Finsterwalde

Finsterwalde (German pronunciation: [fɪnstɐˈvaldə], Lower Sorbian: Grabin) is a town in the Elbe-Elster district (German: Landkreis), in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the Schackebach, a tributary of the Kleine Elster, 28 m. W.S.W of Cottbus by rail. Pop. (2005) 18,840. The town has a Gothic church (1581), a castle, schools, cloth and cigar factories, iron-foundries, flour and saw mills and factories for machine building. The town, which is first mentioned in 1288, came into the possession of electoral Saxony from 1635 and of Prussia in 1815. Popular are the "four singers from Finsterwalde" and their "singer-song". The following well known persons are from Finsterwalde:  This article incorporates text from a publication now in...