Luckau

Luckau
Coat of arms
Luckau
Location of Luckau within Dahme-Spreewald district
Coordinates: 51°51′00″N 13°43′00″E / 51.85000°N 13.71667°E / 51.85000; 13.71667Coordinates: 51°51′00″N 13°43′00″E / 51.85000°N 13.71667°E / 51.85000; 13.71667
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Dahme-Spreewald
Government
• Mayor	Gerald Lehmann (Ind.)
Area
• Total	206.38 km2 (79.68 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	9,533
• Density	46/km2 (120/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	15926
Dialling codes	03544
Vehicle registration	LDS
Website	www.luckau.de

Luckau (Lower Sorbian: Łuków) is a city in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. Known for its beauty, it has been dubbed "the Pearl of Lower Lusatia".

The name appears to be a locative form of a Sorbian root meaning marsh, moor, or wet meadow, in reference to the surrounding countryside.

The oldest preserved document mentioning the city of Luckau (using the Slavic form Lukow) dates from the year 1276. A prosperous city, it became one of the capitals of Lower Lusatia in 1492.

By the terms of the Peace of Prague in 1635 during the Thirty Years' War the Margravate of Lower Lusatia was conveyed to the Elector of Saxony, which territory up until that time had been a Bohemian fiefdom.

During the Thirty Years' War the Swedish fortified the city as a principal base. It suffered severe damage as a result of the ensuing conflicts.

On 4 June 1813 during the Napoleonic "War of Liberation", the advance of the French army was halted by the victory of the Russo-Prussian forces of the Sixth Coalition and an armistice was declared in the Truce of Pläswitz. This was briefly interrupted on 6 June by a skirmish at the battle of Luckau.