Editing Cottbus (section)

===Medieval period===
[[File:Cottbus 07-2017 img26 Klosterkirche.jpg|thumb|left|[[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] Franciscan church and later Sorbian Protestant Church]]
The settlement was established in the tenth century, when [[Sorbs]] erected a [[castle]] on a sandy island in the River [[Spree (river)|Spree]]. It was captured by the [[March of Lusatia]] in 965, then it passed to Poland under [[Bolesław I the Brave]] in 1002, and back to the March of Lusatia in 1032. The first recorded mention of the town's name was in 1156. In the 13th century [[Ostsiedlung|German settlers]] came to the town and thereafter lived side by side with the Sorbs.

In the [[Middle Ages]] Cottbus was known for [[wool]], and the town's drapery was exported throughout Brandenburg, [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] and [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]]. It was also located on an important trade route, called the "Salt Road", which was used to transport salt from [[Halle (Saale)|Halle]] to Lusatia and further east to Poland.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pieradzka|first=Krystyna|year=1949|title=Związki handlowe Łużyc ze Śląskiem w dawnych wiekach|journal=Sobótka|language=pl|location=Wrocław|volume=IV|issue=4|page=90}}</ref> It was part of the [[Margraviate of Lusatia]] and later [[Lower Lusatia]], which was held by the [[House of Wettin]] until it became a [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown|Bohemian Crown Land]] in 1367. In 1445 Cottbus was acquired by the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] from Bohemia. It was an [[exclave]] almost completely surrounded by Bohemian Lower Lusatia (with a short border with the [[Electorate of Saxony]] to the south-west).

{{Quote box |width=22em |align=right |bgcolor=#B0C4DE
|title=Historical affiliations
|quote=[[March of Lusatia]] 965–1002<br />
[[Duchy of Poland (c. 960–1025)|Duchy of Poland]] 1002–1025<br />
[[Kingdom of Poland]] 1025–1031<br />
[[Duchy of Poland (1031–1076)|Duchy of Poland]] 1032<br />
<span style="margin-right:7px;">{{flagicon image|Armoiries Basse-Lusace.svg|border=|size=18px}}</span> [[March of Lusatia]] 1032–1367<br />
{{flag|Kingdom of Bohemia}} 1367–1445<br />
{{flagicon image|Pabellon de Brandeburgo (c. 1684).svg}} [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] 1445–1618<br />
{{flagicon image|Pabellon de Brandeburgo (c. 1684).svg}} [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] 1618–1701<br />
{{flag|Kingdom of Prussia|1750}} 1701–1807<br />
{{flagicon image|State flag of Saxony before 1815.svg}} [[Kingdom of Saxony]] 1807–1815<br />
{{flag|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} 1815–1871<br />
{{flag|German Empire}} 1871–1918<br />
{{flag|Weimar Republic}} 1918–1933<br />
{{flag|Nazi Germany}} 1933–1945<br />
{{flag|Allied-occupied Germany}} 1945–1949<br />
{{flag|GDR}} 1949–1990<br />
{{flag|GER|name=Federal Republic Germany}} 1990–date
}}