Zittau

Zittau grew from a Slavic settlement near the Mandau and Lusatian Neisse, beneath the hills of Upper Lusatia. King Ottokar II of Bohemia granted it town rights in 1255 and fortified it. In 1346 Zittau joined the Lusatian League, and its wealth earned it the name “the Rich”. Its Great Lenten Cloth, made in 1472, bears witness to the prosperity and devotion of the late medieval town.

Zittau remained under the Bohemian Crown until 1635, when Upper Lusatia passed to Saxony. Protestant refugees from Bohemia arrived after the Battle of White Mountain and found shelter in the town and surrounding villages. Beer was an important trade in the sixteenth century, followed by textiles. The Seven Years' War brought disaster, destroying most of the prosperous town.