Sohland an der Spree

Sohland an der Spree
Coat of arms
Sohland an der Spree
Location of Sohland an der Spree within Bautzen district
Coordinates: 51°2′50″N 14°25′42″E / 51.04722°N 14.42833°E / 51.04722; 14.42833Coordinates: 51°2′50″N 14°25′42″E / 51.04722°N 14.42833°E / 51.04722; 14.42833
Country	Germany
State	Saxony
District	Bautzen
Government
• Mayor	Matthias Pilz (CDU)
Area
• Total	37.27 km2 (14.39 sq mi)
Elevation	302 m (991 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	6,876
• Density	180/km2 (480/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	02686–02689
Dialling codes	035936
Vehicle registration	BZ
Website	www.sohland.de

Sohland an der Spree (Sorbian: Załom) is a municipality in the district of Bautzen in Saxony in Germany near the border of the Czech Republic in a region called Lusatia. The river Spree flows through the village. Together with some smaller villages (Wehrsdorf, Taubenheim) it constitutes one of the biggest villages or communities with about 7,700 inhabitants. The most iconic monument of the village is the "Himmelsbrücke" (Heaven's Bridge); it is said that the bridge will break when someone tells a lie while standing on it.

In each of the three villages of the community one will find a Lutheran church. In Wehrsdorf a Baroque-style church was built in 1724. In Taubenheim is another from the 16th century (maybe one of the oldest Lutheran churches in Germany) and in Sohland a church whose oldest parts date from the 13th century. All these churches have a beautifully cultivated cemetery nearby.

The region of Upper Lusatia, where Sohland can be found, is famous because of its special timber-frame houses which combine the Franconian and Slavic styles of wooden houses. They are build like "a house in a house". Many of these special buildings still stand there; most of them date from between 1870 and 1890. In Sohland there is also an old type of these houses which is several hundred years old. Today it is a small museum (Heimatmuseum) of the rural culture of the region.

Even though the economic situation in the whole of Eastern Germany and especially in the region of Upper Lusatia is not that good, Sohland is quite successful in economic things, at least in comparison with other towns and villages of the region. The infrastructure is not bad. There is direct access to Bundesstraße 96 and the village has a railway station. For some years now Sohland has had direct access to the Czech Republic by car (but no trucks are allowed).

Because of the beauty of the village and abundant free space to build new houses many young families come to live here. There are also some new projects for renters and older people. This way the community was able to minimize the loss of inhabitants over the last fifteen years, even though eastern Saxony lost many of its people because of a high rate of unemployment and a negative birth-death-ratio. But maybe the emigration will come to a halt in the next years because of the extremely low number of newborn children.