Upper Lusatia is one of the oldest textile regions in europe. Today, it excels above all with innovation, diversity, and modernity. The Upper Lusatian textile enterprises produce, for example, fl uff y terry cloths, high-grade clothing fabrics, weatherproof awnings, colorful ribbons, precious linen products, attractive underwear, resistant work clothes, and home textiles.

Technical textiles are continuing to gain ground: Together with research institutes, companies are developing innovative products such as geotextiles for landscaping and transportation construction, or seat belts and insulating
mats for the vehicle industry. In addition, smart labels – textile labels with integrated chips – as well as high tech textiles coated with metallic or ceramic materials are also being produced here. In one of Europe’s most modern direct warping plants, at the KSO Textil GmbH corporation in Olbersdorf near Zittau, warp beams with identical circumferences are produced for subsequent processing at partners throughout Europe. The textile industry is supported by company-focused networks. The primary objective of the Saxon Network for Technical Textiles (INNTex) is, for example, to assure the sustained realignment of the traditional textile industry‘s profi le towards new, innovative growth fi elds. In so doing, the initiative is focused on strengthening the market position of the producers of technical textiles as well as systematically encouraging traditional textile enterprises to diversify their product portfolios in the direction of new technical applications.

All the right strings of the European textile industry are pulled right here in Upper Lusatia because this is the heart of the EuroTextileRegion which encompasses the traditional core regions of the textile and clothing industries in the German federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony as well as the Republic of Poland and the Czech Republic.

Upper Lusatia is home to more than 450 companies of the IT branch – ranging from software developers to engineering offices, web designers, systems vendors, and data processing centers all the way to service providers who are active around the globe.

Konrad Zuse – the “Father of the Computer”.
The modern era of information technology has its roots right here in Upper Lusatia since Konrad Zuse, one of the most important computer pioneers, lived in Hoyerswerda between 1923 and 1928. In his spare time, he was very busy rebuilding technical objects, for exam-ple, conveyor bridges, with his erector set and was constantly looking for simple solutions to accelerate the calculation of the applicable data clusters. Thanks to his great intelligence and superb creativity, Konrad Zuse succeeded in building the first fully functional programcontrolled and programmable computer with binary floating point computations already in 1941. This has become the foundation of today’s information technologies. That is why Konrad Zuse is also called the “Father of the Computer.” When one takes a closer look at his life, then one discovers that this very creative individual with the ability of thinking holistically also gave humanity many other inventions such as, for example, the special model S 1, the world’s first process computer, and “Plankalkül,” the first algorithmic programming language. Computer technology from the past to the present can be admired in Hoyerswerda's Konrad Zuse Computermuseum.
www.konrad-zuse-computermuseum.de

Popular Telecommunication Solutions.
Where there are people, there is communication. Today, communication is unthinkable without the phone or the internet. In Upper Lusatia, the Sphairon corporation is creating telecommunication solutions for the global market at its Bautzen production site. Sphairon is one of the leading global producers of telecommunication products in the customer premises equipment sector. The product portfolio ranges from ISDN, ADSL, VDSL, and in-house solutions all the way to Wireless Local Loop, the direct wireless connection which is used in various regions around the world. Well-known corporations like Arcor, Deutsche Telekom, AOL, Telefonica, Swisscom, Austria Telekom, Telekom Malaysia, Telekom Mosambique, and PTC Yemen trust the telecommunication products “Made in Upper Lusatia” by Sphairon.
On September 3, 2008, the new Sphairon development center was inaugurated in Bautzen. With about 4,000 square meters of floor space spread over three floors, the new building provides a spacious and highly professional work environment for more than 100 developers. The facility’s centerpiece is the fully equipped, state-of-the-art research section which houses hardware and software development, mechanical construction as well as project and product management. Sphairon’s Managing Director, Dr. Al-Sady, emphasized the “clear commitment to Saxony and, above all, to Bautzen” during the inauguration ceremony. He also stated that the company would continue to counter the pricing pressure from Asia with its high quality products primarily in the DSL sector.
www.sphairon.de

Top-notch Software Development.
Specialized software vendors from Upper Lusatia are active around the globe when it comes to the programming, consultation, implementation, and maintenance of software solutions. In this context, one may cite the Bautzen IT-Group, the Cideon Software GmbH corporation in Görlitz/Bautzen, the Erdmann-Softwaregesellschaft mbH corporation in Görlitz, the Dimmel-Software GmbH corporation in Bautzen, and the Software Quality Systems AG corporation in Görlitz. Software solutions are designed for customers from all branches to control various commercial processes ranging from customer and project management to enterprise resource planning all the way to supply chain management.

Ideal Working Conditions at the Business Venue Upper Lusatia.
The full service IT provider itelligence runs three high quality SAP computer centers in Bautzen. Mr. Oliver Schreiber, Managing Director of the Bautzenbased itelligence Outsourcing & Services GmbH corporation, truly appreciates Saxony as a high tech location that has a long tradition and a superb infrastructure. Bautzen, for example, has a lot of resources available in electric power and telecommunications. And he points to employees who have strong ties to the region. “itelligence has virtually no fluctuations; instead, you have superbly educated and trained employees who are very productive, really focused on quality, and who exhibit great efficiency in processes,” notes Mr. Schreiber. Exceptionally well educated and trained junior staff members and close cooperations with local universities and colleges are additional prerequisites for further growth. The company also benefits from the attractive and stable cost structures as well as the great flexibility of public authorities and their focus on service. “They assisted us in getting a new computer center built in only nine months which helped create additional jobs.” Supporting business setups with investment incentives also contributes to the overall success.
www.itelligence.de

A decisive factor for the economic development of a region and its requisite growth is the availability of well educated and highly motivated, skilled employees. That is why the general education and training of young people as well as the continued education and training of employees are in the specific focus of Upper Lusatian commercial enterprises and public authorities.
What career paths and what occupational opportunities are available through general and continued education in schools and through university studies? The quality seal “Find a Future in Upper Lusatia – Start a Career Where Germany Begins” provides answers to these vital questions and seeks to furnish positive career prospects in the region for the skilled employees of tomorrow. Such prerequisites are created thanks to modern educational facilities as well as the active commitment of numerous regional stakeholders and their continued cooperation.
But how precisely may one spotlight career paths to young people and excite them for occupations in plastic technology, in the textile industry, in machine construction, or in the tourism and recreational industries of Upper Lusatia? It is for this reason that the Saxon Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labor (SMWA) has been implementing the “Labor Market Coordinators” project in Upper Lusatia during the past two years.
The alliance between schools, businesses, and the scientific community is to be strengthened even further. One example is the series of presentations entitled “Upper Lusatia’s Future” which informs pupils and teachers about the business venue Upper Lusatia and the career opportunities available here. The close interaction of the region, the Employment Agency, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), and the Chamber of Crafts (HWK) continues to exist in form of a service network for occupational orientation: Ranging from the “Occupational Orientation” calendar of events all the way to the “Business and Schools” online market and its program of internships, presentations, and company tours.
www.oberlausitz.com/zukunft

Applied and excellent.
Applied general and continued education is center stage in safeguarding skilled employees for Upper Lusatia. All three regional universities, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the International Graduate School (IHI) Zittau, and the Bautzen University of Cooperative Education (BA), attach great importance to the close cooperation with the Upper Lusatian business community. Numerous students are, thus, able to find their future employer already during their studies and, therefore, continue to stay in their home region. About 5,000 young people are studying engineering, natural and social sciences as well as business administration and economics at these three universities.
Company-supported educational and training networks which provide corporate vocational training positions to safeguard skilled professionals over the long term round off this exceptional collection of educational and training programs. This is realized, for example, through company-supported educational networks such as the Firmenausbildungsring Oberland e. V., the Kooperationsverbund zur Fachkräftesicherung in der Lausitz (KOALA), POLYSAX, the Bildungszentrum Kunststoffe Bautzen e. V. i. G., and the Ausbildungsverbund Großröhrsdorf.
And private continued education facilities are also making a valuable contribution to safeguarding skilled employees; in particular, in the commercial and technical production sectors.

Award for the “start a career Here” Project.
Since 2002, the Saxon State Government has been honoring innovative continued education and training projects. In 2008, the “Start a Career Here” project won second place. This project is supported, for example, by the DSA Dienstleistungen für Strukturund Arbeitsmarketing GmbH corporation, the Marketing-Gesellschaft Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien mbH corporation, the Bautzen University of Cooperative Education (BA), the Bautzen branch office of the Dresden Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK Dresden), the Kreissparkasse Bautzen savings bank as well as the Bautzen District County Office. The project’s objective is to convince young people to stay in Upper Lusatia. Adolescents from the 10th and 11th grades had the opportunity of discussing their future prospects with experts while also getting an idea of what their professional careers would look like. The project is to be continued in the future.

Historic cities, extraordinary landscapes, rich traditions, and a fascinating culture are the inexhaustible treasure trove awaiting visitors in Upper Lusatia. The holiday region invites people to come and discover towns and villages with centuries of exciting history, unique sacred treasures as well as hidden green gems.
The World Heritage Site Fürst Pückler Park Bad Muskau, Kromlau Park, and the baroque palace park in Großharthau are popular tourist destinations. Saxony’s most beautiful baroque landscaped gardens in Rammenau provide the right setting for the performance of celebrated artists and renowned events such as, for example, the traditional International Upper Lusatian Linen Days at the end of August.
Active guests will also find numerous opportunities in Upper Lusatia – on foot, by bike, or in and on the water between the Zittau Mountains and the Upper Lusatian Highlands, the Upper Lusatian Land of Heaths and Ponds, Western Lusatia, the Lusatian Neisse River Region as well as the Lusatian Land of Lakes. The partners of “Upper Lusatia by Bike” provide a comprehensive service network of bicycle rentals and tours that may be booked along a superbly built network of bike paths that has an excellent system of sign posts and even provides partial GPS assistance which is unique in all of Germany. It is also possible to hike along the Upper Lusatian Mountain Trail, a popular and prominent hiking trail in the region which ascends to the summits and provides stunning panoramic views of the spectacular countryside, while the luggage is conveniently transported to the next destination.

Discovering Industrial culture and traditional handcrafts.
The numerous sites of Lusatian industrial culture, for example, the mining museum Energiefabrik Knappenrode, historic machine halls, textile factories as well as the Zittau Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Muskau Forest Railway bring industrial history to life and provide a glimpse into the daily work routines of bygone eras.www.lausitzer-industriekultur.de
Along the vacation route “Handwerk erleben” [Experience Handcrafts], it’s possible to still encounter the traditional art of potters, blue dye printers, gingerbread makers, linen weavers, and basket makers in demonstration workshops and traditional craft enterprises; it’s even possible to visit a coco mat factory.
www.handwerk-erleben.com

Groups of children and adolescents will find attractive, pedagogically assisted programs and overnight stays in child and adolescent recuperation centers, school holiday homes, youth hostels as well as with private organizations. The recreational blockbusters of Upper Lusatia provide lots of opportunities for play, fun, thrills, and adventure as well as relaxation and wellness. Endless recreational fun may be found, for example, at the Dinosaur Park in Kleinwelka, the cultural center Kulturinsel Einsiedel, the luge track in Oberoderwitz, the Muskau Forest Railway, or the Schmetterlingshaus [Butterfly House] Jonsdorf in the Zittau Mountains.
www.freizeitknueller.de

Developing a Taste for Upper Lusatia.
It’s possible to truly savor culinary delights anywhere and everywhere in Upper Lusatia. Highly committed restaurant owners have launched the Upper Lusatian Festival of Culinary Delights. Between mid-June and mid-July, scrumptious dishes are created out of local products according to traditional recipes and served in the typical Upper Lusatian ambience at participating inns. Rich in tradition are also the fish ponds, in particular in the Upper Lusatian Land of Heaths and Ponds where Saxony’s only biosphere reserve is located. Every year in autumn during the Lusatian Fish Weeks, the annual fi sh harvest thrills thousands of visitors with its numerous ancillary festivals, tour packages revolving around fi sh and nature as well as hearty meals created from local fi sh.
www.oberlausitz.com/geniessen
www.lausitzer-fischwochen.de

Cultural Experience Upper Lusatia.
Upper Lusatia is a cultural experience with diverse and multifaceted events such as the music festivals and days, light-sound productions, and summer theater performances. Sorbian culture with its customs and traditions is cultivated in the bilingual region located between Bautzen, Kamenz, Hoyerswerda, and Schleife. In Bautzen’s German Sorbian Folk Theatre, Germany’s only bilingual theater, regular performances are staged in German and Sorbian. The Sorbian National Ensemble, which is also at home in Bautzen, holds numerous guest performances on many international stages.
The many historic old town districts, such as in Bautzen and Görlitz, provide a fasci- visitors also get to hear a lot of exciting tales dating, for example, all the way back to the times of the medieval Upper Lusatian Six Cities’ Alliance. Very valuable and unique art historic sites, including many richly decorated baroque patrician homes and fortifi ed towers, are all historic eye witnesses of these eventful times. Relics of the shared history, culture, and intellectual traditions in the cross-border region of Upper Lusatia, Silesia, and Bohemia may be discovered along the Via Sacra – a singular cultural tourist route along sacred sites right in the heart of Europe. Traveling across borders – for contemplation. A section of the Via Sacra follows historic trails. The Via Regia, one of the most important trade and pilgrim routes of the European Middle Ages, winds its way through Upper Lusatia starting in Königsbrück: Past the Upper Lusatian representatives of the Six Cities’ Alliance Kamenz, Bautzen, the European City Görlitz-Zgorzelec, and Lauban (today’s Luban in Poland). Additional cities of this historic alliance include Löbau and Zittau. Here, it is possible to see the unique treasures of ecclesiastic history, the Large Zittau Lenten Veil dating back to 1472 and the Small Zittau Lenten Veil dating back to 1573.
www.oberlausitzer-sechsstaedtebund.de
www.via-sacra.info