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Kamenz is a town (Große Kreisstadt) in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Bruno Hauptmann, convicted kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby. It lies north-east of the major city of Dresden. [edit] History
The settlement arose in the late 12th century, when a fortress was erected at the location of today's old town, in order to secure the junction of the medieval Via Regia trade route with the Black Elster river. From here, the Via Regia offered important transport links from the Low Countries up to Silesia. In 1225 written records first mentioned the town; Kamenz became an independent city in 1319, when Emperor Louis IV enfeoffed the West Lusatian lands to the Luxembourg king John of Bohemia. In 1346, the citizens joined the Lusatian League for protection against robber barons and to maintain public peace (Landfrieden). The town was nevertheless besieged and finally occupied by Hussite forces in 1429, who also devastated the nearby town of Wittichenau before they marched against Bautzen. In 1493 King Vladislaus II of Bohemia had a Franciscan monastery established north of the Kamenz town walls, dedicated to Saint Anne in 1512. Kamenz citizens officially turned Protestant in 1536. In the Schmalkaldic War of 1546/47, the Upper Lusatian towns refused to support the troops of the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand I against the Protestant princes and were penalised with the loss of numerous privileges. The Franciscan convent finally dissolved in 1564. According to the 1635 Peace of Prague, the Lusatias passed from the Bohemian Crown to the Electorate of Saxony. Several witch-hunts are documented in the 17th century. In 1707 a fire destroyed large parts of the old town. A second major fire on 4 and 5 August 1842 destroyed much of the city. In 1896 Kamenz became garrison town of the Königlich Sächsisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 242, part of the German 53rd Reserve Division. In World War II a subcamp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp was located in the town from 1944 to 1945, where forced labourers worked for a Daimler-Benz aircraft engine factory. The airfield northeast of the town was used by Luftwaffe Schlachtgeschwader 2 and Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 units. After the war, the town became part of the Soviet occupation zone and East Germany. Until 1990, an officer candidate school of the East German Air Force Staff (Offiziershochschule Franz Mehring) was located at the Kamenz Airfield. The former municipality Schönteichen was merged into Kamenz in January 2019. [edit] Research Tips
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