BAUTZEN

city, Saxony Land (state), eastern Germany, in the Oberlausitz (Upper Lusatia) region, on a granite elevation above the Spree River. It was originally the Slavic settlement of Budissin (Budyin), and the Peace of Bautzen was concluded there in 1018 between the German king Henry II and the Polish king Boleslaw I. Bautzen became German in 1033, passing to Bohemia in 1319 and to Saxony in 1635. The capital of the Federation of Lusatian cities in 1346, it was and is an important political and cultural centre of the Lusatian Sorbs, a West Slavic people also called the Wends, or Domowina. Sorb traditions and customs are kept alive by the Bautzen Institute for Sorbian Folk Research and the Institute for Sorbian Studies, both located in the city. Bautzen gives its name to the hard-fought battle of May 20-21, 1813, in which French troops under Napoleon I defeated a Russo-Prussian army. Notable buildings include the Ortenburg Castle (1483-86) and St. Peter's Church (1220-1497), which has been shared since 1523 by both Roman Catholics and Protestants and has, since 1921, served as the Roman Catholic cathedral and seat of the bishop of Meissen. A railway junction, Bautzen's industries include wagon and vehicle building, iron foundries, and the manufacture of electrotechnical equipment, machinery, paper, and textiles. It is also the site of the School of Conveyor Engineering. Pop. (1991 est.) 48,588.