GORLITZ  , a

town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia, on the left bank of the Neisse, 62 m . E. from Dresden on the railway to Breslau, and at the junction of lines to Berlin, Zittau and Halle . Pop . (1885) 55,702, (1905) 80,931 . The Neisse at this point is crossed by a railway bridge 165o ft. long and 12o ft. high, with 32 arches . Gorlitz is one of the handsomest, and, owing to the extensive forests of 70,000 acres, which are the property of the municipality, one of the wealthiest towns in Germany . It is surrounded by beautiful walks and fine gardens, and although its old walls and towers have now been demolished, many of its ancient buildings remain to form a picturesque contrast with the signs of modern industry . From the hill called Landskrone, about 1500 ft. high, an extensive prospect is obtained of the surrounding country . The principal buildings are the fine Gothic church of St Peter and St Paul, dating from the 15th century, with two stately towers, a famous ojgan and a very heavy bell; the Frauen Kirche, erected about the end of the 15th century, and possessing a fine portal and choir in pierced work; the Kloster Kirche, restored in 1868, with handsome choir stalls and a carved altar dating from 1383; and the Roman Catholic church, founded in 1853, in the Roman style of architecture, with beautiful glass windows and oil-paintings . The old town hall (Rathaus) contains a very valuable library, having at its entrance a fine flight of steps . There is also a new town hall which was erected in 1904–1906 . Other buildings are: the old bastion, named Kaisertrutz, now used as a guardhouse and armoury; the gymnasium buildings in the Gothic style erected in 1851; the Ruhmeshalle with the Kaiser Friedrich museum, the house of the estates of the province (Standehaus), two theatres and the barracks .

Near the town is the

chapel of the Holy Cross, where there is a model of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem made during the 15th century . In the public park there is a bust of Schiller, a monument to Alexander von Humboldt, and a statue of the mystic Jakob Bohme (1575–1624); a monument has been erected in the town in commemoration of the war of 1870-71, and also one to the emperor William I. and a statue of Prince Frederick Charles . In connexion with the natural history society there is a valuable museum, and the scientific institute possesses a large library and a rich collection of antiquities, coins and articles of virtu . Gorlitz, next to Breslau, is the largest and most flourishing commercial town of Silesia, and is also regarded as classic ground for the study of German Renaissance architecture . Besides cloth, which forms its staple article of commerce, it has. manufactories of various linen and woollen wares, machines, railway wagons, glass, sago, tobacco, leather, chemicals and tiles . Gorlitz existed as a village from a very early period, and at the beginning of the 12th century received civic rights . It was then known as Drebenau, but on being rebuilt after its destruction by fire in 1131 it received the name of Zgorzelice . About the end of the 12th century it was strongly fortified, and for a short time it was the capital of a duchy of Gorlitz . It was several times besieged and taken during the Thirty Years' War, and it also suffered considerably in the Seven Years' War . In the battle which took place near it between the Austrians and Prussians on the 7th of September 1757, Hans Karl von Winterfeldt, the general of Frederick the Great, was slain . In 1815 the town, with the greater part of Upper Lusatia, came into the possession of Prussia . See Neumann, Geschichte von Gorlitz (185o) .