Elstra

Town in Saxony, Germany

Coat of arms

Location of Elstra/Halštrow within Bautzen district

(2022–29) Frank Wachholz^[1]Area

• Total32.65 km² (12.61 sq mi)Elevation

200 m (700 ft)Population

(2022-12-31)^[2]

• Total2,702 • Density83/km² (210/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)Postal codes

01920

Dialling codes035793Vehicle registrationBZ, BIW, HY, KMWebsitewww.elstra.de

Elstra (German: [ˈɛlstʁaː] ^ⓘ) or Halštrow (Upper Sorbian, pronounced [ˈhalʃtʁɔf]) is a town in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Schwarze Elster, 6 kilometres southeast of Kamenz, and 34 kilometres northeast of Dresden. The name "Elstra" stems from the river Schwarze Elster, which rises in the district Kindisch.

The city has only about 2,000 citizens and is one of the smallest cities in Germany. The whole municipality has 2,807 citizens (in 2016).^[3] It is part of the officially recognized Sorbian settlement area.

Due to the town name's similarity to the word "Elster" (German for magpie), magpies are often used in the town's self-identity.

Personalities

Georg Derlitzki (1889-1958), important agricultural scientist and economist
Karl Schön (1923-1994), politician (SPD), born in Elstra
Otto Garten (1902-2000), artist, born in Elstra
Karl Eberhard (1820-1907), architect

References

^ Gewählte Bürgermeisterinnen und Bürgermeister im Freistaat Sachsen, Stand: 17. Juli 2022, Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen.
^ "Einwohnerzahlen nach Gemeinden als Excel-Arbeitsmappe" (XLS) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen. 2024.
^ "Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus" (PDF).