Sights

The Paul-Gerhardt Church

Built between 1494 and 1550 and originally called the Stadtkirche St. Nikolai, it was frequently destroyed by devastating fires, then rebuilt in 1607 as a three-aisle late Gothic style church. It was extended with the east choir in 1666. Paul Gerhardt, the renowned Evangelist hymnist worked here from 1669 until his death in 1676.

In front of the church where he was buried, a 2.50 metre-high bronze monument was erected in his honour. The four sides of the pedestal are inscribed with the first lines each of Paul Gerhardt's best-known hymns.

Ständehaus (House of Diets)

This very plain-looking edifice was built from 1717 to 1722 in horseshoe form as a two-storey building. Above each of the three portals, you can make out the Nether Lausitz coat of arms, the red bull, striding to the right, and also the date of the building.

The Schloss

Supposedly built in 1368 as a moated manor house, the precise date is not known. The old dilapidated house was torn down in 1561/1562 and replaced by a two-storey edifice. The building fell into disrepair during the Thirty Years War. The Schloss was completely redeveloped from 1679-1682 after Herzog Christian I von Sachsen (Duke Christian I von Saxony) took over command of the Nether Lausitz.
In particular the very beautiful Late Renaissance gable and the picturesque portal of the Schloss attract visitors. Today it houses our multi-media town and regional Nether Lausitz museum.

Schloss Tower

The building in front of the Schloss is the Schloss Tower. Its walls are up to 2.5 metres thick as it originally was built to be a residential and defensive tower and had to carry heavy guns to protect the crossings over the Spree River. The Schloss Tower was restored in the eighties after the ups and downs of history. The festive assembly room is of remarkable beauty. Its walls are richly decorated with 115 painted coats-of-arms of the Nether Lausitz and a very large mural. This makes it a stunning venue for special festivities and concerts.

Couples from all over Germany come to "say yes" here in the wonderful wedding room on the ground floor whose ceiling is decorated with rich ornamental paintings. The former Marstall (duke's stables) is next to the Schloss ensemble and lodges the town library.

The 173 metres remaining of the former town wall were restored some years ago. The town wall at the Brückenplatz with its Trutzer (defensive tower) and Speckturm (also called Hexenturm, "witch tower") is one of the town's landmarks and features on many postcards.

Postmeilensäule
(Post Mileage Column)

The faithful reproduction of a Kursächsische (Saxony) post-distance column from 1735 can be discovered on a stroll along Breite Straße, a pretty shopping boulevard in our town. The column shows the travelling times needed by a stage-coach to reach the destinations shown.

Herrenhaus (Manor House) Neuhaus

The Neuhaus is a small country seat in early classical style where the politician and poet Ernst von Houwald (1778-1845) used to live. The manor house has been lovingly restored over the past years and is home for the music school as well as being a fine setting for exhibitions and concerts.

The Burglehn

The so-called Burglehn is about 700 meters southeast of the town, a manor house rampart set up in old Slav times, as archaeological investigations prove. The fortification was the centre of a Slav settlement. A church was built close to the rampart, giving the name to the village which developed next to it - Steinkirchen.

Steinkirchen

This ward of Lübben was named after the oldest stone church . The one-aisle brick building was started at the beginning of the 13th century and extended in stone in the course of that century.
The choir loft, flat ceiling, pulpit and altar-piece are fine examples of the rural baroque style.

Liuba-Stein (Liuba Stone)

The Liuba Stone in the Hain (grove) was put up in 1854 to mark the former Sorb people's place of worship. It is dedicated to the goddess Liuba, the patron of lovers. Legend has it that once a Sorb princess beseeched the goddess Venus to reunite her soon with her beloved who was at war. When the princess was on her way home in her golden carriage across the Hain, the coach and horses were caught in a morass and were swallowed up together with the young woman. At the same moment, her beloved was killed by an arrow whilst fighting on the battlefield. The goddess fulfilled the princess's wish and reunited both the lovers.