany and is thus one of the “tip
communities”. The city on the Neisse is the historical center of the
Lower Silesian Upper Lusatia, today it belongs to Saxony.
Görlitz was hardly destroyed in the Second World War, which is why
the architectural development - from the Middle Ages and Renaissance
to Baroque and Wilhelminian style to Art Nouveau - can be read more
clearly here than in any other German city. Many historical
buildings have been restored in an exemplary manner. The city owes
its international fame as a location for period films and the
nickname “Görliwood” to this fact.
Conflicts repeatedly changed the cityscape. The originally
existing Yzcorelik Castle no longer exists, and in 1429 some suburbs
were burned during the Hussite War. In the late 15th century, the
city grew rich, which can still be seen today in numerous buildings.
But the Thirty Years 'War and later the Seven Years' War also left
their mark on the city.
In the 19th century,
industrialization began in Niederlausitz as well. Görlitz was
supplied with a rail connection to Dresden and later also with a
connection to the line to Berlin and Breslau.
The memorial
for the victims of the Biesnitzer Grund concentration camp.
commemorates the approximately 400 inmates of a satellite camp of
the Groß-Rosen concentration camp. You were forced to work here in
the railway wagon construction.
Görlitz was far less affected
by the destruction of World War II than most German cities. After
the war, the Neisse became the border river between the GDR and
Poland, the smaller eastern part of the city was added to Poland and
has since formed the independent Zgorzelec. Since Poland joined the
EU in 2004 and the old town bridge was reopened at the same time,
the two parts have been more closely linked again and there are
numerous cross-border initiatives and areas of cooperation.
Many of the city's valuable architectural monuments fell into
disrepair during the GDR era. After the fall of the Wall and
reunification, however, most of them were renovated in accordance
with historical monuments. This was partly financed by the so-called
"Altstadtmillion": An anonymous donor transferred one million
D-Marks every year from 1995 (or 511,500 euros after the currency
change) to the city of Görlitz for the restoration of the old town.
In 2016, the annual payment was discontinued.
As early as the
1950s, Görlitz served as a backdrop for a number of DEFA films (e.g.
Der Ochse von Kulm, 1955). After the fall of the Berlin Wall,
Hollywood productions were added. The main reasons for this are the
well-preserved historical cityscape with buildings from different
epochs of cultural history, the lack of "building sins" and annoying
neon signs from more recent times, as well as the fact that Görlitz
is a fairly quiet city in which sets can be locked off relatively
easily and the actors are far less besieged by the curious. For
example, scenes for In 80 Days Around the World (2004), Der Vorleser
(2008), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Grand Budapest Hotel, Monuments
Men (both 2014), Der Hauptmann (2017), Werk ohne Autor (2018) were
recorded in Görlitz. as well as the television series Wolfsland
(since 2016) filmed. Special city tours to the film city of Görlitz
(or “Görliwood”) take visitors to the locations.